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With the growing prevalence of shooting three-pointers in today’s NBA, stretch forwards are becoming an increasingly important part of any team, i.e. a forward who traditionally was positioned closer to the basket, but has a shooting range that extends to beyond the three-point line. Yet just a generation ago in the 2000s, such players were still somewhat of a rarity; two of the early prototypes of the modern stretch forward were Antawn Jamison and Rashard Lewis, prolific scoring forwards who could stroke the three-ball. Given their similar playing styles and perfectly overlapping careers, it is thus a natural question to ask:
Who was better – Antawn Jamison or Rashard Lewis?
The Beginning
Before their NBA careers converged on draft night in 1998, Jamison and Lewis took very different paths to professional basketball – the former was arguably the best college player in the country upon entering the draft, while the latter was a preps-to-pros star who initially struggled to adapt to the NBA game.
Born in Louisiana, Jamison grew up in North Carolina and was one of the nation’s best high school basketball players, earning both North Carolina Mr. Basketball and McDonald’s All-American honors as a senior. From there, he went on to in-state North Carolina for his college basketball career and was First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in each of his three seasons with the Tar Heels, culminating in First Team All-American, ACC Player of the Year, and National College Player of the Year honors as a junior in 1998; in addition, he led the team to back-to-back ACC titles and Final Four appearances, though could not quite guide them to a national title. Following his junior year, Jamison declared early for the NBA and was selected fourth overall in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors, but immediately traded to the Golden State Warriors for fifth overall pick and former Tar Heels teammate Vince Carter. With the 1998-1999 season not starting until January 1999 due to the lockout, Jamison had a relatively quiet rookie season on 9.6 points (45.2% shooting), 6.4 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game, though nevertheless was an All-Rookie selection (while Carter was Rookie of the Year).
Likewise Louisiana-born, Lewis was raised in Texas and was also a prep star, earning Texas Mr. Basketball, McDonald’s All-American, and Parade First Team All-American honors as a high school senior in 1998. Despite heavy college recruitment, he opted to go straight to the NBA and was thus eligible in the same 1998 NBA Draft as Jamison – however, he fell all the way to the 32nd overall pick in the second round by the then-Seattle Supersonics, making Lewis the last of the fifteen draft prospects in the “green room” to hear his name called. As a teenager, he played just 20 games as a rookie during the lockout-shortened 1998-1999 season, averaging a paltry 2.4 points per game in less than 10 minutes nightly; these struggles continued in 1999-2000, as Lewis averaged just 8.2 points (on 48.6% shooting), 4.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game in roughly 20 minutes of action per game.
Career Comparison
Throughout their primes in the 2000s, Jamison and Lewis were both high-scoring players who at their very best, averaged 20+ points per game and were worthy of making the All-Star Game.
Despite a slow start, Jamison quickly evolved into a top scoring option for the Warriors, improving to 19.6 points per game (on 47.1% shooting) with 8.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 1999-2000. The next year he averaged a career-high 24.9 points per game (44.2% shooting), plus 8.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, highlighted by back-to-back career-high 51-point outputs vs. the Supersonics and the Los Angeles Lakers (the latter in an epic duel vs. Kobe Bryant). However, despite being a 20-point scorer annually in Golden State, Jamison never earned any honors (i.e. All-Star Game or All-NBA selections) as a Warrior, in part due to the team’s overall struggles. Following another season averaging 22.2 points per game in 2002-2003, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks with Danny Fortson, Chris Mills, and Jiri Welsch in a blockbuster deal for Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, and Antoine Rigaudeau.
A starter for essentially his entire time in Golden State, Jamison embraced the sixth man role in Dallas, posting 14.8 points (on a career-best 53.5% shooting), 6.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game in 2003-2004 to win the Sixth Man of the Year award. He only spent one season with the Mavericks, though, and was again traded at season’s end, this time to the Washington Wizards for Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and a first-round pick (later used on Devin Harris). In his first year with the Wizards, Jamison was named an All-Star for the first time on the strength of 19.6 points (43.7% shooting), 7.6 rebounds, and a career-best 2.3 assists per game. Overall, in five-and-half years with Washington, Jamison consistently averaged around 20 points and 8 rebounds per game, including a second and final All-Star selection in 2008-2009: 21.4 points per game on 43.6% shooting with a career-high 10.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Midway through another consistently outstanding season as a Wizard in 2009-2010, he was on the move once again, sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers with Sebastian Telfair in a three-team deal that also saw Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Al Thornton, and the rights to Emir Preldzic traded to the Wizards and Drew Gooden sent to the Lakers.
