Daniel Gafford vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy and Daniel Gafford, 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.

Daniel Gafford played 7 years in the NBA, 5 less than James Worthy, who played 12. Daniel Gafford had the first of his seasons in 2019-20, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2019-20	1982-83
Team	Chicago Bulls	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Daniel Gafford	43	14.2	5.1	1.2	1.3	2.5	0.5	0.3	1.3	0.7	2.3	2.2	3.1	.701	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.4	.533
difference:	+34	+11.4	+8.3	+0.8	+1.8	+2.7	+1.2	+0.9	+0.5	-1.6	-0.6	+3.6	+6.9	+.122		+0.1		+1.1	+1.5	+.091
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Daniel Gafford nor James Worthy played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2021-22	1984-85
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Daniel Gafford	72	20.1	9.4	2.2	3.5	5.7	0.9	0.4	1.4	0.9	2.4	4.0	5.7	.693	0.0	0.0	-	1.5	2.1	.699
difference:	+8	+13.6	+8.2	+0.1	+0.8	+0.7	+1.6	+0.7	+0.6	-1.6	-0.1	+3.6	+7.6	+.121		+0.1		+0.9	+1.0	+.077
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676

Season 4
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2022-23	1985-86
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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		%
Daniel Gafford	78	20.6	9.0	2.1	3.5	5.6	1.1	0.4	1.3	1.1	2.4	3.7	5.1	.732	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.4	.679
difference:	+3	+12.1	+11.0	+0.3	+0.2	+0.4	+1.6	+0.7	+0.3	-0.9	-0.2	+4.7	+9.4	+.153		+0.2		+1.6	+1.8	+.092
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681

Season 5
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2023-24	1986-87
Team	Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
Daniel Gafford	74	24.5	11.0	2.6	5.0	7.6	1.6	0.9	2.1	1.0	3.1	4.7	6.5	.725	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.4	.674
difference:	+8	+9.9	+8.4	+0.7	+1.2	+1.9	+1.2	+0.4	+1.1	-1.0	-0.6	+3.2	+8.2	+.186		+0.2		+2.0	+2.3	+.077
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Daniel Gafford	22	20.2	9.0	1.9	3.6	5.5	0.7	0.3	1.5	0.9	1.7	3.5	5.6	.634	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.0	.631
difference:	+4	+17.6	+14.6	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1	+2.8	+1.3	+0.3	-1.3	-0.6	+6.3	+11.0	+.043		+0.1		+2.2	+2.4	+.122
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753

Season 6
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2024-25	1987-88
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Daniel Gafford	57	21.5	12.3	2.7	4.1	6.8	1.4	0.4	1.8	1.2	2.7	5.0	7.1	.702	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.4	.689
difference:	+18	+13.9	+7.4	+1.0	+0.8	+1.8	+2.5	+0.6	+1.1	-0.9	-0.4	+3.2	+8.4	+.171		+0.2		+0.8	+0.7	+.107
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758

Season 7
	Daniel Gafford	James Worthy
Season	2025-26	1988-89
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Daniel Gafford	14	23.5	9.4	2.4	4.1	6.5	1.4	0.9	1.5	1.4	2.9	3.6	5.8	.617	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	2.9	.780
difference:	+67	+13.0	+11.1	+0.3	+0.1	+0.5	+2.2	+0.4	+0.8	-0.8	-0.7	+5.1	+10.0	+.069		+0.3		+0.8	+1.1	+.002
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788

Additional Years
* James Worthy played 5 seasons more than Daniel Gafford in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 12, from 1990 to 1994—James Worthy played in 3 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Daniel Gafford, James Worthy got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Star Game