The Tape
Was Patrick Ewing better than Dirk Nowitzki?
Patrick Ewing, 1985-2002, against Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2019. 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, their best seasons score the same: Patrick Ewing at 30.5 a game in 1989-90, Dirk Nowitzki at 31.3 in 2005-06. The scoring argument is a tie and anyone who claims otherwise is quoting raw numbers from different leagues.
Away from scoring they are nearly the same player on paper: 10.9 and 9 rebounds, 2.2 and 2.8 assists. The separation is in what their teams asked of them, not what they could do.
Patrick Ewing: A 21-and-10 center for 15 years who was the second-best player in almost every series that mattered. Dirk Nowitzki: The 7-footer who made the fadeaway jumper a franchise, 10 years before every big man had to shoot.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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