Billy Cunningham vs. Tim Duncan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tim Duncan 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, 10 less than Tim Duncan, who played 19. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, while Tim Duncan had his rookie season in 1997-98. 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	Tim Duncan
Season	1965-66	1997-98
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Spurs Lost West 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:	+2	+12.4	+6.8			+4.4	+0.1				-0.7	+3.2	+3.1	+.123				+0.4	+0.4	+.028
Tim Duncan	82	39.1	21.1	3.3	8.6	11.9	2.7	0.7	2.5	3.4	3.1	8.6	15.7	.549	0.0	0.1	.000	3.9	5.9	.662
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:	+5	+24.3	+15.4			+4.5	+0.6				-0.1	+6.8	+7.8	+.360				+1.6	+3.4	+.179
Tim Duncan	9	41.6	20.7	2.2	6.8	9.0	1.9	0.6	2.6	2.8	2.7	8.1	15.6	.521	0.0	0.1	.000	4.4	6.7	.667

Season 2
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1966-67	1998-99
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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:	+31	+12.5	+3.2			+4.1	+0.1				-0.3	+1.5	+1.9	+.036				+0.2	+0.3	+.004
Tim Duncan	50	39.3	21.7	3.2	8.2	11.4	2.4	0.9	2.5	2.9	2.9	8.4	16.9	.495	0.0	0.1	.143	4.9	7.2	.690
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:	+2	+20.5	+8.2			+5.3	+0.6				-0.6	+3.0	+1.9	+.135				+2.4	+2.4	+.092
Tim Duncan	17	43.1	23.2	3.2	8.2	11.5	2.8	0.8	2.6	3.1	2.9	8.5	16.6	.511	0.0	0.2	.000	6.3	8.4	.748

Season 3
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1967-68	1999-00
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

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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:		+10.8	+4.3			+4.8	+0.7				-0.7	+1.5	+1.4	+.052				+1.2	+1.2	+.038
Tim Duncan	74	38.9	23.2	3.5	8.9	12.4	3.2	0.9	2.2	3.3	2.8	8.5	17.3	.490	0.0	0.1	.091	6.2	8.1	.761
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
Tim Duncan	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1968-69	2000-01
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

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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:		+2.1	+2.6			+0.6	+0.5				-1.0	+0.4	+4.1	+.073				+1.8	+1.1	+.119
Tim Duncan	82	38.7	22.2	3.2	9.0	12.2	3.0	0.9	2.3	3.0	3.0	8.6	17.1	.499	0.1	0.3	.259	5.0	8.1	.618
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
difference:	+8	+2.9				+1.9	+1.4				-1.5	+0.6	+4.5	+.069				+1.0	+1.6	+.007
Tim Duncan	13	40.5	24.4	4.2	10.3	14.5	3.8	1.1	2.7	3.8	3.3	9.2	18.9	.488	0.1	0.1	1.000	5.8	9.2	.639

Season 5
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1969-70	2001-02
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+1	+1.2	+0.6			+0.9	+0.6				-1.5	+0.6	+2.8	+.039				+0.5	+0.1	+.070
Tim Duncan	82	40.6	25.5	3.3	9.4	12.7	3.7	0.7	2.5	3.2	2.6	9.3	18.3	.508	0.0	0.1	.100	6.8	8.5	.799
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
difference:	+4	+1.2	+1.6			+4.0	+1.0				-1.4	+3.1	+4.5	+.043				+4.4	+4.0	+.155
Tim Duncan	9	42.2	27.6	3.1	11.3	14.4	5.0	0.7	4.3	4.1	2.4	9.1	20.1	.453	0.1	0.3	.333	9.2	11.2	.822

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1970-71	2002-03
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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:		+1.2	+0.3			+1.2	+1.0				-1.1	+0.1	+1.6	+.051					+0.1	+.024
Tim Duncan	81	39.3	23.3	3.2	9.7	12.9	3.9	0.7	2.9	3.1	2.9	8.8	17.2	.513	0.1	0.3	.273	5.6	7.8	.710
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:	+17	+0.5	+1.2				+0.4				-0.7	+0.5	+3.1	+.057				+0.2	+0.1	+.024
Tim Duncan	24	42.5	24.7	4.0	11.4	15.4	5.3	0.6	3.3	3.2	3.3	9.1	17.2	.529	0.0	0.3	.000	6.5	9.7	.677

Season 7
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1971-72	2003-04
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+6	+2.1	+1.0			+0.2	+2.8				-1.5	+0.2	+1.9	+.040				+0.6	+0.5	+.113
Tim Duncan	69	36.6	22.3	3.3	9.2	12.4	3.1	0.9	2.7	2.7	2.4	8.6	17.1	.501	0.0	0.2	.167	5.1	8.5	.599
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tim Duncan	10	40.4	22.1	3.3	8.0	11.3	3.2	0.8	2.0	4.2	3.4	8.3	15.9	.522	0.0	0.1	.000	5.5	8.7	.632

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

Season 8
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1974-75	2004-05
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+14	+2.3	+0.8	+1.5	+0.5	+2.0	+2.8	+0.4	+2.2		-1.2	+0.2	+2.0	+.068				+0.3	+1.3	+.107
Tim Duncan	66	33.4	20.3	3.1	8.0	11.1	2.7	0.7	2.6	1.9	2.2	7.8	15.8	.496	0.0	0.1	.333	4.6	6.9	.670
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tim Duncan	23	37.7	23.6	3.8	8.7	12.4	2.7	0.3	2.3	2.7	2.9	8.6	18.5	.464	0.0	0.2	.200	6.4	8.9	.717

Season 9
	Billy Cunningham	Tim Duncan
Season	1975-76	2005-06
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+60	+2.8	+4.9	+1.4	+2.2	+3.6	+2.2	+0.3	+1.5		-0.2	+2.0	+2.2	+.074				+0.8	+2.3	+.144
Tim Duncan	80	34.8	18.6	2.9	8.1	11.0	3.2	0.9	2.0	2.5	2.7	7.2	14.8	.484	0.0	0.1	.400	4.2	6.7	.629
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tim Duncan	13	37.9	25.8	2.5	8.0	10.5	3.3	0.8	1.9	2.6	3.8	9.3	16.2	.573	0.0	0.2	.000	7.2	10.1	.718

Additional Years
* Tim Duncan played 10 seasons more than Billy Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 19, from 2007 to 2016—Tim Duncan played in 10 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Billy Cunningham, Tim Duncan got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Defensive Second Team 7 All-Star Game