Dwight Howard vs. Bob Pettit Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Pettit and Dwight Howard, 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

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.

Dwight Howard played 18 years in the NBA, 7 more than Bob Pettit, who played 11. Dwight Howard had the first of his seasons in 2004-05, while Bob Pettit had his rookie season in 1954-55. 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
Dwight Howard	18	12	2004-05 to 2021-22
Bob Pettit	11	9	1954-55 to 1964-65

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


Rookie Season
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2004-05	1954-55
Team	Orlando Magic	Milwaukee Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Dwight Howard	82	32.6	12.0	3.5	6.5	10.0	0.9	0.9	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.3	8.3	.520	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	5.0	.671
difference:	+10	+4.3	+8.4			+3.8	+2.3				-0.8	+2.9	+9.5	+.113				+2.5	+2.9	+.080
Bob Pettit	72	36.9	20.4	-	-	13.8	3.2	-	-	-	3.6	7.2	17.8	.407	-	-	-	5.9	7.9	.751

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor Bob Pettit played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2005-06	1955-56
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did not play	Hawks Lost West Div 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		%
Dwight Howard	82	36.8	15.8	3.5	9.0	12.5	1.5	0.8	1.4	2.6	3.4	5.7	10.7	.531	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	7.3	.595
difference:	+10	+2.0	+9.9			+3.7	+1.1				-0.6	+3.3	+10.2	+.102				+3.4	+3.2	+.141
Bob Pettit	72	38.8	25.7	-	-	16.2	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	9.0	20.9	.429	-	-	-	7.7	10.5	.736

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Pettit	8	34.3	19.1	-	-	10.5	2.3	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	16.0	.367	-	-	-	7.4	8.8	.843


Season 3
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2006-07	1956-57
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Dwight Howard	82	36.9	17.6	3.5	8.8	12.3	1.9	0.9	1.9	3.9	3.0	6.4	10.6	.603	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	8.1	.586
difference:	+11	+1.8	+7.1			+2.3					-0.5	+2.2	+10.2	+.188				+2.7	+1.5	+.187
Bob Pettit	71	35.1	24.7	-	-	14.6	1.9	-	-	-	2.5	8.6	20.8	.415	-	-	-	7.5	9.6	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	4	41.8	15.3	4.0	10.8	14.8	1.8	0.5	1.0	4.3	3.3	5.8	10.5	.548	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	8.3	.455
difference:	+6	+1.2	+14.5			+2.0	+0.7					+4.0	+13.2	+.134				+6.4	+5.0	+.312
Bob Pettit	10	43.0	29.8	-	-	16.8	2.5	-	-	-	3.3	9.8	23.7	.414	-	-	-	10.2	13.3	.767


Season 4
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2007-08	1957-58
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Magic Lost East 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		%
Dwight Howard	82	37.7	20.7	3.4	10.8	14.2	1.3	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.3	7.1	11.9	.599	0.0	0.0	-	6.5	10.9	.590
difference:	+12	+1.6	+3.9			+3.2	+0.9				-0.1	+1.2	+8.4	+.189				+1.5	+0.3	+.159
Bob Pettit	70	36.1	24.6	-	-	17.4	2.2	-	-	-	3.2	8.3	20.3	.410	-	-	-	8.0	10.6	.749

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	10	42.1	18.9	6.0	9.8	15.8	0.9	0.8	3.4	3.2	3.8	7.2	12.4	.581	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	8.3	.542
difference:	+1	+3.0	+5.3			+0.7	+0.9				-1.0	+1.0	+8.5	+.190				+3.3	+2.4	+.187
Bob Pettit	11	39.1	24.2	-	-	16.5	1.8	-	-	-	2.8	8.2	20.9	.391	-	-	-	7.8	10.7	.729


Season 5
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2008-09	1958-59
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	Rebounds Leader	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost West Div 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		%
Dwight Howard	79	35.7	20.6	4.3	9.6	13.8	1.4	1.0	2.9	3.0	3.4	7.1	12.4	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.4	10.7	.594
difference:	+7	+4.2	+8.6			+2.6	+1.7				-0.6	+2.9	+10.4	+.134				+2.9	+1.5	+.165
Bob Pettit	72	39.9	29.2	-	-	16.4	3.1	-	-	-	2.8	10.0	22.8	.438	-	-	-	9.3	12.2	.759

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	23	39.3	20.3	4.3	11.0	15.3	1.9	0.9	2.6	2.9	4.4	7.0	11.7	.601	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	9.9	.636
difference:	+17	+3.5	+7.5			+2.8	+0.4				-1.1	+2.7	+11.1	+.178				+2.2	+0.9	+.149
Bob Pettit	6	42.8	27.8	-	-	12.5	2.3	-	-	-	3.3	9.7	22.8	.423	-	-	-	8.5	10.8	.785


Season 6
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2009-10	1959-60
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
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	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks Lost NBA 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		%
Dwight Howard	82	34.7	18.3	3.5	9.7	13.2	1.8	0.9	2.8	3.3	3.5	6.2	10.2	.612	0.0	0.1	.000	5.9	10.0	.592
difference:	+10	+5.5	+7.8			+3.8	+1.8				-0.7	+3.1	+11.0	+.174				+1.7		+.161
Bob Pettit	72	40.2	26.1	-	-	17.0	3.6	-	-	-	2.8	9.3	21.2	.438	-	-	-	7.6	10.0	.753

