The Tape
Was Jerry West better than John Stockton?
Jerry West, 1960-1974, against John Stockton, 1984-2003. 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 18.3 for John Stockton in 1989-90. That is a real gap of 12.6 points, not an era illusion — Jerry West's league averaged 115.5 and John Stockton's averaged 107.
Jerry West wins the glass by 4.5 rebounds a game (7.1 to 2.6), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
John Stockton is the passer: 14.5 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. John Stockton: The all-time leader in assists and steals, by margins that will not be closed this century.
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