The Tape
Was Julius Erving better than Larry Bird?
Julius Erving, 1971-1987, against Larry Bird, 1979-1992. 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, Larry Bird is the bigger scorer: 31.5 a game in 1987-88 against 28.1 for Julius Erving in 1979-80. That is a real gap of 3.4 points, not an era illusion — Larry Bird's league averaged 108.2 and Julius Erving's averaged 109.3.
Larry Bird is the passer: 6.1 assists a game to 4.6, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Julius Erving: The player who made the game vertical, with 5 of his best seasons spent in a league the record books treat separately. Larry Bird: Three straight MVPs, a 50-40-90 season, and the best passing forward before Jokic.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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