The Tape
Was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander better than Victor Wembanyama?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2018-present, against Victor Wembanyama, 2023-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, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the bigger scorer: 32.9 a game in 2024-25 against 24.4 for Victor Wembanyama in 2024-25. That is a real gap of 8.5 points, not an era illusion — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's league averaged 113.4 and Victor Wembanyama's averaged 113.4.
Victor Wembanyama wins the glass by 6 rebounds a game (11 to 5), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the passer: 6.4 assists a game to 3.7, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: An MVP and a title in the same season, built on the most efficient mid-range diet since the rules changed. Victor Wembanyama: The longest arms ever attached to a jump shot, 2 seasons into finding out what that is worth.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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