The Tape
Was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar better than Moses Malone?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, against Moses Malone, 1974-1995. 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, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the bigger scorer: 36 a game in 1971-72 against 32.6 for Moses Malone in 1981-82. That is a real gap of 3.4 points, not an era illusion — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's league averaged 110.2 and Moses Malone's averaged 108.6.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the passer: 4.6 assists a game to 1.8, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: One unblockable shot, 6 MVPs, and a scoring record that stood for 39 years. Moses Malone: Three MVPs built on offensive rebounds, and the man who said fo, fo, fo and nearly delivered it.
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