The Tape
Was David Robinson better than Victor Wembanyama?
David Robinson, 1989-2003, against Victor Wembanyama, 2023-present. 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, David Robinson is the bigger scorer: 33.5 a game in 1993-94 against 24.4 for Victor Wembanyama in 2024-25. That is a real gap of 9.1 points, not an era illusion — David Robinson's league averaged 101.5 and Victor Wembanyama's averaged 113.4.
Away from scoring they are nearly the same player on paper: 10.7 and 11 rebounds, 4.8 and 3.7 assists. The separation is in what their teams asked of them, not what they could do.
David Robinson: An MVP, a Defensive Player of the Year and a scoring title closed out with 71 points on the last day of the season. Victor Wembanyama: The longest arms ever attached to a jump shot, 2 seasons into finding out what that is worth.
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