Desmond Bane vs. Kobe Bryant Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kobe Bryant and Desmond Bane, 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.

Desmond Bane played 5 years in the NBA, 15 less than Kobe Bryant, who played 20. Desmond Bane had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Kobe Bryant had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
	Desmond Bane	Kobe Bryant
Season	2020-21	1996-97
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Desmond Bane	68	22.3	9.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	1.7	0.6	0.2	0.9	1.8	3.4	7.3	.469	1.7	4.0	.432	0.6	0.7	.816
difference:	+3	+6.8	+1.6	+0.2	+1.4	+1.2	+0.4	+0.1	+0.1	-0.7	-0.4	+0.9	+1.4	+.052	+1.0	+2.1	+.057	+1.3	+1.6	+.003
Kobe Bryant	71	15.5	7.6	0.7	1.2	1.9	1.3	0.7	0.3	1.6	1.4	2.5	5.9	.417	0.7	1.9	.375	1.9	2.3	.819
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	5	19.8	5.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.6	1.2	2.2	3.8	.579	1.2	2.4	.500	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+4	+5.0	+2.6	+0.3	+1.9	+2.2	+0.8	+0.5	+0.2	-1.0	-1.4	+0.1	+2.3	+.197	+0.5	+0.2	+.239	+2.9	+3.3
Kobe Bryant	9	14.8	8.2	0.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	0.3	0.2	1.6	2.6	2.3	6.1	.382	0.7	2.6	.261	2.9	3.3	.867

Season 2
	Desmond Bane	Kobe Bryant
Season	2021-22	1997-98
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf 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		%
Desmond Bane	76	29.8	18.2	0.6	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.4	1.5	2.6	6.7	14.5	.461	3.0	6.9	.436	1.8	2.0	.903
difference:	+3	+3.8	+2.8	+0.4	+1.7	+1.3	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1	-0.5	-0.3	+1.8	+2.9	+.033	+2.1	+4.1	+.095	+2.8	+3.8	+.109
Kobe Bryant	79	26.0	15.4	1.0	2.1	3.1	2.5	0.9	0.5	2.0	2.3	4.9	11.6	.428	0.9	2.8	.341	4.6	5.8	.794
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	12	35.7	18.8	0.4	3.3	3.8	2.2	0.9	0.8	1.3	1.9	6.3	13.3	.478	3.6	7.3	.489	2.5	2.9	.857
difference:	+1	+15.5	+10.1	+0.2	+2.0	+1.9	+0.7	+0.6	+0.1	-0.3	-0.6	+3.5	+6.4	+.070	+3.3	+6.0	+.275	+0.3	+1.2	+.168
Kobe Bryant	11	20.2	8.7	0.6	1.3	1.9	1.5	0.3	0.7	1.0	2.5	2.8	6.9	.408	0.3	1.3	.214	2.8	4.1	.689

Season 3
	Desmond Bane	Kobe Bryant
Season	2022-23	1998-99
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Desmond Bane	58	31.8	21.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	4.4	1.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	7.8	16.2	.479	2.9	7.0	.408	3.1	3.5	.883
difference:	+8	+6.1	+1.6	+0.4	+0.1	+0.3	+0.6	+0.4	+0.6	-0.9	-0.5	+0.6	+0.6	+.014	+2.4	+5.0	+.141	+1.8	+2.3	+.044
Kobe Bryant	50	37.9	19.9	1.1	4.2	5.3	3.8	1.4	1.0	3.1	3.1	7.2	15.6	.465	0.5	2.0	.267	4.9	5.8	.839
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	6	38.5	23.5	1.2	4.8	6.0	3.2	0.5	0.0	2.8	3.2	8.2	19.3	.422	2.7	8.3	.320	4.5	4.8	.931
difference:	+2	+1.1	+3.7	+0.4	+0.5	+0.9	+1.4	+1.4	+1.3	-1.1	-0.2	+0.6	+1.5	+.008	+1.7	+5.4	+.028	+1.0	+0.4	+.131
Kobe Bryant	8	39.6	19.8	1.6	5.3	6.9	4.6	1.9	1.3	3.9	3.0	7.6	17.8	.430	1.0	2.9	.348	3.5	4.4	.800

Season 4
	Desmond Bane	Kobe Bryant
Season	2023-24	1999-00
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Desmond Bane	42	34.4	23.7	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.5	1.0	0.5	2.7	2.9	8.6	18.5	.464	3.3	8.6	.381	3.3	3.8	.870
difference:	+24	+3.8	+1.2	+0.7	+1.2	+1.9	+0.6	+0.6	+0.4	-0.1	-0.4	+0.2	+0.6	+.004	+2.6	+6.4	+.062	+1.7	+2.3	+.049
Kobe Bryant	66	38.2	22.5	1.6	4.7	6.3	4.9	1.6	0.9	2.8	3.3	8.4	17.9	.468	0.7	2.2	.319	5.0	6.1	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kobe Bryant	22	39.0	21.1	1.2	3.3	4.5	4.4	1.5	1.5	2.5	4.0	7.9	17.9	.442	1.0	2.9	.344	4.3	5.7	.754

Season 5
	Desmond Bane	Kobe Bryant
Season	2024-25	2000-01
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies 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		%
Desmond Bane	69	32.0	19.2	0.9	5.2	6.1	5.3	1.2	0.4	2.4	2.4	7.1	14.8	.484	2.4	6.1	.392	2.6	2.9	.894
difference:	+1	+8.9	+9.3	+0.6	+0.9	+0.2	+0.3	+0.5	+0.2	-0.8	-0.9	+3.2	+7.4	+.020	+1.5	+3.2	+.087	+4.4	+5.3	+.041
Kobe Bryant	68	40.9	28.5	1.5	4.3	5.9	5.0	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.3	10.3	22.2	.464	0.9	2.9	.305	7.0	8.2	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	4	34.8	15.3	1.3	5.5	6.8	3.3	0.8	0.5	3.8	2.3	5.0	15.8	.317	1.8	8.0	.219	3.5	3.8	.933
difference:	+12	+8.6	+14.1	+0.5	+0.1	+0.5	+2.8	+0.8	+0.3	-0.6	-1.0	+5.5	+6.6	+.152	+1.1	+5.9	+.105	+4.3	+5.6	+.112
Kobe Bryant	16	43.4	29.4	1.8	5.4	7.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	3.2	3.3	10.5	22.4	.469	0.7	2.1	.324	7.8	9.4	.821

Additional Years
* Kobe Bryant played 15 seasons more than Desmond Bane in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 20, from 2002 to 2016—Kobe Bryant played in 10 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 15 extra years over Desmond Bane, Kobe Bryant got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 11 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 8 All-Defensive First Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 2 Scoring Leader 15 All-Star Game 4 All-Star Game MVP