Darius Garland vs. Moses Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Moses Malone 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 7 years in the NBA, 12 less than Moses Malone, who played 19. Darius Garland had the first of his seasons in 2019-20, while Moses Malone had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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.

Season 2
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2020-21	1977-78
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	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:	+5	+2.6	+2.0	+6.0	+6.6	+12.6	+5.6	+0.4	+1.2	-0.7	-1.0	+0.3	+0.9	+.048				+3.3	+5.1	+.130
Moses Malone	59	35.7	19.4	6.4	8.6	15.0	0.5	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.0	7.0	14.0	.499	-	-	-	5.4	7.5	.718
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Darius Garland nor Moses Malone played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2021-22	1978-79
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+14	+5.6	+3.1	+6.6	+7.8	+14.3	+6.8	+0.3	+1.4	-0.4	-1.0	+0.7	+1.1	+.078				+4.1	+6.4	+.153
Moses Malone	82	41.3	24.8	7.2	10.5	17.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	4.0	2.7	8.7	16.2	.540	-	-	-	7.3	9.9	.739
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Moses Malone	2	39.0	24.5	12.5	8.0	20.5	1.0	0.5	4.0	4.0	2.5	9.0	20.5	.439	-	-	-	6.5	9.0	.722

Season 4
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2022-23	1979-80
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+13	+2.8	+4.2	+6.6	+5.2	+11.8	+6.0	+0.2	+1.2	-0.8	-0.5	+1.9	+2.5	+.040	+2.4	+5.9	+.410	+2.9	+4.8	+.144
Moses Malone	82	38.3	25.8	7.0	7.5	14.5	1.8	1.0	1.3	3.7	2.6	9.5	18.9	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	6.9	9.5	.719
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:	+2	+1.5	+5.3	+6.0	+6.1	+12.1	+4.0	+1.0	+2.1	-0.5	-0.8	+3.6	+3.7	+.098	+2.4	+6.1	+.387	+0.5	+1.1	+.073
Moses Malone	7	39.3	25.9	6.0	7.9	13.9	1.0	0.6	2.3	3.1	2.6	10.6	19.7	.536	0.0	0.1	.000	4.7	6.1	.767

Season 5
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2023-24	1980-81
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Rockets Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+23	+7.2	+9.8	+5.4	+6.7	+12.1	+4.7	+0.3	+1.8	-0.8	-1.1	+3.5	+4.5	+.076	+2.3	+6.2		+5.0	+7.0	+.077
Moses Malone	80	40.6	27.8	5.9	8.8	14.8	1.8	1.0	1.9	3.9	2.8	10.1	19.3	.522	0.0	0.0	-	7.6	10.1	.757
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:	+9	+9.5	+11.1	+5.9	+5.1	+10.9	+4.1	+0.5	+1.4	-0.5	-0.2	+3.8	+6.3	+.052	+2.1	+5.8	+.352	+5.6	+8.1	+.098
Moses Malone	21	45.5	26.8	6.0	8.6	14.5	1.7	0.6	1.6	2.8	2.6	9.9	20.6	.479	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	9.9	.712

Season 6
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2024-25	1981-82
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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	+11.3	+10.5	+6.3	+5.6	+11.8	+4.9	+0.3	+1.4	-1.1	-0.7	+4.3	+6.8	+.047	+2.8	+7.0	+.401	+4.8	+6.8	+.116
Moses Malone	81	42.0	31.1	6.9	7.8	14.7	1.8	0.9	1.5	3.6	2.6	11.7	22.5	.519	0.0	0.1	.000	7.8	10.2	.762
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:	+2	+15.7	+6.0	+9.1	+5.7	+14.8	+1.9	+0.3	+0.7	-1.0	-0.7	+3.9	+8.5	+.013	+2.0	+7.0		+0.3	+0.2	+.016
Moses Malone	3	45.3	24.0	9.3	7.7	17.0	3.3	0.7	0.7	2.0	2.7	9.7	22.3	.433	0.0	0.0	-	4.7	5.0	.933

Season 7
	Darius Garland	Moses Malone
Season	2025-26	1982-83
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play (season in progress)	NBA Champion

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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		%
Darius Garland	18	30.2	16.9	0.6	2.2	2.8	6.9	0.7	0.1	2.9	1.8	5.8	14.2	.408	2.3	6.4	.365	3.0	3.4	.885
difference:	+60	+7.3	+7.6	+5.1	+7.4	+12.5	+5.6	+0.4	+1.9	-0.5	-0.8	+2.6	+2.5	+.093	+2.3	+6.4		+4.7	+6.7	+.124
Moses Malone	78	37.5	24.5	5.7	9.6	15.3	1.3	1.1	2.0	3.4	2.6	8.4	16.7	.501	0.0	0.0	-	7.7	10.1	.761
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Darius Garland	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Moses Malone	13	40.3	26.0	5.4	10.5	15.8	1.5	1.5	1.9	3.1	3.1	9.7	18.1	.536	0.0	0.1	.000	6.6	9.2	.717

Additional Years
* Moses Malone played 12 seasons more than Darius Garland in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 19, from 1984 to 1995—Moses Malone played in 6 Playoffs. In those 12 extra years over Darius Garland, Moses Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 2 Rebounds Leader 6 All-Star Game