Butch Beard vs. Billy Cunningham Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Billy Cunningham and Butch Beard, 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.

Butch Beard and Billy Cunningham both played 9 years in the NBA. Butch Beard had the first of his seasons in 1969-70, while Billy Cunningham had his rookie season in 1965-66. 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
Butch Beard 9 3 1969-70 to 1978-79
Billy Cunningham 9 6 1965-66 to 1975-76

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

Rookie Season

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1969-701965-66
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Hawks Lost West Div Finals76ers Lost East Div Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 72 13.1 7.0 - - 1.9 1.7 - - - 1.7 2.5 5.4 .467 - - - 1.9 2.3 .828
Billy Cunningham 80 26.7 14.3 - - 7.5 2.6 - - - 3.8 5.4 12.6 .426 - - - 3.5 5.5 .634
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 9 16.2 9.0 - - 2.9 0.9 - - - 2.1 3.4 7.2 .477 - - - 2.1 2.9 .731
Billy Cunningham 4 17.3 5.3 - - 4.5 2.5 - - - 2.8 1.3 7.8 .161 - - - 2.8 3.3 .846

Note: Butch Beard didn't play in 1970-71.

Season 2

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1971-721966-67
Team Cleveland CavaliersPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 68 35.8 15.4 - - 4.1 6.7 - - - 3.1 5.8 12.5 .464 - - - 3.8 5.0 .760
Billy Cunningham 81 26.8 18.5 - - 7.3 2.5 - - - 3.2 6.9 15.0 .459 - - - 4.7 6.9 .686
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham 15 22.6 15.0 - - 6.2 2.2 - - - 3.5 5.5 14.7 .376 - - - 3.9 6.0 .656

Season 3

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1972-731967-68
Team Seattle SupersonicsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Div Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 73 19.2 6.6 - - 2.4 3.4 - - - 1.9 2.6 6.0 .439 - - - 1.4 1.9 .714
Billy Cunningham 74 28.1 18.9 - - 7.6 2.5 - - - 3.5 7.0 15.9 .438 - - - 5.0 6.9 .723
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham 3 28.7 20.7 - - 7.3 3.3 - - - 5.3 8.0 14.3 .558 - - - 4.7 5.7 .824

Season 4

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1973-741968-69
Team Golden State WarriorsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Div Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 79 27.0 10.2 1.7 3.2 4.9 3.8 1.3 0.1 - 3.1 4.0 7.8 .512 - - - 2.2 3.0 .739
Billy Cunningham 82 40.8 24.8 - - 12.8 3.5 - - - 4.0 9.0 21.2 .426 - - - 6.8 9.2 .737
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham 5 43.4 24.4 - - 12.6 2.4 - - - 4.8 9.8 23.4 .419 - - - 4.8 7.6 .632

Season 5

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1974-751969-70
Team Golden State WarriorsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs NBA Champion NBA Champion76ers Lost East Div Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 82 30.7 12.8 1.4 2.4 3.9 4.2 1.6 0.1 - 3.6 5.0 9.4 .528 - - - 2.8 3.4 .832
Billy Cunningham 81 39.4 26.1 - - 13.6 4.3 - - - 4.1 9.9 21.1 .469 - - - 6.3 8.6 .729
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 17 26.4 9.1 1.4 2.9 4.2 3.1 1.4 0.1 - 3.8 3.5 8.6 .411 - - - 2.0 3.1 .642
Billy Cunningham 5 41.0 29.2 - - 10.4 4.0 - - - 3.8 12.2 24.6 .496 - - - 4.8 7.2 .667

Season 6

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1975-761970-71
Team Cleveland Cavaliers, New York KnicksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 75 22.7 8.0 1.4 2.8 4.1 2.9 1.1 0.1 - 2.9 3.0 6.6 .460 - - - 1.9 2.6 .750
Billy Cunningham 81 38.1 23.0 - - 11.7 4.9 - - - 4.0 8.7 18.8 .462 - - - 5.6 7.7 .734
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham 7 43.0 25.9 - - 15.4 5.7 - - - 4.0 9.6 20.3 .472 - - - 6.7 9.6 .701

Season 7

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1976-771971-72
Team New York KnicksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 70 15.5 5.3 0.7 1.6 2.3 2.1 0.8 0.1 - 2.0 2.1 4.2 .505 - - - 1.1 1.6 .688
Billy Cunningham 75 38.7 23.3 - - 12.2 5.9 - - - 3.9 8.8 19.0 .461 - - - 5.7 8.0 .712
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham ------- --- ----------

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

Season 8

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1977-781974-75
Team New York KnicksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Knicks Lost East Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 79 25.1 9.4 1.0 2.4 3.3 4.3 1.5 0.0 1.9 2.5 3.9 7.8 .502 - - - 1.6 2.0 .806
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 6 26.7 9.0 1.2 2.3 3.5 4.5 1.7 0.3 1.8 3.7 4.0 8.0 .500 - - - 1.0 1.7 .600
Billy Cunningham ------- --- ----------

Season 9

Butch Beard Billy Cunningham
Season 1978-791975-76
Team New York KnicksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard 7 12.1 3.1 0.1 1.3 1.4 2.7 1.0 0.0 1.4 1.9 1.6 3.7 .423 - - - 0.0 0.0 -
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Butch Beard ------- --- ----------
Billy Cunningham ------- --- ----------