Who is better, Thompson or Kemp?
Shawn Kemp leads with a GOAT score of 79.0 against 78.9 for David Thompson — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Thompson vs Kemp
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Shawn Kemp above David Thompson: 79.0 vs 78.9. Shawn Kemp leads on Longevity. David Thompson leads on Peak, Honours, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
KempWinner
79.0Kemp wins: Longevity
Thompson
78.9Thompson wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to BasketballShareable URL · /compare/david-thompson-vs-shawn-kemp
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Shawn Kemp
79.0
Kemp leads in 1 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Shawn Kemp
2. David Thompson
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 David Thompson5 seasons played · career day 1,825124.6 points per game
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Shawn Kemp5 seasons played · career day 1,82571.7 points per game
-42.5% vs Thompson at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Thompson | 0 | 0 | 26 | 51.9 | 124.6 | 190.2 |
| 🇺🇸 Kemp | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 20.3 | 71.7 | 146.7 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | ThompsonRetired | KempRetired |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selections | 5 | — |
| Single-game points | 73 | — |
| All-Star Game MVP awards | 2 | — |
| NCAA titles | 1 | — |
| Points per game peak | 27.2 | — |
| NBA All-Star selections | — | 6 |
| All-NBA selections | — | 3 |
| Career points | — | 15,347 |
| Career rebounds | — | 8,834 |
| NBA Finals appearances | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 88 |
| Longevity w20% | 60 | 74 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 74 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 82 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Kemp79.0
Thompson78.9
FAQ
Where does Thompson beat Kemp?
Thompson scores higher on peak, dominance, honours, statistics. Kemp leads on longevity.
How is the Thompson vs Kemp score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Thompson: 78.9, Kemp: 79.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Thompson vs Kemp. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.