The Tape
Was Magic Johnson better than Tim Duncan?
Magic Johnson, 1979-1991, against Tim Duncan, 1997-2016. 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, Tim Duncan is the bigger scorer: 30.4 a game in 2001-02 against 24.8 for Magic Johnson in 1986-87. That is a real gap of 5.6 points, not an era illusion — Tim Duncan's league averaged 95.5 and Magic Johnson's averaged 109.9.
Tim Duncan wins the glass by 6.4 rebounds a game (12.7 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 3.7, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Magic Johnson: The highest career assist average in league history, at 6 foot 9, in 9 Finals. Tim Duncan: Five titles across 15 years with the same bank shot and no visible change in expression.
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