David Robinson vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and David Robinson, 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 / Stats / Stats Rankings

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.

David Robinson played 14 years in the NBA, 1 more than Bill Russell, who played 13. David Robinson had the first of his seasons in 1989-90, while Bill Russell had his rookie season in 1956-57. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
David Robinson	14	12	1989-90 to 2002-03
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13


Rookie Season
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1989-90	1956-57
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
David Robinson	82	36.6	24.3	3.7	8.3	12.0	2.0	1.7	3.9	3.1	3.2	8.4	15.9	.531	0.0	0.0	-	7.5	10.2	.732
difference:	+34	+1.3	+9.6			+7.6	+0.2				-0.2	+2.6	+2.4	+.104				+4.3	+3.8	+.240
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	10	37.5	24.3	3.6	8.4	12.0	2.3	1.1	4.0	2.4	3.5	8.9	16.7	.533	0.0	0.0	-	6.5	9.6	.677
difference:		+3.4	+10.4			+12.4	+0.9				-0.6	+3.5	+1.9	+.168				+3.4	+3.5	+.169
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508


Season 2
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1990-91	1957-58
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
David Robinson	82	37.7	25.6	4.1	8.9	13.0	2.5	1.5	3.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	16.7	.552	0.0	0.1	.143	7.2	9.5	.762
difference:	+13	+0.6	+9.0			+9.7	+0.4				-0.6	+2.6	+1.7	+.110				+3.9	+3.1	+.243
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	4	41.5	25.8	2.8	10.8	13.5	2.0	1.5	3.8	3.8	2.8	8.8	12.8	.686	0.0	0.3	.000	8.3	9.5	.868
difference:	+5	+2.1	+10.7			+11.1	+0.7				-0.1	+3.5	+2.0	+.325				+3.9	+2.2	+.262
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606


Season 3
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1991-92	1958-59
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
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		%
David Robinson	68	37.7	23.2	3.8	8.4	12.2	2.7	2.3	4.5	2.7	3.2	8.7	15.8	.551	0.0	0.1	.125	5.8	8.3	.701
difference:	+2	+4.9	+6.5			+10.8	+0.5				-0.9	+2.2	+1.6	+.094				+2.1	+2.2	+.103
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612


Season 4
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1992-93	1959-60
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
David Robinson	82	39.2	23.4	2.8	8.9	11.7	3.7	1.5	3.2	2.9	2.9	8.2	16.4	.501	0.0	0.2	.176	6.8	9.3	.732
difference:	+8	+3.3	+5.2			+12.3					-0.1	+0.7	+0.3	+.034				+3.6	+4.0	+.120
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	10	42.1	23.1	2.9	9.7	12.6	4.0	1.0	3.6	2.5	3.9	7.9	17.0	.465	0.0	0.1	.000	7.3	11.0	.664
difference:	+3	+1.9	+4.6			+13.2	+1.1				-1.0	+0.7	+1.2	+.009				+3.2	+5.2	+.043
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707


Season 5
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1993-94	1960-61
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
David Robinson	80	40.5	29.8	3.0	7.7	10.7	4.8	1.7	3.3	3.2	2.9	10.5	20.7	.507	0.1	0.4	.345	8.7	11.6	.749
difference:	+2	+3.8	+12.9			+13.2	+1.4				-0.9	+3.7	+4.7	+.081				+5.4	+5.6	+.199
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	4	36.5	20.0	3.3	6.8	10.0	3.5	0.8	2.5	2.3	3.5	7.5	18.3	.411	0.0	0.3	.000	5.0	6.8	.741
difference:	+6	+9.7	+0.9			+19.9	+1.3				-1.1	+0.2	+1.2	+.016				+0.5	+1.8	+.218
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523


Season 6
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1994-95	1961-62
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
David Robinson	81	38.0	27.6	2.9	7.9	10.8	2.9	1.7	3.2	2.9	2.8	9.7	18.4	.530	0.1	0.2	.300	8.1	10.5	.774
difference:	+5	+7.2	+8.7			+12.8	+1.6				-0.1	+2.1	+1.8	+.073				+4.3	+4.2	+.179
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	15	41.5	25.3	3.8	8.3	12.1	3.1	1.5	2.6	3.7	4.2	8.6	19.3	.446	0.1	0.3	.200	8.1	9.9	.812
difference:	+1	+6.5	+2.9			+14.3	+1.9				-0.7	+0.3	+1.2	+.012				+2.2	+1.8	+.086
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726


Season 7
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1995-96	1962-63
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
David Robinson	82	36.8	25.0	3.9	8.3	12.2	3.0	1.4	3.3	2.3	3.2	8.7	16.8	.516	0.0	0.1	.333	7.6	10.0	.761
difference:	+4	+8.1	+8.2			+11.4	+1.5				-0.8	+2.1	+1.6	+.084				+3.9	+3.4	+.206
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	10	35.3	23.6	3.7	6.4	10.1	2.4	1.5	2.5	2.4	3.8	8.3	16.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.0	10.5	.667
difference:	+3	+12.2	+3.3			+15.0	+2.7				-1.0	+0.9	+0.2	+.063				+1.5	+2.1	+.006
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661


