Who is better, Simmons or Russell?
Ben Simmons leads with a GOAT score of 56.6 against 55.5 for D'Angelo Russell — a gap of 1.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Simmons vs Russell
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SimmonsWinner
56.6Simmons wins: Dominance, Honours
Russell
55.5Russell wins: Peak, Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to BasketballShareable URL · /compare/ros-ben-simmons-vs-ros-d-angelo-russell
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🏳️ Ben Simmons
56.6
Simmons leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ben Simmons
2. D'Angelo Russell
Category breakdown
Season form · Points per game
Career timeline · Points per game
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Points per game1. 🏳️ D'Angelo Russell5 seasons played · career day 1,8266,571 points per game
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🏳️ Ben Simmons5 seasons played · career day 2,1904,669 points per game
-28.9% vs Russell at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏳️ Simmons | 0 | 0 | 1,280 | 2,615 | 4,379 | 5,273 |
| 🏳️ Russell | 0 | 0 | 1,056 | 2,039 | 4,492 | 12,440 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | SimmonsActive · Sacramento Kings | RussellActive · Memphis Grizzlies |
|---|---|---|
| NBA games | 434 | 829 |
| NBA points | 5,273 | 14,170 |
| NBA award: All-Defensive 1st Team | 2 | — |
| NBA award: All-NBA 3rd Team | 1 | — |
| NBA award: Rookie of the Year | 1 | — |
| NBA award: All-Rookie 1st Team | 1 | — |
| Number | 25 | — |
| NBA award: All-Rookie 2nd Team | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 57.6 | 50 |
| Peak w20% | 65.2 | 74 |
| Longevity w20% | 47.4 | 60.2 |
| Honours w20% | 50 | 26 |
| Statistics w15% | 64.2 | 73.2 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Simmons56.6
Russell55.5
FAQ
Where does Russell beat Simmons?
Russell scores higher on peak, statistics, longevity. Simmons leads on dominance, honours.
How is the Simmons vs Russell score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Simmons: 56.6, Russell: 55.5.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Simmons vs Russell. 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.