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Due to the focus on multi-positional players, small-ball lineups, and three-point shooting in the modern NBA game, the traditional back-to-the-basket power forward has become a bit of an anachronism. However, if you turn back the clock by a decade or two, traditional power forwards who could average a double-double were still considered a valuable commodity – at the position, Elton Brand and Zach Randolph were two of the most consistently productive players in the game, nightly 20-and-10 players who were cornerstone pieces for their respective teams. For those who look back upon this more rugged era of basketball with nostalgia, let us reminisce on bygone days and ask:
Who was better – Elton Brand or Zach Randolph?
The Beginning
Despite similar basketball pedigrees, Brand was a top overall pick who excelled in the NBA immediately, whereas Randoph was drafted by a winning team and spent a few years sitting on the bench before making a mark in the Association.
Growing up in New York, Brand was one of the nation’s elite high school basketball players – he averaged an absurd 40 points and 20 rebounds per game, won two state championships, and was named New York State Mr. Basketball and a Parade All-American. For his college career, he chose to attend blue-blood program Duke and quickly became a NCAA star – in his sophomore campaign, he was named First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), ACC Player of the Year, a First Team All-American, and National College Player of the Year while leading the Blue Devils to the National Championship Game before falling to the Richard Hamilton-led UConn Huskies. After the season, together with fellow underclassmen William Avery and Corey Maggette, Brand became one of the first Duke players under Mike Krzyzekski’s regime to declare early for the NBA and was subsequently drafted #1 overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1999 NBA Draft. As a key rebuilding piece for the post-Michael Jordan Bulls, Brand averaged a double-double as a rookie (20.1 points on 48.2% shooting with 10.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game) to win co-Rookie of the Year honors with Steve Francis.
Similarly, while growing up in Indiana, Randolph was also a high school basketball star, guiding his team to a pair of state titles and earning Parade and McDonald’s All-American honors as a senior. He also chose to attend an elite college program in Michigan State; following a good, but not great freshman year in which a veteran Spartans team advanced to the Final Four, he declared early for the 2001 NBA Draft and was selected 19th overall in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers. However, on a veteran-laden Portland team, Randolph saw less than 10 minutes of action nightly as a rookie and only averaged 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Career Comparison
In their primes, Brand and Randolph were rock-solid 20-and-10 players – each was more of a “lunch-pail” type who was more substance than style, but was nevertheless a highly effective and underrated star.
Brand seemed well on his way to becoming a franchise cornerstone of the 21st century Bulls, as he posted a near-identical second season with 20.1 points (on 47.6% shooting), 10.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. Surprisingly, he was traded after just two seasons to the Los Angeles Clippers for Brian Skinner and the draft rights to Tyson Chandler in 2001. Nevertheless, he did not miss a beat with his new team, making his first All-Star team in 2001-2002 on the strength of 18.2 points (52.7% shooting), a career-high 11.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Overall, he would start his career with five straight double-double seasons of 18+ points and 10+ rebounds per game.
As a restricted free agent in 2003, Brand signed a lucrative offer sheet with the Miami Heat, but it was matched by the Clippers; subsequently, he went on to average two more seasons of exactly 20.0 points per game with 9-10 rebounds per game. Then, in 2005-2006, Brand had a career year: with a career-best 24.7 points per game on 52.7% shooting with 10.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, he made a second (and final) All-Star team while also earning Second Team All-NBA honors. In turn, this was followed by another strong year in 2006-2007 with 20.5 points (on a career-high 53.3% shooting), 9.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. However, Brand missed most of the 2007-2008 season with a ruptured left Achilles tendon and would never quite be the same after.
Despite coming off a major injury, Brand signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers, though he was limited by a shoulder injury to just 29 games played in his first season with his new team. In four seasons in Philadelphia, he never averaged more than 15 points per game, with his best season coming in 2010-2011: 15.0 points (51.2% shooting), 8.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. The next year, he moved to center after playing power forward for most of his career and had his worst statistical season to-date with just 11.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. As a result, Brand was released at season’s end and would bounce around for three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks, never reaching double-digit scoring again. Though he originally retired after the 2014-2015 season with Atlanta, Brand came out of retirement to rejoin the 76ers, but only played in 17 more games before retiring for good in 2016 at age 36.
In contrast to Brand’s fast start, Randolph did not become a starter with Portland until his third season, but made his opportunity count by winning the Most Improved Player award on the strength of 20.1 points (48.5% shooting), 10.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. From there, he became a consistent near double-double threat with the Trail Blazers, improving to a career-high 23.6 points per game on 46.7% shooting (including a career-high of 43 points in a single game) with 10.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game by 2006-2007. This would be his last season in Portland, however, as he was dealt in a 2007 draft day deal with Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and the draft rights to Demetris Nichols to the New York Knicks for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and a 2008 second-round pick.
In his first full season with the Knicks, Randolph averaged a double-double (17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game), but he was traded just 11 games into the 2008-2009 season, this time with Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas; across New York and Los Angeles, Randolph again averaged a double-double with 20.8 points (47.5% shooting) and 10.1 rebounds per game. Following half a season in Los Angeles, he was on the move once again in a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies for Quentin Richardson.
