The Tape
Was Moses Malone better than John Stockton?
Moses Malone, 1974-1995, 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, Moses Malone is the bigger scorer: 32.6 a game in 1981-82 against 18.3 for John Stockton in 1989-90. That is a real gap of 14.3 points, not an era illusion — Moses Malone's league averaged 108.6 and John Stockton's averaged 107.
Moses Malone wins the glass by 12.1 rebounds a game (14.7 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 1.8, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Moses Malone: Three MVPs built on offensive rebounds, and the man who said fo, fo, fo and nearly delivered it. John Stockton: The all-time leader in assists and steals, by margins that will not be closed this century.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
13 Dossiers, every Dispatch ever sent, and the Tape. One payment, $39, yours for good. The archive keeps growing every morning after you have paid.
Every pairing in the file makes the call in writing, and pass holders read all of them.
5 Dispatches in the archive so far, and one more every morning. 14-day refund, no questions asked.
The next argument
Get the Dispatch
One email a day: what happened last night, and the game, player or era from history it rhymes with. Four minutes at breakfast, free forever.
Free forever. One tap to leave.