The Tape
Was Jerry West better than Isiah Thomas?
Jerry West, 1960-1974, against Isiah Thomas, 1981-1994. 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, Jerry West is the bigger scorer: 30.9 a game in 1965-66 against 21.8 for Isiah Thomas in 1984-85. That is a real gap of 9.1 points, not an era illusion — Jerry West's league averaged 115.5 and Isiah Thomas's averaged 110.8.
Jerry West wins the glass by 2.6 rebounds a game (7.1 to 4.5), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Isiah Thomas is the passer: 13.9 assists a game to 6.1, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Jerry West: Lost 8 Finals and won 1, and is the only Finals MVP ever chosen from a losing team. Isiah Thomas: Two titles and a 13.9-assist season at 6 foot 1, in the most physical decade the league has had.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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