Jimmy Butler vs. J.R. Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of J.R. Smith and Jimmy Butler, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Games against each other

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Jimmy Butler played 13 years in the NBA, 3 less than J.R. Smith, who played 16. Jimmy Butler had the first of his seasons in 2011-12, while J.R. Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Jimmy Butler	13	11	2011-12 to 2023-24
J.R. Smith	16	12	2004-05 to 2019-20

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2011-12	2004-05
Team	Chicago Bulls	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	42	8.5	2.6	0.5	0.8	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.5	0.8	1.9	.405	0.0	0.3	.182	1.0	1.3	.768
J.R. Smith	76	24.5	10.3	0.5	1.5	2.0	1.9	0.7	0.1	1.4	1.8	3.9	9.8	.394	1.1	3.7	.288	1.5	2.1	.689

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
J.R. Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2012-13	2005-06
Team	Chicago Bulls	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	82	26.0	8.6	1.7	2.3	4.0	1.4	1.0	0.4	0.8	1.2	2.9	6.2	.467	0.5	1.3	.381	2.3	2.8	.803
J.R. Smith	55	18.0	7.7	0.3	1.7	2.0	1.1	0.7	0.1	1.0	1.6	2.6	6.7	.393	0.9	2.5	.371	1.5	1.8	.822

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	12	40.8	13.3	0.8	4.4	5.2	2.7	1.3	0.5	1.3	2.2	4.2	9.6	.435	1.3	3.1	.405	3.8	4.6	.818
J.R. Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2013-14	2006-07
Team	Chicago Bulls	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	67	38.7	13.1	1.3	3.6	4.9	2.6	1.9	0.5	1.5	1.6	4.1	10.3	.397	1.0	3.6	.283	3.9	5.0	.769
J.R. Smith	63	23.3	13.0	0.5	1.8	2.3	1.4	0.8	0.1	1.3	2.3	4.5	10.2	.441	2.4	6.1	.390	1.6	2.0	.810

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	5	43.6	13.6	1.2	4.0	5.2	2.2	1.2	0.0	0.6	2.6	4.4	11.4	.386	1.2	4.0	.300	3.6	4.6	.783
J.R. Smith	4	11.8	4.5	0.3	2.0	2.3	0.5	1.0	0.3	0.8	1.5	1.5	5.5	.273	0.0	3.0	.000	1.5	1.5	1.000


Season 4
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2014-15	2007-08
Team	Chicago Bulls	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Most Improved Player	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	65	38.7	20.0	1.8	4.1	5.8	3.3	1.8	0.6	1.4	1.7	6.5	14.0	.462	1.1	3.0	.378	5.9	7.1	.834
J.R. Smith	74	19.2	12.3	0.6	1.5	2.1	1.7	0.8	0.2	1.5	1.9	4.2	9.1	.461	2.1	5.3	.403	1.7	2.4	.719

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	12	42.2	22.9	1.5	4.1	5.6	3.2	2.4	0.8	1.8	2.3	7.8	17.8	.441	2.3	6.0	.389	4.9	6.0	.819
J.R. Smith	4	27.0	18.3	0.3	1.5	1.8	1.8	1.0	0.0	1.3	3.0	5.8	10.8	.535	1.8	5.5	.318	5.0	6.0	.833


Season 5
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2015-16	2008-09
Team	Chicago Bulls	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	67	36.9	20.9	1.2	4.2	5.3	4.8	1.6	0.6	2.0	1.9	7.0	15.4	.454	1.0	3.1	.312	5.9	7.1	.832
J.R. Smith	81	27.7	15.2	0.5	3.1	3.7	2.8	1.0	0.2	1.9	2.3	5.2	11.7	.446	2.2	5.6	.397	2.5	3.4	.754

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	16	27.2	14.9	0.7	2.6	3.3	2.8	1.1	0.3	1.6	3.2	5.5	12.1	.454	2.4	6.6	.358	1.6	2.9	.543


Season 6
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2016-17	2009-10
Team	Chicago Bulls	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	76	37.0	23.9	1.7	4.5	6.2	5.5	1.9	0.4	2.1	1.5	7.5	16.5	.455	1.2	3.3	.367	7.7	8.9	.865
J.R. Smith	75	27.8	15.4	0.4	2.7	3.1	2.4	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.3	5.7	13.8	.414	2.1	6.2	.338	1.9	2.7	.706

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	6	39.8	22.7	1.5	5.8	7.3	4.3	1.7	0.8	2.5	1.7	7.7	18.0	.426	1.0	3.8	.261	6.3	7.8	.809
J.R. Smith	6	26.5	11.2	0.8	3.0	3.8	1.7	0.7	0.3	1.0	2.8	3.5	9.5	.368	1.8	5.2	.355	2.3	2.7	.875


Season 7
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2017-18	2010-11
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	59	36.7	22.2	1.3	4.0	5.3	4.9	2.0	0.4	1.8	1.3	7.4	15.6	.474	1.2	3.4	.350	6.2	7.2	.854
J.R. Smith	79	24.9	12.3	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.2	1.2	0.2	1.3	2.2	4.3	9.9	.435	1.6	4.0	.390	2.1	2.8	.738

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	5	34.0	15.8	0.6	5.4	6.0	4.0	0.8	0.2	1.0	1.8	5.6	12.6	.444	1.6	3.4	.471	3.0	3.6	.833
J.R. Smith	5	15.2	9.8	0.2	1.8	2.0	1.0	0.4	0.0	1.6	1.6	3.2	9.0	.356	1.8	4.2	.429	1.6	2.2	.727


