Buddy Hield vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson and Buddy Hield, 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.

Buddy Hield played 10 years in the NBA, 4 more than Zion Williamson, who played 6. Buddy Hield had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
	Buddy Hield	Zion Williamson
Season	2016-17	2019-20
Team	New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Buddy Hield	82	23.0	10.6	0.4	2.9	3.3	1.5	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.4	4.0	9.4	.426	1.8	4.6	.391	0.8	0.9	.842
difference:	+58	+4.8	+11.9	+2.3	+0.7	+3.0	+0.6	+0.2	+0.3	-1.3	-0.4	+4.8	+5.6	+.157	+1.5	+4.0	+.038	+4.0	+6.5	+.202
Zion Williamson	24	27.8	22.5	2.7	3.6	6.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	1.8	8.8	15.0	.583	0.3	0.6	.429	4.8	7.4	.640
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Buddy Hield nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Buddy Hield	Zion Williamson
Season	2017-18	2020-21
Team	Sacramento Kings	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Buddy Hield	80	25.3	13.5	0.7	3.2	3.8	1.9	1.1	0.3	1.6	1.9	5.2	11.7	.446	2.2	5.1	.431	0.9	1.0	.877
difference:	+19	+7.9	+13.5	+2.0	+1.3	+3.4	+1.8	+0.2	+0.3	-1.1	-0.3	+5.2	+5.3	+.165	+2.0	+4.5	+.137	+5.1	+7.7	+.179
Zion Williamson	61	33.2	27.0	2.7	4.5	7.2	3.7	0.9	0.6	2.7	2.2	10.4	17.0	.611	0.2	0.6	.294	6.0	8.7	.698
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Buddy Hield nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 2

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
	Buddy Hield	Zion Williamson
Season	2018-19	2022-23
Team	Sacramento Kings	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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		%
Buddy Hield	82	31.9	20.7	1.3	3.7	5.0	2.5	0.7	0.4	1.8	2.5	7.6	16.6	.458	3.4	7.9	.427	2.1	2.4	.886
difference:	+53	+1.1	+5.3	+0.7	+1.3	+2.0	+2.1	+0.4	+0.2	-1.6	-0.3	+2.2	+0.4	+.150	+3.2	+7.2	+.059	+4.0	+6.2	+.172
Zion Williamson	29	33.0	26.0	2.0	5.0	7.0	4.6	1.1	0.6	3.4	2.2	9.8	16.2	.608	0.2	0.7	.368	6.1	8.6	.714
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Buddy Hield nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 3