Season 8
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1996-97	1963-64
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	6	24.5	17.7	3.2	5.3	8.5	1.3	1.0	1.0	1.3	1.5	6.0	12.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	8.7	.654
difference:	+72	+20.1	+2.7			+16.2	+3.4				-0.9		+1.8	+.067				+2.7	+3.2	+.104
Bill Russell	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	10	45.1	13.1	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	13.2	.356	-	-	-	3.7	6.7	.552


Season 9
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1997-98	1964-65
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	73	33.7	21.6	3.3	7.3	10.6	2.7	0.9	2.6	2.8	2.8	7.5	14.6	.511	0.0	0.1	.250	6.6	9.0	.735
difference:	+5	+10.7	+7.5			+13.5	+2.6				-0.2	+2.0	+2.0	+.073				+3.5	+3.5	+.162
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	9	39.2	19.4	4.6	9.6	14.1	2.6	1.2	3.3	2.8	3.1	6.3	14.9	.425	0.0	0.0	-	6.8	10.7	.635
difference:	+3	+7.6	+2.9			+11.1	+3.7				-0.5	+0.3	+2.4	+.102				+3.5	+4.4	+.109
Bill Russell	12	46.8	16.5	-	-	25.2	6.3	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	12.5	.527	-	-	-	3.3	6.3	.526


Season 10
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1998-99	1965-66
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	49	31.7	15.8	3.0	7.0	10.0	2.1	1.4	2.4	2.2	2.9	5.5	10.8	.509	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	7.4	.658
difference:	+29	+11.7	+2.9			+12.8	+2.7				-0.1	+0.5	+1.3	+.094				+2.0	+2.2	+.107
Bill Russell	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	17	35.4	15.6	2.1	7.8	9.9	2.5	1.6	2.4	2.4	3.6	5.1	10.6	.483	0.0	0.0	-	5.4	7.4	.722
difference:		+12.5	+3.5			+15.3	+2.5				-0.1	+2.2	+4.8	+.008				+0.9	+0.2	+.104
Bill Russell	17	47.9	19.1	-	-	25.2	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.3	15.4	.475	-	-	-	4.5	7.2	.618


Season 11
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	1999-00	1966-67
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Div Finals

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	80	32.0	17.8	2.4	7.2	9.6	1.8	1.2	2.3	2.1	3.1	6.6	12.9	.512	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	6.4	.726
difference:	+1	+8.7	+4.5			+11.4	+4.0				-0.1	+1.7	+2.2	+.058				+1.1	+0.6	+.116
Bill Russell	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	4	38.8	23.5	4.3	9.5	13.8	2.5	1.8	3.0	2.0	3.8	7.8	20.8	.373	0.0	0.3	.000	8.0	10.5	.762
difference:	+5	+4.5	+12.9			+8.2	+3.1				-0.2	+4.4	+11.2	+.013				+4.3	+4.7	+.127
Bill Russell	9	43.3	10.6	-	-	22.0	5.6	-	-	-	3.6	3.4	9.6	.360	-	-	-	3.7	5.8	.635


Season 12
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	2000-01	1967-68
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	80	29.6	14.4	2.6	6.0	8.6	1.5	1.0	2.5	1.5	2.7	5.0	10.3	.486	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.9	.747
difference:	+2	+8.3	+1.9			+10.0	+3.1				-0.4	+0.3	+0.7	+.061				+1.2		+.210
Bill Russell	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	13	31.4	16.6	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.7	1.3	2.4	2.2	3.2	5.8	12.2	.472	0.0	0.1	.000	5.1	7.3	.695
difference:	+6	+14.3	+2.2			+11.0	+3.5				-0.6	+0.6	+0.5	+.063				+1.1	+0.5	+.110
Bill Russell	19	45.7	14.4	-	-	22.8	5.2	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	12.7	.409	-	-	-	4.0	6.8	.585


Season 13
	David Robinson	Bill Russell
Season	2001-02	1968-69
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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13th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	78	29.5	12.2	2.4	5.8	8.3	1.2	1.1	1.8	1.3	2.5	4.4	8.6	.507	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	5.1	.681
difference:	+1	+13.2	+2.3			+11.0	+3.7				-0.5	+0.8	+0.2	+.074				+0.8	+0.1	+.155
Bill Russell	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Robinson	4	20.5	4.5	1.5	4.3	5.8	1.3	0.8	0.8	0.5	3.5	2.3	4.8	.474	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	1.0	.000
difference:	+14	+25.6	+6.3			+14.7	+4.1				-0.1	+2.0	+5.3	+.051				+2.3	+3.5	+.506
Bill Russell	18	46.1	10.8	-	-	20.5	5.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.3	10.1	.423	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	.506

Additional Years

* David Robinson played 1 season more than Bill Russell in the NBA.

In that period—his season 14 in 2003—David Robinson played in the Playoffs and won the NBA Championship.

David Robinson vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and David Robinson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Season 13

13th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years