After a string of trades, Randolph found a home in Memphis: in his first season with the Grizzlies in 2009-2010, he put up 20.8 points (48.8% shooting), 11.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game to earn his first All-Star selection. The next year, he earned Third Team All-NBA honors with 20.1 points per game on a career-high 50.3% shooting with a career-high 12.2 rebounds per game plus 2.2 assists. Following an injury-marred 2011-2012 season that limited him to 28 games (and just 11.6 points per game), Randolph bounced back with another All-Star season in 2012-2013: 15.4 points (46.0% shooting), 11.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Over the next few years, he had two more double-double seasons in 2013-2014 (17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds) and 2014-2015 (16.1 points and 10.5 rebounds) before his numbers slowly but steadily began to decline. In his final season with the Grizzlies in 2016-2017, Randolph still managed 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game despite coming off the bench. As a free agent, he signed with the Sacramento Kings and had a respectable 2017-2018 season (14.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game); in 2019, Randolph and Justin Jackson were traded to the Mavericks for Harrison Barnes, but Randolph was waived afterwards, having played his last NBA game at age 36 in 2017-2018.
Each player ultimately starred in the NBA for 17 seasons with 1,000+ career games played – during this span, their career numbers are remarkably similar: Randolph scored more (16.6 vs. 15.9 points per game) and rebounded more (9.1 vs. 8.5 rebounds per game), but Brand was a better passer (2.1 to 1.8 assists per game) and more efficient shooting from the floor. Both were consistently underrated throughout their careers, as each made two All-Star teams and one All-NBA team, plus Rookie of the Year for Brand vs. Most Improved Player for Randolph. The advanced metrics favor Brand slightly – he had both the higher Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and more career Win-Shares. Moreover, the duo faced off in 25 head-to-head matchups in the regular season (never in the playoffs) – Randolph’s teams came out on top 16-9, but Brand was slightly better in the individual matchup, posting averages of 15.3 points (on 51.0% shooting), 7.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game to Randolph’s 14.5 points (44.2% shooting), 8.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. No doubt both Brand and Randoph had long and productive NBA careers, but each is likely to fall short of the Hall of Fame.
Regular Season Statistics
| Elton Brand | Player | Zach Randolph |
| 17 (1999-2016) | Seasons | 17 (2001-2018) |
| 1,058 | Games Played | 1,116 |
| 15.9 | Points | 16.6 |
| 8.5 | Rebounds | 9.1 |
| 2.1 | Assists | 1.8 |
| 50.0% | Field Goal % | 47.1% |
| 73.6% | Free Throw % | 76.4% |
| 20.5 | PER | 19.3 |
| 109.6 | Win Shares | 81.1 |
| 2x | All-Star Games | 2x |
| 1x | All-NBA | 1x |
| – | MVP | – |
| – | NBA Titles | – |
| – | NBA Finals MVP | – |
| ROY | Other Awards | 1x Most Improved Player |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Brand and Randolph were mostly on good to very good, but never truly great teams; as such, despite strong production night in and night out, neither was able to carry their teams to the NBA Finals and within reach of that elusive title.
While most of Brand’s five playoff appearances came later in his career with the 76ers and Hawks, he did have one memorable postseason run in 2005-2006: he averaged 25.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game while leading the Clippers to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they fell in seven games to Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile, in his nine playoff trips (7x Grizzlies, 2x Trail Blazers), Randolph was generally consistent, but unspectacular, and unable to carry his team beyond a round or two in the postseason. His greatest team success came in 2012-2013, when Memphis advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being swept by Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs – across three rounds and 15 games, Randolph averaged a double-double with 17.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
Internationally, neither player was called up to represent Team USA at the Olympics, but Brand did win two gold medals at the FIBA Americas Championships and a bronze at the World Championships.
Playoff Statistics
| Elton Brand | Player | Zach Randolph |
| 40 | Games Played | 70 |
| 12.6 | Points | 16.5 |
| 6.3 | Rebounds | 9.3 |
| 1.6 | Assists | 1.7 |
| 51.6% | Field Goal % | 43.7% |
| 71.9% | Free Throw % | 75.0% |
| 19.8 | PER | 16.8 |
| 4.1 | Win Shares | 4.4 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; whereas Brand’s NBA success was more front-loaded, conversely Randolph’s career was more back-loaded, particularly with the Grizzlies. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Elton Brand | Player | Zach Randolph |
| 1999-2007, 2009-2011 | Decade of Dominance | 2003-2005, 2006-2011, 2012-2015 |
| 763 | Games Played | 696 |
| 19.0 | Points | 19.0 |
| 9.6 | Rebounds | 10.7 |
| 2.4 | Assists | 2.0 |
| 50.4% | Field Goal % | 47.5% |
| 74.0% | Free Throw % | 77.1% |
| 21.6 | PER | 19.9 |
| 94.3 | Win Shares | 63.6 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Again, the two burly power forwards have nearly identical numbers in their 10 best seasons – identical scoring averages of 19.0 points per game with Brand being the better passer and more efficient shooting favored by advanced metrics and Randolph being the better rebounder.
My Thoughts
How comparable were Elton Brand and Zach Randoph? So much so that Randolph was once asked about filling Brand’s shoes figuratively and in response, Randolph laughed and said “Shoot, he ain’t better than me. He ain’t better than me.” While that certainly makes for a great quote, I would beg to differ – yes, Randolph might have slightly better career scoring and rebounding numbers, but part of that is due to Brand’s decline following his Clippers days; in his prime with Chicago and Los Angeles, Brand’s numbers compare favorably to Randolph and the advanced metrics show he was actually better – this is partly driven by defense, as Randolph was never considered a strong defensive presence inside (case in point: Brand averaged 1.7 blocks per game to Randolph’s paltry 0.3 blocks per game). Having said that, Randolph’s style of play was a perfect fit for the rugged Grizzlies teams of the 2010s alongside Mike Conley, Tony Allen, and Marc Gasol, and in the larger context, both Brand and Randolph were significantly underrated throughout and even after their playing days – though they may not fit into today’s NBA, both were without a doubt among the best power forwards of their era, with the slight edge going to peak Brand.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Elton Brand
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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