Billy Cunningham vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 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, 2 more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who played 7. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his rookie season in 2018-19. 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	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1965-66	2018-19
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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	+0.2	+3.5			+4.7	+0.7				-1.7	+1.2	+3.9	+.050				+1.6	+3.1	+.166
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	82	26.5	10.8	0.7	2.1	2.8	3.3	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.1	4.2	8.7	.476	0.6	1.7	.367	1.9	2.4	.800
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:	+2	+11.5	+8.4			+1.8	+0.7					+3.4	+2.2	+.306						+.004
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	6	28.8	13.7	0.7	2.0	2.7	3.2	1.0	0.8	0.8	2.8	4.7	10.0	.467	1.5	3.0	.500	2.8	3.3	.850

Season 2
	Billy Cunningham	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1966-67	2019-20
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Thunder Lost West 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:	+11	+7.9	+0.5			+1.4	+0.8				-1.5	+0.1	+0.5	+.012				+0.6	+1.8	+.121
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	70	34.7	19.0	0.7	5.2	5.9	3.3	1.1	0.7	1.9	1.7	6.8	14.5	.471	1.2	3.6	.347	4.1	5.1	.807
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:	+8	+17.3	+1.3			+0.9	+1.9				-1.1	+0.1	+1.8	+.057				+0.8	+2.7	+.301
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	7	39.9	16.3	0.4	4.9	5.3	4.1	1.0	0.4	2.1	2.4	5.6	12.9	.433	2.0	5.0	.400	3.1	3.3	.957

Season 4
	Billy Cunningham	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1968-69	2021-22
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
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:	+26	+6.1	+0.3			+7.8	+2.4				-1.5	+0.5	+2.4	+.027				+0.9	+2.0	+.073
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	56	34.7	24.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	5.9	1.3	0.8	2.8	2.5	8.5	18.8	.453	1.6	5.3	.300	5.9	7.2	.810
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
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Billy Cunningham	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1969-70	2022-23
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First 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:	+13	+3.9	+5.3			+8.8	+1.2				-1.3	+0.5	+0.8	+.041				+3.5	+2.3	+.176
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	68	35.5	31.4	0.9	4.0	4.8	5.5	1.6	1.0	2.8	2.8	10.4	20.3	.510	0.9	2.5	.345	9.8	10.9	.905
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
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1970-71	2023-24
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder Lost West 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:	+6	+4.1	+7.1			+6.2	+1.3				-1.5	+1.9	+1.0	+.073				+2.0	+1.0	+.140
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	75	34.0	30.1	0.9	4.7	5.5	6.2	2.0	0.9	2.2	2.5	10.6	19.8	.535	1.3	3.6	.353	7.6	8.7	.874
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:	+3	+3.1	+4.3			+8.2	+0.7				-0.9	+1.5	+2.1	+.024				+0.3	+1.5	+.089
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	10	39.9	30.2	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.4	1.3	1.7	2.2	3.1	11.1	22.4	.496	1.6	3.7	.432	6.4	8.1	.790

Season 7
	Billy Cunningham	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Season	1971-72	2024-25
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Cup All-Tournament Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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	+4.5	+9.4			+7.2	+0.5				-1.7	+2.5	+2.8	+.058				+2.2	+0.8	+.186
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	76	34.2	32.7	0.9	4.1	5.0	6.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.2	11.3	21.8	.519	2.1	5.7	.375	7.9	8.8	.898
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	23	37.0	29.9	1.0	4.3	5.3	6.5	1.7	0.9	2.6	2.8	10.1	21.9	.462	1.4	4.9	.283	8.3	9.4	.876