Darius Garland vs. LeBron James Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of LeBron James and Darius Garland, 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.

Darius Garland played 6 years in the NBA, 16 less than LeBron James, who played 22. Darius Garland had the first of his seasons in 2019-20, while LeBron James had his rookie season in 2003-04. 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
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2019-20	2003-04
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	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		%
Darius Garland	59	30.9	12.3	0.5	1.4	1.9	3.9	0.7	0.1	2.6	1.6	4.7	11.8	.401	1.8	5.0	.355	1.1	1.2	.875
difference:	+20	+8.6	+8.6	+0.8	+2.8	+3.6	+2.0	+0.9	+0.6	-0.9	-0.3	+3.2	+7.1	+.016	+1.0	+2.3	+.065	+3.3	+4.6	+.121
LeBron James	79	39.5	20.9	1.3	4.2	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.7	3.5	1.9	7.9	18.9	.417	0.8	2.7	.290	4.4	5.8	.754
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Darius Garland nor LeBron James played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2020-21	2004-05
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	54	33.1	17.4	0.4	2.0	2.4	6.1	1.2	0.1	3.0	2.0	6.7	14.9	.451	1.9	4.9	.395	2.1	2.4	.848
difference:	+26	+9.3	+9.8	+1.0	+4.0	+5.0	+1.1	+1.0	+0.6	-0.3	-0.2	+3.2	+6.2	+.021	+0.5	+1.0	+.044	+3.9	+5.6	+.098
LeBron James	80	42.4	27.2	1.4	6.0	7.4	7.2	2.2	0.7	3.3	1.8	9.9	21.1	.472	1.4	3.9	.351	6.0	8.0	.750
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Darius Garland nor LeBron James played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2021-22	2005-06
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Darius Garland	68	35.7	21.7	0.6	2.7	3.3	8.6	1.3	0.1	3.6	1.7	8.0	17.3	.462	2.6	6.7	.383	3.2	3.5	.892
difference:	+11	+6.8	+9.7	+0.3	+3.4	+3.7	+2.0	+0.3	+0.7	-0.3	-0.6	+3.1	+5.8	+.018	+1.0	+1.9	+.048	+4.4	+6.8	+.154
LeBron James	79	42.5	31.4	0.9	6.1	7.0	6.6	1.6	0.8	3.3	2.3	11.1	23.1	.480	1.6	4.8	.335	7.6	10.3	.738
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
LeBron James	13	46.5	30.8	1.7	6.4	8.1	5.8	1.4	0.7	5.0	3.4	11.2	23.6	.476	1.6	4.8	.333	6.7	9.1	.737

Season 4
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2022-23	2006-07
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Cavaliers Lost NBA 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		%
Darius Garland	69	35.5	21.6	0.4	2.3	2.7	7.8	1.2	0.1	2.9	2.1	7.6	16.4	.462	2.4	6.0	.410	4.0	4.7	.863
difference:	+9	+5.4	+5.7	+0.7	+3.4	+4.0	+1.8	+0.4	+0.6	-0.3	-0.1	+2.3	+4.4	+.014	+1.1	+2.0	+.091	+2.3	+4.3	+.165
LeBron James	78	40.9	27.3	1.1	5.7	6.7	6.0	1.6	0.7	3.2	2.2	9.9	20.8	.476	1.3	4.0	.319	6.3	9.0	.698
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	5	37.8	20.6	0.0	1.8	1.8	5.0	1.6	0.2	3.6	3.4	7.0	16.0	.438	2.4	6.2	.387	4.2	5.0	.840
difference:	+15	+6.9	+4.5	+1.3	+5.0	+6.3	+3.0	+0.1	+0.3	-0.3	-1.4	+1.3	+4.0	+.022	+1.3	+2.4	+.107	+3.2	+4.8	+.085
LeBron James	20	44.7	25.1	1.3	6.8	8.1	8.0	1.7	0.5	3.3	2.0	8.3	20.0	.416	1.1	3.8	.280	7.4	9.8	.755

Season 5
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2023-24	2007-08
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Darius Garland	57	33.4	18.0	0.5	2.1	2.7	6.5	1.3	0.1	3.1	1.7	6.6	14.8	.446	2.3	6.2	.371	2.6	3.1	.834
difference:	+18	+7.0	+12.0	+1.3	+4.0	+5.2	+0.7	+0.5	+1.0	-0.3	-0.5	+4.0	+7.1	+.038	+0.8	+1.4	+.056	+4.7	+7.2	+.122
LeBron James	75	40.4	30.0	1.8	6.1	7.9	7.2	1.8	1.1	3.4	2.2	10.6	21.9	.484	1.5	4.8	.315	7.3	10.3	.712
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	12	36.0	15.7	0.1	3.5	3.6	5.8	1.1	0.2	2.3	2.8	6.1	14.3	.427	2.1	5.9	.352	1.4	1.8	.810
difference:	+1	+6.5	+12.5	+1.1	+3.1	+4.2	+1.8	+0.7	+1.1	-1.9	-0.3	+2.6	+6.9	+.016	+0.7	+0.5	+.095	+8.0	+11.0	+.079
LeBron James	13	42.5	28.2	1.2	6.6	7.8	7.6	1.8	1.3	4.2	2.5	8.7	21.2	.411	1.4	5.4	.257	9.4	12.8	.731

Season 6
	Darius Garland	LeBron James
Season	2024-25	2008-09
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
Darius Garland	75	30.7	20.6	0.6	2.2	2.9	6.7	1.2	0.1	2.5	1.9	7.4	15.7	.472	2.8	7.1	.401	3.0	3.4	.878
difference:	+6	+7.0	+7.8	+0.7	+4.1	+4.7	+0.5	+0.5	+1.0	-0.5	-0.2	+2.3	+4.2	+.017	+1.2	+2.4	+.057	+4.3	+6.0	+.098
LeBron James	81	37.7	28.4	1.3	6.3	7.6	7.2	1.7	1.1	3.0	1.7	9.7	19.9	.489	1.6	4.7	.344	7.3	9.4	.780
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	5	29.6	18.0	0.2	2.0	2.2	5.2	0.4	0.0	3.0	3.4	5.8	13.8	.420	2.0	7.0	.286	4.4	4.8	.917
difference:	+9	+11.8	+17.3	+1.2	+5.8	+6.9	+2.1	+1.2	+0.9	-0.3	-1.3	+5.6	+8.5	+.090	+0.1	+1.2	+.047	+6.2	+9.4	+.168
LeBron James	14	41.4	35.3	1.4	7.8	9.1	7.3	1.6	0.9	2.7	2.1	11.4	22.3	.510	1.9	5.8	.333	10.6	14.2	.749

Additional Years
* LeBron James played 16 seasons more than Darius Garland in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 22, from 2010 to 2025—LeBron James played in 14 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships and one NBA Cup. In those 16 extra years over Darius Garland, LeBron James got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Finals MVP 3 Season MVP 10 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 4 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Assists Leader 1 Cup MVP 1 Cup All-Tournament Team 16 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP