Bill Russell vs. Jalen Williams Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jalen Williams and Bill Russell, 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.

Bill Russell played 13 years in the NBA, 10 more than Jalen Williams, who played 3. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Jalen Williams had his rookie season in 2022-23. 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
	Bill Russell	Jalen Williams
Season	1956-57	2022-23
Team	Boston Celtics	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
difference:	+27	+5.0	+0.6			+15.1	+1.5				-0.5	+0.3	+2.9	+.094				+1.1	+3.9	+.320
Jalen Williams	75	30.3	14.1	1.1	3.4	4.5	3.3	1.4	0.5	1.6	2.5	5.5	10.6	.521	1.0	2.7	.356	2.1	2.5	.812
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508
Jalen Williams	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Bill Russell	Jalen Williams
Season	1957-58	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Thunder Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
difference:	+2	+7.0	+2.5			+18.7	+1.6				-0.1	+0.9	+1.0	+.098				+0.8	+3.3	+.295
Jalen Williams	71	31.3	19.1	0.5	3.5	4.0	4.5	1.1	0.6	1.7	2.5	7.5	14.0	.540	1.5	3.4	.427	2.5	3.1	.814
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606
difference:	+1	+1.7	+3.6			+17.8	+2.7				-0.6	+2.2	+1.2	+.108				+2.2	+4.6	+.209
Jalen Williams	10	37.7	18.7	1.3	5.5	6.8	5.4	1.7	0.5	1.9	2.1	7.5	16.0	.469	1.5	3.9	.385	2.2	2.7	.815

Season 3
	Bill Russell	Jalen Williams
Season	1958-59	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
difference:	+1	+10.2	+4.9			+17.7	+1.9					+1.7	+2.7	+.027				+0.3	+1.8	+.191
Jalen Williams	69	32.4	21.6	0.9	4.5	5.3	5.1	1.6	0.7	2.2	2.3	8.2	16.9	.484	1.8	4.9	.365	3.4	4.3	.789
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612
difference:	+12	+10.5	+5.9			+22.2	+1.2				-0.3	+1.8	+2.7	+.040				+0.7	+0.5	+.177
Jalen Williams	23	34.6	21.4	1.0	4.5	5.5	4.8	1.4	0.4	1.8	2.2	7.7	17.2	.449	1.5	5.0	.304	4.4	5.6	.789

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 10 seasons more than Jalen Williams in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 4 to 13, from 1960 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 10 Playoffs and won 9 NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Jalen Williams, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 7 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 10 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP