Dwight Howard vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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 / 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.

Dwight Howard played 18 years in the NBA, 6 more than James Worthy, who played 12. Dwight Howard had the first of his seasons in 2004-05, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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
James Worthy	12	9	1982-83 to 1993-94

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


Rookie Season
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2004-05	1982-83
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	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		%
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:	+5	+7.0	+1.4	+1.5	+3.4	+4.8	+0.8	+0.3	+0.9	-0.3	-0.1	+1.5	+1.7	+.059		+0.1		+1.6	+2.1	+.047
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor James Worthy played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2005-06	1983-84
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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		%
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:		+7.3	+1.3	+1.6	+4.6	+6.2	+1.0	+0.1	+0.5	-0.4	-0.4	+0.3	+0.2	+.025		+0.1		+1.9	+4.2	+.164
James Worthy	82	29.5	14.5	1.9	4.4	6.3	2.5	0.9	0.9	2.2	3.0	6.0	10.9	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.759

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	21	33.7	17.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	2.7	1.3	0.5	1.9	2.7	7.8	13.0	.599	0.0	0.1	.500	2.0	3.3	.609


Season 3
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2006-07	1984-85
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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:	+2	+3.2		+1.4	+4.5	+5.9	+0.6	+0.2	+1.1	-1.4	-0.5	+1.2	+2.7	+.031		+0.1		+2.4	+5.0	+.190
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776

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:	+15	+8.9	+6.2	+2.2	+7.6	+9.7	+0.4	+0.4	+0.3	-2.9	-0.5	+2.9	+3.6	+.074	+0.1	+0.1		+0.1	+2.5	+.221
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676


Season 4
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2007-08	1985-86
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf 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		%
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:	+7	+5.0	+0.7	+1.6	+7.5	+9.0	+1.4	+0.2	+1.1	-1.2	-0.7	+1.3	+2.6	+.020		+0.2		+3.3	+6.7	+.181
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771

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:	+4	+3.6	+0.7	+4.4	+6.7	+11.2	+2.3	+0.3	+2.7	-0.6	-0.7	+1.4	+3.1	+.023		+0.3		+2.2	+4.9	+.139
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681


Season 5
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2008-09	1986-87
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	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 NBA Finals	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		%
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:	+3	+1.3	+1.2	+2.4	+5.8	+8.1	+1.4	+0.3	+1.9	-1.0	-0.9	+0.8	+2.3	+.033		+0.2		+2.8	+6.0	+.157
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751

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:	+5	+1.5	+3.3	+2.6	+7.1	+9.7	+1.6	+0.7	+1.4	-0.7	-2.1	+2.8	+4.9	+.010				+2.2	+4.5	+.117
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753


Season 6
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2009-10	1987-88
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	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	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		%
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:	+7	+0.7	+1.4	+1.8	+6.4	+8.2	+2.1	+0.1	+2.1	-1.2	-1.2	+2.0	+5.3	+.081		+0.1	+.125	+2.7	+5.9	+.204
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796

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:	+10	+1.8	+3.0	+0.5	+4.8	+5.3	+3.0	+0.6	+2.7	-1.3	-1.8	+2.4	+6.3	+.091		+0.4		+1.9	+6.0	+.239
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758


Season 7
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2010-11	1988-89
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	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	Lakers 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:	+3	+1.1	+2.4	+1.9	+6.1	+8.1	+2.2	+0.1	+1.7	-1.4	-1.1	+0.8	+2.4	+.045		+0.2	+.087	+3.9	+7.7	+.186
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782

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:	+9	+3.0	+2.2	+2.0	+6.7	+8.8	+2.3	+0.5	+0.7	-3.3	-1.8	+1.7	+4.5	+.063	+0.2	+0.3	+.375	+5.8	+9.4	+.106
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788


Season 8
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2011-12	1989-90
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+26	+1.3	+0.5	+1.7	+6.8	+8.5	+1.7	+0.3	+1.5	-1.2	-0.5	+1.2	+2.8	+.025	+0.2	+0.5	+.306	+2.1	+6.6	+.291
James Worthy	80	37.0	21.1	2.0	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.2	0.6	2.0	2.4	8.9	16.2	.548	0.2	0.6	.306	3.1	4.0	.782

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	9	40.7	24.2	1.2	4.3	5.6	3.0	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.0	10.0	20.1	.497	0.2	0.9	.250	4.0	4.8	.837


Season 9
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2012-13	1990-91
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost NBA 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:	+2	+2.8	+4.3	+1.9	+5.9	+7.8	+2.1	+0.2	+2.0	-1.4	-2.3	+3.0	+8.0	+.086	+0.3	+1.1	+.122	+2.0	+6.1	+.305
James Worthy	78	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.5	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.5	9.2	18.7	.492	0.3	1.2	.289	2.7	3.4	.797

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:	+14	+9.2	+4.1	+1.1	+5.6	+6.7	+2.9	+0.6	+1.9	-1.8	-2.4	+2.4	+8.7	+.154	+0.2	+1.3		+1.1	+5.0	+.292
James Worthy	18	40.7	21.1	1.4	2.7	4.1	3.9	1.1	0.1	2.2	1.9	8.9	19.2	.465	0.2	1.3	.167	2.9	4.0	.736


Season 10
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2013-14	1991-92
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+17	+5.3	+1.6	+1.5	+5.1	+6.6	+2.9	+0.6	+1.4	-0.8	-1.8	+1.6	+7.3	+.144	+0.2	+0.7	+.077	+1.8	+5.2	+.267
James Worthy	54	39.0	19.9	1.8	3.8	5.6	4.7	1.4	0.4	2.4	1.6	8.3	18.6	.447	0.2	0.8	.209	3.1	3.8	.814

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
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2014-15	1992-93
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+41	+1.0	+0.9	+1.8	+5.7	+7.5	+2.2	+0.4	+1.0	-1.1	-2.2	+0.1	+3.6	+.146	+0.4	+1.4		+1.4	+4.0	+.282
James Worthy	82	28.8	14.9	0.9	2.1	3.0	3.4	1.1	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.2	13.9	.447	0.4	1.4	.270	2.1	2.6	.810

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:	+12	+4.2	+2.6	+2.2	+8.4	+10.6	+1.4	+0.4	+2.3	-0.8	-1.3	+0.2	+6.5	+.205	+0.4	+1.6		+3.4	+8.7	+.188
James Worthy	5	29.6	13.8	1.4	2.0	3.4	2.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	2.2	6.4	17.2	.372	0.4	1.6	.250	0.6	1.0	.600


Season 12
	Dwight Howard	James Worthy
Season	2015-16	1993-94
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Dwight Howard	71	32.1	13.7	3.4	8.4	11.8	1.4	1.0	1.6	2.3	3.1	5.2	8.5	.620	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	6.7	.489
difference:	+9	+12.1	+3.5	+2.8	+6.7	+9.5	+0.5	+0.4	+1.4	-1.1	-2.1	+0.9	+2.0	+.214	+0.4	+1.3	+.288	+2.0	+5.0	+.252
James Worthy	80	20.0	10.2	0.6	1.7	2.3	1.9	0.6	0.2	1.2	1.0	4.3	10.5	.406	0.4	1.4	.288	1.3	1.7	.741

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	5	36.0	13.2	5.2	8.8	14.0	1.6	0.8	1.4	2.4	4.2	5.2	9.6	.542	0.0	0.2	.000	2.8	7.6	.368
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years

* Dwight Howard played 6 seasons more than James Worthy in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 13 to 18, from 2017 to 2022—Dwight Howard played in 3 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship.

Dwight Howard vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years