Billy Cunningham vs. Karl-Anthony Towns Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl-Anthony Towns 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, 1 less than Karl-Anthony Towns, who played 10. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, while Karl-Anthony Towns had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1965-66	2015-16
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	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:	+2	+5.3	+4.0			+3.0	+0.6				-0.8	+2.2	+1.5	+.116				+0.8	+2.1	+.177
Karl-Anthony Towns	82	32.0	18.3	2.8	7.7	10.5	2.0	0.7	1.7	2.2	3.0	7.6	14.1	.542	0.4	1.1	.341	2.7	3.4	.811
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1966-67	2016-17
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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	+10.2	+6.6			+5.0	+0.2				-0.3	+2.9	+3.0	+.083				+0.4	+1.7	+.146
Karl-Anthony Towns	82	37.0	25.1	3.6	8.7	12.3	2.7	0.7	1.3	2.6	2.9	9.8	18.0	.542	1.2	3.4	.367	4.3	5.2	.832
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1967-68	2017-18
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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		%
Billy Cunningham	74	28.1	18.9	-	-	7.6	2.5	-	-	-	3.5	7.0	15.9	.438	-	-	-	5.0	6.9	.723
difference:	+8	+7.5	+2.4			+4.7	+0.1					+0.8	+1.6	+.107				+0.8	+2.0	+.135
Karl-Anthony Towns	82	35.6	21.3	2.9	9.4	12.3	2.4	0.8	1.4	1.9	3.5	7.8	14.3	.545	1.5	3.5	.421	4.2	4.9	.858
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	3	28.7	20.7	-	-	7.3	3.3	-	-	-	5.3	8.0	14.3	.558	-	-	-	4.7	5.7	.824
difference:	+2	+5.3	+5.5			+6.1	+1.1				-2.5	+2.4	+2.3	+.091				+1.3	+1.1	+.085
Karl-Anthony Towns	5	34.0	15.2	3.0	10.4	13.4	2.2	0.4	1.0	2.4	2.8	5.6	12.0	.467	0.6	2.2	.273	3.4	4.6	.739

Season 4
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1968-69	2018-19
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	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:	+5	+7.7	+0.4			+0.4	+0.1				-0.2	+0.2	+4.1	+.092				+1.9	+3.4	+.099
Karl-Anthony Towns	77	33.1	24.4	3.4	9.0	12.4	3.4	0.9	1.6	3.1	3.8	8.8	17.1	.518	1.8	4.6	.400	4.9	5.8	.836
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1969-70	2019-20
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	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:	+46	+5.5	+0.4			+2.8	+0.1				-0.8	+0.9	+3.3	+.039				+1.2	+2.1	+.067
Karl-Anthony Towns	35	33.9	26.5	2.7	8.1	10.8	4.4	0.9	1.2	3.1	3.3	9.0	17.8	.508	3.3	7.9	.412	5.1	6.5	.796
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1970-71	2020-21
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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:	+31	+4.3	+1.8			+1.1	+0.4				-0.3	+0.2	+1.3	+.024				+0.3	+1.5	+.125
Karl-Anthony Towns	50	33.8	24.8	2.7	7.9	10.6	4.5	0.8	1.1	3.2	3.7	8.5	17.5	.486	2.4	6.3	.387	5.3	6.2	.859
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1971-72	2021-22
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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:	+1	+5.2	+1.3			+2.4	+2.3				-0.3	+0.1	+2.6	+.068				+0.5	+1.7	+.110
Karl-Anthony Towns	74	33.5	24.6	2.6	7.2	9.8	3.6	1.0	1.1	3.1	3.6	8.7	16.4	.529	2.0	4.9	.410	5.2	6.3	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl-Anthony Towns	6	37.0	21.8	1.8	9.0	10.8	2.2	0.7	2.0	4.5	4.2	6.5	13.3	.488	1.7	3.7	.455	7.2	8.3	.860

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

Season 9
	Billy Cunningham	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1975-76	2023-24
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Timberwolves Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

9th 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	20	32.0	13.7	1.5	5.9	7.4	5.4	1.2	0.5	-	2.9	5.2	12.6	.410	-	-	-	3.4	4.4	.773
difference:	+42	+0.7	+8.1		+0.9	+0.9	+2.4	+0.5	+0.2		-0.4	+2.5	+2.7	+.094				+0.7	+0.3	+.100
Karl-Anthony Towns	62	32.7	21.8	1.5	6.8	8.3	3.0	0.7	0.7	2.9	3.3	7.7	15.3	.504	2.2	5.3	.416	4.1	4.7	.873
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl-Anthony Towns	16	32.6	19.1	2.2	6.8	9.0	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.7	3.4	6.8	14.5	.466	1.9	5.2	.361	3.7	4.3	.855

Additional Years
* Karl-Anthony Towns played 1 season more than Billy Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his season 10 in 2025—Karl-Anthony Towns played in the Playoffs. In that extra year over Billy Cunningham, Karl-Anthony Towns got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Star Game