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Ionescu vs Yao

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
YaoWinner
73.9

Yao wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics

Ionescu
60.8

Ionescu wins: no category outright

Candidates
Locked to Basketball

Shareable URL · /compare/sabrina-ionescu-vs-yao-ming

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇳 Yao Ming
73.9

Yao leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories. Eight-time All-Star who opened the NBA to a global Chinese audience.

1. Yao Ming
73.9
2. Sabrina Ionescu
60.8

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 game
1. 🇨🇳 Yao Ming5 seasons played · career day 3,65196.6 points per game
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Sabrina Ionescu5 seasons played · career day 1,82671.1 points per game
-26.4% vs Yao at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Ionescu0011.517.752.988.1
🇨🇳 Yao0000071.6

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricIonescuActiveYaoRetired
WNBA titles1
All-Star selections38
Three-point contest wins1
Career points per game17.2
Career assists per game5.8
Points per game19
Rebounds per game9.2
All-NBA selections5
Olympic appearances3
Dominance w25%6272
Peak w20%7084
Longevity w20%4860
Honours w20%5674
Statistics w15%7082

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Yao73.9
Ionescu60.8
The people
Ionescu
Yao

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Make your case for Ionescu vs Yao. 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.

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