The Tape
Was Isiah Thomas better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Isiah Thomas, 1981-1994, against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2018-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, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the bigger scorer: 32.9 a game in 2024-25 against 21.8 for Isiah Thomas in 1984-85. That is a real gap of 11.1 points, not an era illusion — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's league averaged 113.4 and Isiah Thomas's averaged 110.8.
Isiah Thomas is the passer: 13.9 assists a game to 6.4, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Isiah Thomas: Two titles and a 13.9-assist season at 6 foot 1, in the most physical decade the league has had. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: An MVP and a title in the same season, built on the most efficient mid-range diet since the rules changed.
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