The Tape
Was Charles Barkley better than Patrick Ewing?
Charles Barkley, 1984-2000, against Patrick Ewing, 1985-2002. 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, Patrick Ewing is the bigger scorer: 30.5 a game in 1989-90 against 26.8 for Charles Barkley in 1989-90. That is a real gap of 3.7 points, not an era illusion — Patrick Ewing's league averaged 107 and Charles Barkley's averaged 107.
Charles Barkley is the passer: 3.9 assists a game to 2.2, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Charles Barkley: Led the league in rebounding at 6 foot 6 and shot 54.1% for a 16-year career. Patrick Ewing: A 21-and-10 center for 15 years who was the second-best player in almost every series that mattered.
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Read the file: Charles BarkleyPatrick Ewing
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