In the aftermath of LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat, Jamison remained a steady scoring option for the Cavaliers even as he entered his mid-30s – after averaging 15.8 points per game in half a season in Cleveland playing alongside LeBron, Jamison averaged 18.0 points in 2010-2011 and 17.2 points in 2011-2012 as one of the Cavaliers’ top scoring options. Nevertheless, he was clearly on the downside of his career and joined the Lakers in 2012-2013 in a reserve role; his 9.4 points per game with Los Angeles was a then-career low. Signing with the crosstown Los Angeles Clippers for the 2013-2014 season, Jamison played 22 games with the Clippers and became just the 39th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks for the draft rights to Cenk Akyol; waived immediately by the Hawks, Jamison retired from the NBA at age 37.
As for Lewis, following his early struggles adjusting to the NBA, he finally seized a starting role in 2000-2001 and broke out with 14.8 points (on 48.0% shooting), 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. From there, he continued to improve each year and became a steady sidekick to superstar guard Ray Allen, increasing his scoring to 16.8 points per game in 2001-2002 (along with a career-high 7.0 rebounds per game) and then 18.1 points per game in 2002-2003. Still just 25 years old, Lewis made the next step in 2004-2005: by scoring 20.5 points per game on 46.2% shooting with 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, he averaged 20+ points for the first time and made his first All-Star Team. For the next couple of seasons, he continued to be a 20+ points per game scorer for Seattle:
- 2005-2006: 20.1 points (46.7% shooting), 5.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game
- 2006-2007: a career-high 22.4 points (46.1% shooting), 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game
A free agent after the 2006-2007 season, Lewis joined the Orlando Magic on a lucrative sign-and-trade deal, leaving Seattle as the franchise leader in career three-pointers made. Intended to be a complementary star to franchise big man Dwight Howard, Lewis was somewhat of a disappointment in Orlando, as he never averaged 20+ points per game again. Nevertheless, after a solid inaugural season with the Magic (18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game), he made a second and final All-Star Game in 2008-2009 with 17.7 points per game on 43.9% shooting plus 5.7 rebounds and a career-best 2.6 assists per game. However, Lewis was suspended for using a banned substance for the start of the 2009-2010 campaign and saw his production dip that year (just 14.1 points per game); as he continued to struggle in 2010-2011, he was traded midway through the season to the Wizards for Gilbert Arenas, though the deal did little to reverse his fortunes.
Across a season-and-a-half with Washington, Lewis played 60 total regular season games and averaged under 10 points per game (9.7); sent to the New Orleans Hornets with a second-round draft pick in the 2012 offseason for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor, he was immediately waived by the Hornets and would sign with the Miami Heat. Despite being reunited with his former Seattle running mate Ray Allen, Lewis was a shell of his former self with the Heat – in two full seasons coming off the bench in Miami, he played roughly 15 minutes a night and scored a paltry 5 points per game. Finally, Lewis would sign with the Mavericks ahead of the 2014-2015 season, but never played for Dallas due to a knee injury; while he last suited up for an NBA game during the 2013-2014 season at age 34, Lewis later played for the 3 Headed Monsters in the BIG3 league in 2017 and earned league MVP honors.
Interestingly, the careers of Jamison and Lewis overlapped exactly for 16 NBA seasons between 1998 and 2014, and the two are separated by just 34 total regular season games played. Across this timespan, Jamison averaged more points (18.5 to 14.9) and more rebounds (7.5 to 5.2), while Lewis had marginally more assists (1.7 to 1.6 per game) and better shooting efficiency. The duo were each 2x All-Stars, though Jamison was also on the All-Rookie Team and won a Sixth Man of the Year Award. Furthermore, the advanced metrics also tell somewhat of a mixed story: on one hand, Jamison had a higher career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 18.1 to 16.8, but on the other hand, Lewis accumulated slightly more career Win-Shares (90.9 to 87.8). Not surprisingly, the two matched up against each other numerous times – across 39 career regular season head-to-head matchup, Lewis’ teams came out comfortably ahead 27-12 despite better individual numbers from Jamison (19.5 points per game on 46.0% shooting with 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game vs. 15.8 points per game on 48.1% shooting with 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game). Though both players had very good NBA careers for a long time, neither is likely to ever be selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Regular Season Statistics
| Antawn Jamison | Player | Rashard Lewis |
| 16 (1998-2014) | Seasons | 16 (1998-2014) |
| 1,083 | Games Played | 1,049 |
| 18.5 | Points | 14.9 |
| 7.5 | Rebounds | 5.2 |
| 1.6 | Assists | 1.7 |
| 45.1% | Field Goal % | 45.2% |
| 72.4% | Free Throw % | 80.5% |
| 18.1 | PER | 16.8 |
| 87.8 | Win Shares | 90.9 |
| 2x | All-Star Games | 2x |
| – | All-NBA | – |
| – | MVP | – |
| – | NBA Titles | 1x |
| – | NBA Finals MVP | – |
| 1x Sixth Man, All-Rookie | Other Awards | – |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Though they put up prolific individual numbers, team success was harder to come by for both Jamison and Lewis; in fact, Jamison never played on a serious title contender, while Lewis only tasted postseason glory later on in his career.
