Billy Ray Bates vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan and Billy Ray Bates, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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 Ray Bates played 4 years in the NBA, 11 less than Michael Jordan, who played 15. Billy Ray Bates had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Michael Jordan had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Billy Ray Bates	4	2	1979-80 to 1982-83
Michael Jordan	15	13	1984-85 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15


Rookie Season
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	1979-80	1984-85
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	16	14.7	11.3	0.8	1.0	1.8	1.9	0.9	0.1	1.3	1.6	4.5	9.1	.493	0.5	1.2	.421	1.8	2.4	.718
Michael Jordan	82	38.3	28.2	2.0	4.5	6.5	5.9	2.4	0.8	3.5	3.5	10.2	19.8	.515	0.1	0.6	.173	7.7	9.1	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	3	34.7	25.0	0.7	2.7	3.3	4.0	1.7	0.3	5.0	4.3	10.3	19.7	.525	0.7	2.3	.286	3.7	4.7	.786
Michael Jordan	4	42.8	29.3	1.8	4.0	5.8	8.5	2.8	1.0	3.8	3.8	8.5	19.5	.436	0.3	2.0	.125	12.0	14.5	.828


Season 2
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	1980-81	1985-86
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	77	20.3	13.8	0.9	1.1	2.0	2.5	1.1	0.1	1.9	1.6	5.7	11.7	.487	0.2	0.7	.259	2.2	2.6	.854
Michael Jordan	18	25.1	22.7	1.3	2.3	3.6	2.9	2.1	1.2	2.5	2.6	8.3	18.2	.457	0.2	1.0	.167	5.8	6.9	.840

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	3	38.3	28.3	1.0	1.3	2.3	4.3	1.7	0.3	3.7	3.7	11.7	20.7	.565	0.3	0.3	1.000	4.7	5.7	.824
Michael Jordan	3	45.0	43.7	1.7	4.7	6.3	5.7	2.3	1.3	4.7	4.3	16.0	31.7	.505	0.3	0.3	1.000	11.3	13.0	.872


Season 3
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	1981-82	1986-87
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	75	16.4	11.1	0.7	0.7	1.4	1.5	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.3	4.4	9.2	.473	0.2	0.5	.293	2.2	2.8	.787
Michael Jordan	82	40.0	37.1	2.0	3.2	5.2	4.6	2.9	1.5	3.3	2.9	13.4	27.8	.482	0.1	0.8	.182	10.2	11.9	.857

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	3	42.7	35.7	2.3	4.7	7.0	6.0	2.0	2.3	2.7	3.7	11.7	28.0	.417	0.7	1.7	.400	11.7	13.0	.897


Season 4
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	1982-83	1987-88
Team	Washington Bullets, Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	19	16.0	6.5	0.6	0.4	1.0	0.7	0.7	0.2	0.6	1.0	2.9	7.6	.379	0.1	0.3	.400	0.6	1.2	.500
Michael Jordan	82	40.4	35.0	1.7	3.8	5.5	5.9	3.2	1.6	3.1	3.3	13.0	24.4	.535	0.1	0.6	.132	8.8	10.5	.841

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	10	42.7	36.3	2.3	4.8	7.1	4.7	2.4	1.1	3.9	3.8	13.8	26.0	.531	0.1	0.3	.333	8.6	9.9	.869


Season 5
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1988-89
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bulls Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	81	40.2	32.5	1.8	6.2	8.0	8.0	2.9	0.8	3.6	3.0	11.9	22.2	.538	0.3	1.2	.276	8.3	9.8	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	17	42.2	34.8	1.5	5.5	7.0	7.6	2.5	0.8	4.0	3.8	11.7	22.9	.510	0.6	2.1	.286	10.8	13.5	.799


Season 6
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1989-90
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bulls Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	39.0	33.6	1.7	5.1	6.9	6.3	2.8	0.7	3.0	2.9	12.6	24.0	.526	1.1	3.0	.376	7.2	8.5	.848

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	16	42.1	36.7	1.5	5.7	7.2	6.8	2.8	0.9	3.5	3.4	13.7	26.6	.514	1.0	3.1	.320	8.3	9.9	.836


Season 7
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1990-91
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	37.0	31.5	1.4	4.6	6.0	5.5	2.7	1.0	2.5	2.8	12.1	22.4	.539	0.4	1.1	.312	7.0	8.2	.851

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	17	40.5	31.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	8.4	2.4	1.4	2.5	3.1	11.6	22.1	.524	0.6	1.5	.385	7.4	8.7	.845


Season 8
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1991-92
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	80	38.8	30.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	6.1	2.3	0.9	2.5	2.5	11.8	22.7	.519	0.3	1.3	.270	6.1	7.4	.832

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	22	41.8	34.5	1.7	4.5	6.2	5.8	2.0	0.7	3.7	2.8	13.2	26.4	.499	0.8	2.0	.386	7.4	8.6	.857


Season 9
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1992-93
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	78	39.3	32.6	1.7	5.0	6.7	5.5	2.8	0.8	2.7	2.4	12.7	25.7	.495	1.0	2.9	.352	6.1	7.3	.837

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	19	41.2	35.1	1.7	5.1	6.7	6.0	2.1	0.9	2.4	3.1	13.2	27.8	.475	1.5	3.8	.389	7.2	8.9	.805

Note: Michael Jordan didn't play in 1993-94.


Season 10
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1994-95
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	17	39.3	26.9	1.5	5.4	6.9	5.3	1.8	0.8	2.1	2.8	9.8	23.8	.411	0.9	1.9	.500	6.4	8.0	.801

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	10	42.0	31.5	2.0	4.5	6.5	4.5	2.3	1.4	4.1	3.0	12.0	24.8	.484	1.1	3.0	.367	6.4	7.9	.810


Season 11
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1995-96
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	37.7	30.4	1.8	4.8	6.6	4.3	2.2	0.5	2.4	2.4	11.2	22.6	.495	1.4	3.2	.427	6.7	8.0	.834

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	18	40.7	30.7	1.7	3.2	4.9	4.1	1.8	0.3	2.3	2.7	10.4	22.6	.459	1.4	3.4	.403	8.5	10.4	.818


Season 12
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1996-97
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	37.9	29.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	4.3	1.7	0.5	2.0	1.9	11.2	23.1	.486	1.4	3.6	.374	5.9	7.0	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	19	42.3	31.1	2.2	5.7	7.9	4.8	1.6	0.9	2.6	2.4	11.9	26.2	.456	0.7	3.5	.194	6.5	7.8	.831


Season 13
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1997-98
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	38.8	28.7	1.6	4.2	5.8	3.5	1.7	0.5	2.3	1.8	10.7	23.1	.465	0.4	1.5	.238	6.9	8.8	.784

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	21	41.5	32.4	1.6	3.5	5.1	3.5	1.5	0.6	2.1	2.2	11.6	25.0	.462	0.6	2.0	.302	8.6	10.6	.812

Note: Michael Jordan didn't play in 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01.


Season 14
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	2001-02
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	60	34.9	22.9	0.8	4.8	5.7	5.2	1.4	0.4	2.7	2.0	9.2	22.1	.416	0.2	0.9	.189	4.4	5.6	.790

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Billy Ray Bates	Michael Jordan
Season	-	2002-03
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	37.0	20.0	0.9	5.2	6.1	3.8	1.5	0.5	2.1	2.1	8.3	18.6	.445	0.2	0.7	.291	3.2	4.0	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Ray Bates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Billy Ray Bates vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan and Billy Ray Bates, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15