Billy Cunningham vs. Bernard King Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bernard King and Billy Cunningham, 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.

Billy Cunningham played 9 years in the NBA, 5 less than Bernard King, who played 14. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, while Bernard King had his rookie season in 1977-78. 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
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1965-66	1977-78
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Billy Cunningham	80	26.7	14.3	-	-	7.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	12.6	.426	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	.634
difference:	+1	+12.4	+9.9			+2.0	+0.2					+4.7	+8.5	+.053				+0.5	+0.3	+.043
Bernard King	79	39.1	24.2	3.4	6.2	9.5	2.4	1.5	0.5	3.9	3.8	10.1	21.1	.479	-	-	-	4.0	5.8	.677
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	4	17.3	5.3	-	-	4.5	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	1.3	7.8	.161	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.846
Bernard King	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1966-67	1978-79
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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		%
Billy Cunningham	81	26.8	18.5	-	-	7.3	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	6.9	15.0	.459	-	-	-	4.7	6.9	.686
difference:	+1	+8.1	+3.1			+0.9	+1.1				-0.8	+1.8	+1.6	+.063				+0.4	+0.6	+.122
Bernard King	82	34.9	21.6	3.1	5.1	8.2	3.6	1.4	0.5	3.9	4.0	8.7	16.6	.522	-	-	-	4.3	7.5	.564
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	15	22.6	15.0	-	-	6.2	2.2	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	14.7	.376	-	-	-	3.9	6.0	.656
difference:	+13	+17.9	+11.0			+0.7	+1.3				-1.5	+5.0	+6.3	+.124				+1.1	+6.0	+.239
Bernard King	2	40.5	26.0	2.5	3.0	5.5	3.5	2.0	0.0	3.0	5.0	10.5	21.0	.500	-	-	-	5.0	12.0	.417

Season 4
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1968-69	1980-81
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	82	40.8	24.8	-	-	12.8	3.5	-	-	-	4.0	9.0	21.2	.426	-	-	-	6.8	9.2	.737
difference:	+1	+4.8	+2.9			+6.0					-0.2		+5.8	+.162				+3.0	+3.8	+.034
Bernard King	81	36.0	21.9	2.2	4.6	6.8	3.5	0.9	0.4	3.3	3.8	9.0	15.4	.588	0.0	0.1	.333	3.8	5.4	.703
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	5	43.4	24.4	-	-	12.6	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	9.8	23.4	.419	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	.632
Bernard King	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1969-70	1981-82
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	81	39.4	26.1	-	-	13.6	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	9.9	21.1	.469	-	-	-	6.3	8.6	.729
difference:	+2	+3.2	+2.9			+7.7	+0.7				-0.5	+0.5	+4.6	+.097				+1.8	+2.3	+.024
Bernard King	79	36.2	23.2	1.8	4.2	5.9	3.6	1.0	0.3	3.4	3.6	9.4	16.5	.566	0.0	0.1	.200	4.5	6.3	.705
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	5	41.0	29.2	-	-	10.4	4.0	-	-	-	3.8	12.2	24.6	.496	-	-	-	4.8	7.2	.667
Bernard King	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1970-71	1982-83
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	81	38.1	23.0	-	-	11.7	4.9	-	-	-	4.0	8.7	18.8	.462	-	-	-	5.6	7.7	.734
difference:	+13	+5.6	+1.1			+6.9	+2.0				-0.6	+0.2	+2.0	+.066				+1.5	+2.0	+.012
Bernard King	68	32.5	21.9	1.5	3.3	4.8	2.9	1.3	0.2	2.9	3.4	8.9	16.8	.528	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.7	.722
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	7	43.0	25.9	-	-	15.4	5.7	-	-	-	4.0	9.6	20.3	.472	-	-	-	6.7	9.6	.701
difference:	+1	+12.3	+2.4			+11.4	+3.5				-1.3	+0.3	+4.1	+.105				+2.0	+3.8	+.099
Bernard King	6	30.7	23.5	1.3	2.7	4.0	2.2	0.3	0.0	1.7	2.7	9.3	16.2	.577	0.2	0.5	.333	4.7	5.8	.800

Season 7
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1971-72	1983-84
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	75	38.7	23.3	-	-	12.2	5.9	-	-	-	3.9	8.8	19.0	.461	-	-	-	5.7	8.0	.712
difference:	+2	+4.1	+3.0			+7.1	+3.8				-0.4	+1.5	+0.9	+.111					+0.7	+.067
Bernard King	77	34.6	26.3	1.6	3.5	5.1	2.1	1.0	0.2	2.6	3.5	10.3	18.1	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	5.7	7.3	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bernard King	12	39.8	34.8	2.3	3.8	6.2	3.0	1.2	0.5	2.6	4.0	13.5	23.5	.574	0.0	0.1	.000	7.8	10.3	.756

Note: Billy Cunningham didn't play in 1972-73 and 1973-74.

Season 8
	Billy Cunningham	Bernard King
Season	1974-75	1984-85
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	80	35.7	19.5	1.6	7.5	9.1	5.5	1.1	0.4	-	3.4	7.6	17.8	.428	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.777
difference:	+25	+1.8	+13.4	+0.5	+3.8	+3.3	+1.8	+0.2	+0.1		-0.1	+5.0	+5.9	+.102				+3.4	+4.4	+.005
Bernard King	55	37.5	32.9	2.1	3.7	5.8	3.7	1.3	0.3	3.7	3.5	12.6	23.7	.530	0.0	0.2	.100	7.7	10.0	.772
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Billy Cunningham nor Bernard King played in the postseason in their season 8

Note: Bernard King didn't play in 1985-86.

Additional Years
* Bernard King played 5 seasons more than Billy Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 14, from 1988 to 1993—Bernard King played in two Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Billy Cunningham, Bernard King got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Star Game