The Tape
Was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar better than Isiah Thomas?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, 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, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the bigger scorer: 36 a game in 1971-72 against 21.8 for Isiah Thomas in 1984-85. That is a real gap of 14.2 points, not an era illusion — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's league averaged 110.2 and Isiah Thomas's averaged 110.8.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wins the glass by 12.1 rebounds a game (16.6 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 4.6, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: One unblockable shot, 6 MVPs, and a scoring record that stood for 39 years. Isiah Thomas: Two titles and a 13.9-assist season at 6 foot 1, in the most physical decade the league has had.
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Read the file: Kareem Abdul-JabbarIsiah Thomas
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