Ben Simmons vs. Russell Westbrook Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Ben Simmons played 7 years in the NBA, 10 less than Russell Westbrook, who played 17. Ben Simmons had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Russell Westbrook had his rookie season in 2008-09. 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.

Rookie Season
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2017-18	2008-09
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	81	33.7	15.8	1.8	6.3	8.1	8.2	1.7	0.9	3.4	2.6	6.7	12.3	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	4.2	.560
difference:	+1	+1.2	+0.5	+0.4	+3.6	+3.2	+2.9	+0.4	+0.7	-0.1	-0.3	+1.4	+1.1	+.147	+0.4	+1.5	+.271	+1.9	+1.0	+.255
Russell Westbrook	82	32.5	15.3	2.2	2.7	4.9	5.3	1.3	0.2	3.3	2.3	5.3	13.4	.398	0.4	1.6	.271	4.3	5.2	.815
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	10	36.9	16.3	1.6	7.8	9.4	7.7	1.7	0.8	4.4	3.4	6.1	12.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.8	.707
Russell Westbrook	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2018-19	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	79	34.2	16.9	2.2	6.6	8.8	7.7	1.4	0.8	3.5	2.6	6.8	12.2	.563	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.600
difference:	+3	+0.1	+0.8	+0.5	+3.5	+3.9	+0.3	+0.1	+0.4	-0.2	-0.1	+0.9	+1.9	+.145	+0.3	+1.2	+.221	+0.7	+0.3	+.180
Russell Westbrook	82	34.3	16.1	1.7	3.1	4.9	8.0	1.3	0.4	3.3	2.5	5.9	14.1	.418	0.3	1.3	.221	4.0	5.1	.780
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	12	35.1	13.9	1.9	5.1	7.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	2.7	3.8	6.0	9.7	.621	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.575
difference:	+6	+0.2	+6.6	+0.2	+0.8	+1.0		+0.4	+0.8	-0.4	-1.6	+1.2	+5.5	+.148	+0.8	+2.0		+3.4	+3.0	+.267
Russell Westbrook	6	35.3	20.5	1.7	4.3	6.0	6.0	1.7	0.2	2.3	2.2	7.2	15.2	.473	0.8	2.0	.417	5.3	6.3	.842

Season 3
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2019-20	2010-11
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	57	35.4	16.4	2.0	5.8	7.8	8.0	2.1	0.6	3.5	3.3	6.6	11.4	.580	0.0	0.1	.286	3.2	5.2	.621
difference:	+25	+0.7	+5.5	+0.5	+2.7	+3.2	+0.2	+0.2	+0.2	-0.4	-0.8	+0.9	+5.6	+.138	+0.4	+1.2	+.044	+3.3	+2.5	+.221
Russell Westbrook	82	34.7	21.9	1.5	3.1	4.6	8.2	1.9	0.4	3.9	2.5	7.5	17.0	.442	0.4	1.3	.330	6.5	7.7	.842
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	17	37.5	23.8	2.1	3.2	5.4	6.4	1.4	0.4	4.6	3.3	7.9	20.2	.394	0.8	2.8	.292	7.1	8.4	.852

Season 4
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2020-21	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	58	32.4	14.3	1.6	5.6	7.2	6.9	1.6	0.6	3.0	2.9	5.6	10.1	.557	0.1	0.2	.300	3.0	4.9	.613
difference:	+8	+2.9	+9.3	+0.1	+2.5	+2.6	+1.4	+0.1	+0.3	-0.6	-0.7	+3.2	+9.1	+.100	+0.8	+2.8	+.016	+2.2	+1.4	+.210
Russell Westbrook	66	35.3	23.6	1.5	3.1	4.6	5.5	1.7	0.3	3.6	2.2	8.8	19.2	.457	0.9	3.0	.316	5.2	6.3	.823
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	12	33.5	11.9	2.1	5.8	7.9	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.3	4.9	7.9	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	6.1	.342
difference:	+8	+4.9	+11.2	+1.0	+1.4	+2.4	+2.9	+0.3	+0.4		-0.8	+4.0	+12.5	+.186	+0.9	+3.2	+.277	+2.4	+0.5	+.460
Russell Westbrook	20	38.4	23.1	1.1	4.4	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.4	2.3	2.5	8.9	20.4	.435	0.9	3.3	.277	4.5	5.6	.802

Note: Ben Simmons didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 5
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2022-23	2012-13
Team	Brooklyn Nets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West Conf Semis

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	42	26.3	6.9	1.0	5.3	6.3	6.1	1.3	0.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	5.6	.566	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.4	.439
difference:	+40	+8.6	+16.3	+0.4	+1.4	+1.1	+1.3	+0.5	+0.3	-1.0	-1.0	+5.0	+13.1	+.128	+1.2	+3.7		+5.0	+5.6	+.361
Russell Westbrook	82	34.9	23.2	1.4	3.9	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.3	3.3	2.3	8.2	18.7	.438	1.2	3.7	.323	5.6	7.0	.800
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	2	34.0	24.0	0.5	6.0	6.5	7.0	3.0	0.0	4.0	2.5	8.5	20.5	.415	1.0	4.5	.222	6.0	7.0	.857

Season 7
	Ben Simmons	Russell Westbrook
Season	2024-25	2014-15
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	51	22.0	5.0	0.9	3.8	4.7	5.6	0.7	0.5	2.0	2.1	2.3	4.4	.520	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.6	.727
difference:	+16	+12.4	+23.1	+1.0	+1.6	+2.6	+3.0	+1.4	+0.3	-2.4	-0.6	+7.1	+17.6	+.094	+1.3	+4.3		+7.6	+9.2	+.108
Russell Westbrook	67	34.4	28.1	1.9	5.4	7.3	8.6	2.1	0.2	4.4	2.7	9.4	22.0	.426	1.3	4.3	.299	8.1	9.8	.835
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ben Simmons	5	8.4	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.2	0.4	1.2	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Russell Westbrook	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Russell Westbrook played 10 seasons more than Ben Simmons in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 17, from 2016 to 2025—Russell Westbrook played in 9 Playoffs. In those 10 extra years over Ben Simmons, Russell Westbrook got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 1 Scoring Leader 3 Assists Leader 5 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP