The Tape
Was Kevin Durant better than Stephen Curry?
Kevin Durant, 2007-present, 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, Kevin Durant is the bigger scorer: 36.1 a game in 2013-14 against 33.4 for Stephen Curry in 2015-16. That is a real gap of 2.7 points, not an era illusion — Kevin Durant's league averaged 101 and Stephen Curry's averaged 102.7.
Kevin Durant wins the glass by 2 rebounds a game (7.4 to 5.4), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Kevin Durant: A 7-footer with a guard's jump shot, and the most efficient high-volume scorer of his generation. Stephen Curry: The only unanimous MVP, and the player whose range changed where every team on earth stands.
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.