The Tape
Was Bill Walton better than Moses Malone?
Bill Walton, 1974-1987, against Moses Malone, 1974-1995. 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, Moses Malone is the bigger scorer: 32.6 a game in 1981-82 against 19.9 for Bill Walton in 1976-77. That is a real gap of 12.7 points, not an era illusion — Moses Malone's league averaged 108.6 and Bill Walton's averaged 106.5.
Bill Walton is the passer: 3.8 assists a game to 1.8, 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. Moses Malone: Three MVPs built on offensive rebounds, and the man who said fo, fo, fo and nearly delivered it.
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