The Tape
Was Bill Walton better than Magic Johnson?
Bill Walton, 1974-1987, against Magic Johnson, 1979-1991. The numbers levelled to one league, then the call.
Method, stated plainly: scoring is adjusted to a league averaging 114 points per team per game. Rebounds and assists are printed as they were recorded, with the league scoring rate beside them, because a rebound in 1962 came out of a different number of missed shots and we will not pretend one multiplier fixes that. Career lines for active players run through 2024-25.
What the numbers say
Adjusted to a league averaging 114 points a game, Magic Johnson is the bigger scorer: 24.8 a game in 1986-87 against 19.9 for Bill Walton in 1976-77. That is a real gap of 4.9 points, not an era illusion — Magic Johnson's league averaged 109.9 and Bill Walton's averaged 106.5.
Bill Walton wins the glass by 8.1 rebounds a game (14.4 to 6.3), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Magic Johnson is the passer: 12.2 assists a game to 3.8, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Bill Walton: A passing center who won a title and an MVP in the only 2 healthy seasons he ever had. Magic Johnson: The highest career assist average in league history, at 6 foot 9, in 9 Finals.
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