The Tape
Was Kobe Bryant better than Kevin Durant?
Kobe Bryant, 1996-2016, against Kevin Durant, 2007-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, Kobe Bryant is the bigger scorer: 41.6 a game in 2005-06 against 36.1 for Kevin Durant in 2013-14. That is a real gap of 5.5 points, not an era illusion — Kobe Bryant's league averaged 97 and Kevin Durant's averaged 101.
Kevin Durant wins the glass by 2.1 rebounds a game (7.4 to 5.3), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Kobe Bryant: Five titles, 81 points in a game, and the most difficult shot diet any great scorer has chosen on purpose. Kevin Durant: A 7-footer with a guard's jump shot, and the most efficient high-volume scorer of his generation.
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