Adrian Dantley vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson and Adrian Dantley, 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

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.

Adrian Dantley played 15 years in the NBA, 10 more than Zion Williamson, who played 5. Adrian Dantley had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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 achievements, 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
Adrian Dantley 15 7 1976-77 to 1990-91
Zion Williamson 5 0 2019-20 to 2024-25

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:

1-2-3-4-5

Rookie Season
Adrian Dantley Zion Williamson
Season 1976-772019-20
Team Buffalo BravesNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement Rookie of the Year-
Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 77 36.6 20.3 3.3 4.4 7.6 1.9 1.2 0.2 - 2.8 7.1 13.6 .520 - - - 6.2 7.6 .818
difference:+53+8.8+2.2+0.6+0.8+1.3+0.2+0.5+0.2-1.0+1.7+1.4+.063+1.4+0.2+.178
Zion Williamson 24 27.8 22.5 2.7 3.6 6.3 2.1 0.7 0.4 2.5 1.8 8.8 15.0 .583 0.3 0.6 .429 4.8 7.4 .640
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Adrian Dantley nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
Adrian Dantley Zion Williamson
Season 1977-782020-21
Team Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles LakersNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Lakers Lost West Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 79 37.1 21.5 3.4 4.5 7.8 3.2 1.5 0.3 2.9 2.9 7.3 14.3 .512 - - - 6.8 8.6 .796
difference:+18+3.9+5.5+0.7+0.6+0.5+0.6+0.3-0.2-0.7+3.1+2.7+.099+0.8+0.1+.098
Zion Williamson 61 33.2 27.0 2.7 4.5 7.2 3.7 0.9 0.6 2.7 2.2 10.4 17.0 .611 0.2 0.6 .294 6.0 8.7 .698
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 3 34.7 17.0 3.0 5.3 8.3 3.7 1.7 1.0 2.0 3.0 6.7 11.7 .571 - - - 3.7 5.7 .647
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
Adrian Dantley Zion Williamson
Season 1978-792022-23
Team Los Angeles LakersNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Lakers Lost West Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 60 29.6 17.3 2.2 3.5 5.7 2.3 1.1 0.2 2.6 2.7 6.2 12.2 .510 - - - 4.9 5.7 .854
difference:+31+3.4+8.7+0.2+1.5+1.3+2.3+0.4-0.8-0.5+3.6+4.0+.098+1.2+2.9+.140
Zion Williamson 29 33.0 26.0 2.0 5.0 7.0 4.6 1.1 0.6 3.4 2.2 9.8 16.2 .608 0.2 0.7 .368 6.1 8.6 .714
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 8 29.5 17.6 1.3 2.9 4.1 1.4 0.8 0.1 2.4 3.0 6.3 11.1 .562 - - - 5.1 6.5 .788
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Season 4
Adrian Dantley Zion Williamson
Season 1979-802023-24
Team Utah JazzNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 68 39.3 28.0 2.7 4.9 7.6 2.8 1.4 0.2 3.4 3.1 10.7 18.6 .576 0.0 0.0 - 6.5 7.7 .842
difference:+2+7.8+5.1+1.0+0.8+1.8+2.2+0.3+0.5-0.6-0.8+1.8+3.0+.006+0.1+0.3+1.5+0.6+.140
Zion Williamson 70 31.5 22.9 1.7 4.1 5.8 5.0 1.1 0.7 2.8 2.3 8.9 15.6 .570 0.1 0.3 .333 5.0 7.1 .702
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Adrian Dantley nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
Adrian Dantley Zion Williamson
Season 1980-812024-25
Team Utah JazzNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Adrian Dantley 80 42.7 30.7 2.4 4.0 6.4 4.0 1.4 0.2 3.5 3.1 11.4 20.3 .559 0.0 0.1 .286 7.9 9.8 .806
difference:+50+14.1+6.1+0.1+0.7+0.8+1.3+0.2+0.7-0.5-0.4+1.8+3.4+.008+0.1+0.3+.055+2.6+1.8+.150
Zion Williamson 30 28.6 24.6 2.5 4.7 7.2 5.3 1.2 0.9 3.0 2.7 9.6 16.9 .567 0.1 0.4 .231 5.3 8.0 .656
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Adrian Dantley nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 5

Additional Years

* Adrian Dantley played 10 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 6 to 15, from 1982 to 1991—Adrian Dantley played in 5 Playoffs.

In those 10 extra years over Zion Williamson, Adrian Dantley got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 1 All-NBA Second Team
Achievement 1 Scoring Leader
Achievement 4 All-Star Game
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