Danny Ainge vs. Billy Cunningham Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Billy Cunningham and Danny Ainge, 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.

Danny Ainge played 14 years in the NBA, 5 more than Billy Cunningham, who played 9. Danny Ainge had the first of his seasons in 1981-82, 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
Rookie Season
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1981-82	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	76ers Lost East Div 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		%
Danny Ainge	53	10.6	4.1	0.5	0.6	1.1	1.6	0.7	0.1	1.0	1.6	1.5	4.2	.357	0.1	0.3	.294	1.1	1.2	.862
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		%
Danny Ainge	10	12.9	5.0	0.6	0.7	1.3	1.1	0.2	0.1	1.1	2.1	1.9	4.5	.422	0.2	0.4	.500	1.0	1.3	.769
Billy Cunningham	4	17.3	5.3	-	-	4.5	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	1.3	7.8	.161	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.846

Season 2
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1982-83	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Danny Ainge	80	25.6	9.9	1.0	1.6	2.7	3.1	1.4	0.1	1.2	3.2	4.5	9.0	.496	0.1	0.4	.172	0.9	1.2	.742
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		%
Danny Ainge	7	28.7	9.4	0.3	1.7	2.0	3.6	0.7	0.1	0.9	3.4	4.0	10.3	.389	0.3	0.7	.400	1.1	1.6	.727
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
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1983-84	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	76ers Lost East Div 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		%
Danny Ainge	71	16.3	5.4	0.4	1.2	1.6	2.3	0.6	0.1	1.0	2.0	2.3	5.1	.460	0.1	0.3	.273	0.6	0.8	.821
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		%
Danny Ainge	19	13.3	4.8	0.2	0.6	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.1	0.7	1.9	2.2	4.7	.456	0.1	0.5	.222	0.4	0.5	.700
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
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1984-85	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	76ers Lost East Div 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		%
Danny Ainge	75	34.2	12.9	1.0	2.6	3.6	5.3	1.6	0.1	2.0	3.0	5.6	10.6	.529	0.2	0.7	.268	1.6	1.8	.868
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		%
Danny Ainge	21	32.7	11.0	1.0	1.8	2.8	5.8	1.5	0.0	1.5	3.6	4.6	9.9	.466	0.3	0.8	.438	1.4	1.9	.769
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
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1985-86	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	76ers Lost East Div 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		%
Danny Ainge	80	30.1	10.7	0.6	2.4	2.9	5.1	1.2	0.1	1.6	2.6	4.4	8.8	.504	0.3	0.9	.356	1.5	1.7	.904
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		%
Danny Ainge	18	36.2	15.6	1.2	3.0	4.2	5.2	2.3	0.1	1.7	3.2	5.9	10.7	.554	0.8	1.9	.412	2.9	3.3	.867
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
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1986-87	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	76ers 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		%
Danny Ainge	71	35.2	14.8	0.7	2.7	3.4	5.6	1.4	0.2	2.0	2.7	5.8	11.9	.486	1.2	2.7	.443	2.1	2.3	.897
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		%
Danny Ainge	20	38.1	14.8	0.7	2.0	2.6	4.6	1.2	0.2	2.1	3.1	5.8	11.9	.487	1.6	3.7	.438	1.6	1.8	.861
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
	Danny Ainge	Billy Cunningham
Season	1987-88	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Danny Ainge	81	37.3	15.7	0.7	2.3	3.1	6.2	1.4	0.2	1.9	2.5	6.0	12.1	.491	1.8	4.4	.415	2.0	2.2	.878
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		%
Danny Ainge	17	39.4	11.6	0.9	2.2	3.1	6.4	0.5	0.1	2.4	3.8	4.2	10.8	.386	1.1	3.4	.328	2.2	2.5	.881
Billy Cunningham	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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