During his time in Golden State, Jamison never even managed to make the playoffs; later on, he made the postseason 7x across four different teams (1x Dallas, 4x Washington, 1x Cleveland, 1x Los Angeles), including four straight years with the Wizards in the mid-2000s, highlighted by averaging 32.0 points per game in the 2006-2007 postseason. However, he only managed to advance past the first round twice and on those occasions, lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Meanwhile, in the first stage of his career with Seattle, Lewis made three postseason trips, but only advanced out of the first round once; as a member of the Magic, he guided the team to three consecutive playoff appearances alongside Howard, most notably advancing to the 2008-2009 NBA Finals before falling to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in five games – for his part, Lewis averaged 41.1 minutes per game in the postseason with 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. A few years later, he would finally break through and win a title with the Heat, though only played in 11 games and was a little-used reserve on a team led by the triumvirate of LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Additionally, while they were never quite the cream of the crop for Team USA, both players did have limited international experience and won a medal: a bronze medal for Jamison at the 2006 World Championships in Japan and a gold medal for Lewis at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.
Playoff Statistics
| Antawn Jamison | Player | Rashard Lewis |
| 46 | Games Played | 93 |
| 17.2 | Points | 12.8 |
| 7.2 | Rebounds | 4.7 |
| 1.3 | Assists | 1.8 |
| 44.8% | Field Goal % | 43.6% |
| 70.6% | Free Throw % | 81.8% |
| 16.5 | PER | 15.3 |
| 3.1 | Win Shares | 6.7 |
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; Jamison was relatively consistent for most of his career (save for his rookie year and his time in Los Angeles), but sandwiched between Lewis’ prime years, he struggled early on with the Supersonics and fell off relatively quickly in in the 2010s. 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
| Antawn Jamison | Player | Rashard Lewis |
| 2000-2010 | Decade of Dominance | 2000-2010 |
| 774 | Games Played | 747 |
| 20.4 | Points | 18.0 |
| 8.1 | Rebounds | 5.9 |
| 1.8 | Assists | 2.0 |
| 45.6% | Field Goal % | 45.5% |
| 74.0% | Free Throw % | 81.4% |
| 18.8 | PER | 17.7 |
| 74.1 | Win Shares | 81.0 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
In looking just at each player’s best decade in the Association, Jamison remains the better all-around player: higher scoring (20+ points per game) and rebounding averages with a comparable shooting percentage from the field, though less of a playmaker than Lewis. Interestingly, once again, the former has a better PER, but the latter amassed more Win-Shares during this span.
My Thoughts
While Antawn Jamison and Rashard Lewis never quite rose to the level of being a franchise superstar capable of single-handedly carrying a team, they were nevertheless both very accomplished players, the type of complementary star every team needs (e.g. Lewis was the Robin first to Ray Allen’s Batman, and then, in the same role with Dwight Howard in Orlando). Unfortunately, Jamison never really had the opportunity to play with that kind of superstar for a prolonged period of time and was too often called upon to be the alpha dog (see his time in Golden State and Washington). As a result, he may be unfairly viewed as not a “winning” player, but overall, I still give him the slight edge over Lewis: a slightly better scorer and rebounder who also maintained a high level of play for a longer period of time. In a sense, both players came into the league about a decade too early, when the NBA was not yet fully suited for their strengths; in today’s game, their versatile skills and ability to shoot from outside would be invaluable – imagine how prolific a three-point shooter Jamison or Lewis would be today!
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Antawn Jamison
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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