The Tape
Was Jerry West better than Stephen Curry?
Jerry West, 1960-1974, against Stephen Curry, 2009-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, Stephen Curry is the bigger scorer: 33.4 a game in 2015-16 against 30.9 for Jerry West in 1965-66. That is a real gap of 2.5 points, not an era illusion — Stephen Curry's league averaged 102.7 and Jerry West's averaged 115.5.
Away from scoring they are nearly the same player on paper: 7.1 and 5.4 rebounds, 6.1 and 6.7 assists. The separation is in what their teams asked of them, not what they could do.
Jerry West: Lost 8 Finals and won 1, and is the only Finals MVP ever chosen from a losing team. Stephen Curry: The only unanimous MVP, and the player whose range changed where every team on earth stands.
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