The Tape
Was Dirk Nowitzki better than Kawhi Leonard?
Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2019, against Kawhi Leonard, 2011-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, Dirk Nowitzki is the bigger scorer: 31.3 a game in 2005-06 against 27.5 for Kawhi Leonard in 2016-17. That is a real gap of 3.8 points, not an era illusion — Dirk Nowitzki's league averaged 97 and Kawhi Leonard's averaged 105.6.
Dirk Nowitzki wins the glass by 3.2 rebounds a game (9 to 5.8), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Dirk Nowitzki: The 7-footer who made the fadeaway jumper a franchise, 10 years before every big man had to shoot. Kawhi Leonard: Two Finals MVPs with 2 franchises, built on footwork and hands rather than speed.
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