The Tape
Was Oscar Robertson better than Stephen Curry?
Oscar Robertson, 1960-1974, 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, Stephen Curry is the bigger scorer: 33.4 a game in 2015-16 against 29.6 for Oscar Robertson in 1961-62. That is a real gap of 3.8 points, not an era illusion — Stephen Curry's league averaged 102.7 and Oscar Robertson's averaged 118.8.
Oscar Robertson wins the glass by 7.1 rebounds a game (12.5 to 5.4), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Oscar Robertson is the passer: 11.4 assists a game to 6.7, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Oscar Robertson: Averaged a triple double for a full season in 1961-62, then averaged one across his first 5 seasons combined. Stephen Curry: The only unanimous MVP, and the player whose range changed where every team on earth stands.
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