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	14	35.5	18.1	2.7	8.4	11.1	1.4	0.8	3.5	3.6	4.2	6.1	10.0	.614	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	11.3	.519
difference:		+5.6	+8.0			+4.7	+2.3				-1.1	+3.1	+10.9	+.172				+1.7	+1.2	+.235
Bob Pettit	14	41.1	26.1	-	-	15.8	3.7	-	-	-	3.1	9.2	20.9	.442	-	-	-	7.6	10.1	.754


Season 7
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2010-11	1960-61
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Dwight Howard	78	37.6	22.9	4.0	10.1	14.1	1.4	1.4	2.4	3.6	3.3	7.9	13.4	.593	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	11.7	.596
difference:	+2	+2.2	+5.0			+6.2	+2.0				-0.4	+2.2	+9.2	+.146				+0.7	+1.1	+.128
Bob Pettit	76	39.8	27.9	-	-	20.3	3.4	-	-	-	2.9	10.1	22.6	.447	-	-	-	7.7	10.6	.724

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	6	43.0	27.0	4.5	11.0	15.5	0.5	0.7	1.8	5.5	4.2	8.5	13.5	.630	0.0	0.2	.000	10.0	14.7	.682
difference:	+6	+0.8	+1.6			+2.1	+2.7				-0.7	+1.3	+10.2	+.218				+0.9	+2.7	+.075
Bob Pettit	12	43.8	28.6	-	-	17.6	3.2	-	-	-	3.5	9.8	23.7	.412	-	-	-	9.1	12.0	.757


Season 8
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2011-12	1961-62
Team	Orlando Magic	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

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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		%
Dwight Howard	54	38.3	20.6	3.7	10.8	14.5	1.9	1.5	2.1	3.2	2.9	7.7	13.4	.573	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	10.6	.491
difference:	+24	+3.8	+10.5			+4.2	+1.8				-0.9	+3.4	+11.3	+.123				+3.7	+1.0	+.280
Bob Pettit	78	42.1	31.1	-	-	18.7	3.7	-	-	-	3.8	11.1	24.7	.450	-	-	-	8.9	11.6	.771

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor Bob Pettit played in the postseason in their season 8


Season 9
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2012-13	1962-63
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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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		%
Dwight Howard	76	35.8	17.1	3.3	9.1	12.4	1.4	1.1	2.4	3.0	3.8	6.2	10.7	.578	0.0	0.1	.167	4.7	9.5	.492
difference:	+3	+3.3	+11.3			+2.7	+1.7				-0.2	+3.6	+11.4	+.132				+4.0	+1.7	+.282
Bob Pettit	79	39.1	28.4	-	-	15.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.6	9.8	22.1	.446	-	-	-	8.7	11.2	.774

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	4	31.5	17.0	2.5	8.3	10.8	1.0	0.5	2.0	4.0	4.3	6.5	10.5	.619	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	9.0	.444
difference:	+7	+10.6	+14.8			+4.3	+2.0				-1.2	+4.3	+13.0	+.160				+6.2	+4.1	+.334
Bob Pettit	11	42.1	31.8	-	-	15.1	3.0	-	-	-	3.1	10.8	23.5	.459	-	-	-	10.2	13.1	.778


Season 10
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2013-14	1963-64
Team	Houston Rockets	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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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		%
Dwight Howard	71	33.7	18.3	3.3	8.9	12.2	1.8	0.8	1.8	3.2	3.4	6.7	11.3	.591	0.0	0.1	.286	4.9	9.0	.547
difference:	+9	+7.5	+9.1			+3.1	+1.4				-0.4	+3.2	+10.1	+.128				+2.7	+0.6	+.242
Bob Pettit	80	41.2	27.4	-	-	15.3	3.2	-	-	-	3.8	9.9	21.4	.463	-	-	-	7.6	9.6	.789

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	6	38.5	26.0	4.5	9.2	13.7	1.8	0.7	2.8	3.2	4.2	9.7	17.7	.547	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	10.7	.625
difference:	+6	+2.7	+5.0			+0.8	+1.0				-0.5	+1.9	+1.1	+.135				+1.2	+4.1	+.210
Bob Pettit	12	41.2	21.0	-	-	14.5	2.8	-	-	-	3.7	7.8	18.8	.412	-	-	-	5.5	6.6	.835


Season 11
	Dwight Howard	Bob Pettit
Season	2014-15	1964-65
Team	Houston Rockets	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks Lost West Div Semis

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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		%
Dwight Howard	41	29.8	15.8	2.7	7.8	10.5	1.2	0.7	1.3	2.8	3.3	6.1	10.3	.593	0.0	0.0	-	3.5	6.6	.528
difference:	+9	+5.3	+6.7			+1.9	+1.4					+1.8	+8.2	+.164				+3.1	+1.5	+.292
Bob Pettit	50	35.1	22.5	-	-	12.4	2.6	-	-	-	3.3	7.9	18.5	.429	-	-	-	6.6	8.1	.820

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	17	33.8	16.4	3.6	10.4	14.0	1.2	1.4	2.3	2.2	3.5	6.2	10.7	.577	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	9.7	.412
difference:	+13	+10.0	+4.9			+8.0	+0.8				-1.0	+2.4	+0.4	+.211					+4.7	+.388
Bob Pettit	4	23.8	11.5	-	-	6.0	2.0	-	-	-	2.5	3.8	10.3	.366	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.800

Additional Years

* Dwight Howard played 7 seasons more than Bob Pettit in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 12 to 18, from 2016 to 2022—Dwight Howard played in 4 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship.

Dwight Howard vs. Bob Pettit Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Pettit and Dwight Howard, 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

Additional Years