The Tape
Was Jayson Tatum better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Jayson Tatum, 2017-present, 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 29.9 for Jayson Tatum in 2022-23. That is a real gap of 3 points, not an era illusion — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's league averaged 113.4 and Jayson Tatum's averaged 114.7.
Jayson Tatum wins the glass by 3.8 rebounds a game (8.8 to 5), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the passer: 6.4 assists a game to 4.6, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Jayson Tatum: A title, 7 straight conference finals appearances, and a 3-point volume no forward of the 1990s could have imagined. 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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