Season 8
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2018-19	2011-12
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	65	33.6	18.7	1.9	3.4	5.3	4.0	1.9	0.6	1.5	1.7	6.4	13.9	.462	1.0	3.0	.347	4.8	5.6	.855
J.R. Smith	35	27.6	12.5	0.8	3.1	3.9	2.4	1.5	0.2	1.3	2.5	4.7	11.6	.407	1.9	5.5	.347	1.1	1.6	.709

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	12	35.1	19.4	1.8	4.2	6.0	5.2	1.5	0.6	1.8	1.7	6.6	14.6	.451	1.0	3.8	.267	5.3	6.0	.875
J.R. Smith	5	35.0	12.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.2	1.2	0.2	2.2	3.8	4.8	15.2	.316	1.0	5.6	.179	1.6	1.6	1.000


Season 9
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2019-20	2012-13
Team	Miami Heat	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Heat Lost NBA Finals	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	58	33.8	19.9	1.8	4.8	6.7	6.0	1.8	0.6	2.2	1.4	5.9	13.1	.455	0.5	2.1	.244	7.6	9.1	.834
J.R. Smith	80	33.5	18.1	0.8	4.5	5.3	2.7	1.3	0.3	1.7	2.8	6.6	15.6	.422	1.9	5.5	.356	3.0	3.9	.762

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	21	38.4	22.2	2.2	4.3	6.5	6.0	2.0	0.7	2.8	1.8	6.9	14.0	.488	0.7	2.0	.349	7.8	9.1	.859
J.R. Smith	11	31.9	14.3	0.5	4.2	4.7	1.4	1.0	0.5	1.8	2.5	4.9	14.8	.331	1.6	6.0	.273	2.8	3.9	.721


Season 10
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2020-21	2013-14
Team	Miami Heat	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Heat Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	52	33.6	21.5	1.8	5.1	6.9	7.1	2.1	0.3	2.1	1.4	7.0	14.2	.497	0.5	2.0	.245	6.9	8.0	.863
J.R. Smith	74	32.7	14.5	0.5	3.5	4.0	3.0	0.9	0.3	1.5	2.6	5.4	12.9	.415	2.6	6.5	.394	1.2	1.9	.652

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	4	38.5	14.5	1.5	6.0	7.5	7.0	1.3	0.3	2.3	1.5	4.8	16.0	.297	1.0	3.8	.267	4.0	5.5	.727
J.R. Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2021-22	2014-15
Team	Miami Heat	New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Heat Lost East Conf Finals	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	57	33.9	21.4	1.8	4.1	5.9	5.5	1.6	0.5	2.1	1.5	7.0	14.5	.480	0.5	2.0	.233	6.9	8.0	.870
J.R. Smith	70	29.7	12.1	0.4	2.7	3.1	2.8	1.2	0.3	1.4	2.3	4.5	10.8	.417	2.3	6.1	.383	0.8	1.0	.750

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	17	37.0	27.4	2.4	4.9	7.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	1.5	1.5	9.8	19.3	.506	1.4	4.0	.338	6.5	7.8	.841
J.R. Smith	18	31.1	12.8	0.5	4.2	4.7	1.2	0.9	0.6	0.8	3.0	4.6	11.4	.403	2.8	7.9	.359	0.8	1.1	.700


Season 12
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2022-23	2015-16
Team	Miami Heat	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Playoffs	Heat Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	64	33.4	22.9	2.2	3.7	5.9	5.3	1.8	0.3	1.6	1.3	7.5	13.9	.539	0.6	1.6	.350	7.4	8.7	.850
J.R. Smith	77	30.7	12.4	0.6	2.3	2.8	1.7	1.1	0.3	0.8	2.6	4.6	11.0	.415	2.6	6.6	.400	0.6	0.9	.634

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	22	39.7	26.9	2.1	4.3	6.5	5.9	1.8	0.6	1.9	1.7	9.4	20.1	.468	1.3	3.5	.359	6.8	8.5	.806
J.R. Smith	21	34.8	11.5	0.3	2.9	3.2	1.4	1.2	0.2	0.5	2.6	3.9	9.0	.436	3.1	7.2	.430	0.6	1.0	.619


Season 13
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	2023-24	2016-17
Team	Miami Heat	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	60	34.0	20.8	1.8	3.6	5.3	5.0	1.3	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.6	13.2	.499	1.0	2.4	.414	6.6	7.7	.858
J.R. Smith	41	29.0	8.6	0.4	2.3	2.8	1.5	1.0	0.3	0.6	1.9	3.0	8.7	.346	2.3	6.6	.351	0.2	0.4	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	18	27.1	8.1	0.3	2.1	2.3	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.3	2.8	5.5	.505	2.2	4.4	.500	0.3	0.6	.455


Season 14
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	80	28.1	8.3	0.4	2.6	2.9	1.8	0.9	0.1	1.0	2.0	3.0	7.4	.403	1.8	4.8	.375	0.5	0.7	.696

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	22	32.1	8.7	0.5	2.3	2.7	1.1	1.0	0.2	0.9	2.5	3.0	8.5	.348	2.0	5.5	.367	0.8	1.0	.773


Season 15
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	11	20.2	6.7	0.0	1.6	1.6	1.9	1.0	0.3	1.0	1.7	2.5	7.2	.342	1.1	3.5	.308	0.7	0.9	.800

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Jimmy Butler	J.R. Smith
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	6	13.2	2.8	0.0	0.8	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.7	0.8	1.2	3.7	.318	0.2	1.8	.091	0.3	0.3	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	10	7.5	2.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.0	0.7	1.1	0.7	2.6	.269	0.6	2.2	.273	0.0	0.0	-

Jimmy Butler vs. J.R. Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of J.R. Smith and Jimmy Butler, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15

Season 16