Billy Cunningham vs. Nikola Vucevic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Vucevic 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 Nikola Vucevic, who played 14. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, while Nikola Vucevic had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1965-66	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Billy Cunningham	80	26.7	14.3	-	-	7.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	12.6	.426	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	.634
difference:	+29	+10.8	+8.8			+2.7	+2.0				-1.6	+2.8	+6.9	+.024				+3.1	+4.8	+.105
Nikola Vucevic	51	15.9	5.5	1.7	3.1	4.8	0.6	0.4	0.7	0.6	2.2	2.6	5.7	.450	0.1	0.2	.375	0.4	0.7	.529
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
difference:	+3	+14.3	+4.3			+3.5	+2.5				-2.8	+1.3	+6.8	+.161				+1.8	+1.3	+.346
Nikola Vucevic	1	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.0	.500

Season 2
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1966-67	2012-13
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
Billy Cunningham	81	26.8	18.5	-	-	7.3	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	6.9	15.0	.459	-	-	-	4.7	6.9	.686
difference:	+4	+6.4	+5.4			+4.6	+0.6				-0.4	+0.9	+3.5	+.060				+3.6	+5.3	+.003
Nikola Vucevic	77	33.2	13.1	3.5	8.4	11.9	1.9	0.8	1.0	1.8	2.8	6.0	11.5	.519	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.6	.683
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
Nikola Vucevic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1968-69	2014-15
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Billy Cunningham	82	40.8	24.8	-	-	12.8	3.5	-	-	-	4.0	9.0	21.2	.426	-	-	-	6.8	9.2	.737
difference:	+8	+6.6	+5.5			+1.9	+1.5				-1.0	+0.5	+4.9	+.097				+4.6	+6.3	+.015
Nikola Vucevic	74	34.2	19.3	3.2	7.7	10.9	2.0	0.7	0.7	2.0	3.0	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.1	.333	2.2	2.9	.752
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
Nikola Vucevic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1969-70	2015-16
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Billy Cunningham	81	39.4	26.1	-	-	13.6	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	9.9	21.1	.469	-	-	-	6.3	8.6	.729
difference:	+16	+8.1	+7.9			+4.7	+1.5				-1.4	+1.7	+5.0	+.041				+4.6	+6.3	+.024
Nikola Vucevic	65	31.3	18.2	2.7	6.2	8.9	2.8	0.8	1.1	1.9	2.7	8.2	16.1	.510	0.0	0.1	.222	1.7	2.3	.753
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
Nikola Vucevic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1970-71	2016-17
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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:	+6	+9.3	+8.4			+1.3	+2.1				-1.6	+2.3	+5.1	+.006				+4.2	+5.6	+.065
Nikola Vucevic	75	28.8	14.6	2.3	8.0	10.4	2.8	1.0	1.0	1.6	2.4	6.4	13.7	.468	0.3	1.0	.307	1.4	2.1	.669
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
Nikola Vucevic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1971-72	2017-18
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Billy Cunningham	75	38.7	23.3	-	-	12.2	5.9	-	-	-	3.9	8.8	19.0	.461	-	-	-	5.7	8.0	.712
difference:	+18	+9.2	+6.8			+3.0	+2.5				-1.4	+1.8	+4.3	+.014				+4.3	+6.4	+.107
Nikola Vucevic	57	29.5	16.5	1.8	7.4	9.2	3.4	1.0	1.1	1.9	2.5	7.0	14.7	.475	1.1	3.6	.314	1.4	1.6	.819
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Billy Cunningham nor Nikola Vucevic played in the postseason in their season 7

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

Season 8
	Billy Cunningham	Nikola Vucevic
Season	1974-75	2018-19
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:		+4.3	+1.3	+1.2	+1.7	+2.9	+1.7	+0.1	+0.7		-1.4	+1.2	+0.9	+.090				+2.1	+2.8	+.012
Nikola Vucevic	80	31.4	20.8	2.8	9.2	12.0	3.8	1.0	1.1	2.0	2.0	8.8	16.9	.518	1.1	2.9	.364	2.2	2.8	.789
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Vucevic	5	29.4	11.2	1.8	6.2	8.0	3.0	0.4	1.0	2.6	2.4	4.2	11.6	.362	0.6	2.6	.231	2.2	2.8	.786

Additional Years
* Nikola Vucevic played 5 seasons more than Billy Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 14, from 2021 to 2025—Nikola Vucevic played in one postseason. In those 5 extra years over Billy Cunningham, Nikola Vucevic got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game