Who is better, Johnson or Yao?
Yao Ming leads with a GOAT score of 73.9 against 72.1 for Skinny Johnson — a gap of 1.8 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Johnson vs Yao
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Yao Ming above Skinny Johnson: 73.9 vs 72.1. Yao Ming leads on Statistics, Honours. Skinny Johnson leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
YaoWinner
73.9Yao wins: Honours, Statistics
Johnson
72.1Johnson wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to BasketballShareable URL · /compare/skinny-johnson-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 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Yao Ming
2. Skinny Johnson
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. 🇺🇸 Skinny Johnson5 seasons played · career day 1,825398 points per game
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇨🇳 Yao Ming5 seasons played · career day 3,65196.6 points per game
-75.7% vs Johnson at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Johnson | 0 | 0 | 66 | 148 | 398 | 518 |
| 🇨🇳 Yao | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71.6 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | JohnsonRetired | YaoRetired |
|---|---|---|
| National championships | 1 | — |
| All-American selections | 1 | — |
| Hall of Fame induction | 1,977 | — |
| Big Six titles | 2 | — |
| College seasons | 3 | — |
| All-Star selections | — | 8 |
| Points per game | — | 19 |
| Rebounds per game | — | 9.2 |
| All-NBA selections | — | 5 |
| Olympic appearances | — | 3 |
| Dominance w25% | 72 | 72 |
| Peak w20% | 84 | 84 |
| Longevity w20% | 62 | 60 |
| Honours w20% | 72 | 74 |
| Statistics w15% | 70 | 82 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Yao73.9
Johnson72.1
FAQ
Where does Johnson beat Yao?
Johnson scores higher on longevity. Yao leads on honours, statistics.
How is the Johnson vs Yao score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Johnson: 72.1, Yao: 73.9.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Johnson 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.