The Tape
Was Moses Malone better than Magic Johnson?
Moses Malone, 1974-1995, against Magic Johnson, 1979-1991. 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 24.8 for Magic Johnson in 1986-87. That is a real gap of 7.8 points, not an era illusion — Moses Malone's league averaged 108.6 and Magic Johnson's averaged 109.9.
Moses Malone wins the glass by 8.4 rebounds a game (14.7 to 6.3), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Magic Johnson is the passer: 12.2 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. Magic Johnson: The highest career assist average in league history, at 6 foot 9, in 9 Finals.
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