Earl Monroe vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson and Earl Monroe, 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.

Earl Monroe played 13 years in the NBA, 7 more than Zion Williamson, who played 6. Earl Monroe had the first of his seasons in 1967-68, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
	Earl Monroe	Zion Williamson
Season	1967-68	2019-20
Team	Baltimore Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	82	36.7	24.3	-	-	5.7	4.3	-	-	-	3.4	9.0	20.0	.453	-	-	-	6.2	7.9	.781
difference:	+58	+8.9	+1.8			+0.6	+2.2				-1.6	+0.2	+5.0	+.130				+1.4	+0.5	+.141
Zion Williamson	24	27.8	22.5	2.7	3.6	6.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	1.8	8.8	15.0	.583	0.3	0.6	.429	4.8	7.4	.640
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Earl Monroe nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Earl Monroe	Zion Williamson
Season	1968-69	2020-21
Team	Baltimore Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	80	38.4	25.8	-	-	3.5	4.9	-	-	-	3.3	10.1	23.0	.440	-	-	-	5.6	7.3	.768
difference:	+19	+5.2	+1.2			+3.7	+1.2				-1.1	+0.3	+6.0	+.171				+0.4	+1.4	+.070
Zion Williamson	61	33.2	27.0	2.7	4.5	7.2	3.7	0.9	0.6	2.7	2.2	10.4	17.0	.611	0.2	0.6	.294	6.0	8.7	.698
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	4	42.8	28.3	-	-	5.3	4.0	-	-	-	2.5	11.0	28.5	.386	-	-	-	6.3	7.8	.806
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
	Earl Monroe	Zion Williamson
Season	1969-70	2022-23
Team	Baltimore Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	82	37.2	23.4	-	-	3.1	4.9	-	-	-	3.1	8.5	19.0	.446	-	-	-	6.5	7.8	.830
difference:	+53	+4.2	+2.6			+3.9	+0.3				-0.9	+1.3	+2.8	+.162				+0.4	+0.8	+.116
Zion Williamson	29	33.0	26.0	2.0	5.0	7.0	4.6	1.1	0.6	3.4	2.2	9.8	16.2	.608	0.2	0.7	.368	6.1	8.6	.714
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	7	42.7	28.0	-	-	3.3	4.0	-	-	-	3.3	10.6	22.0	.481	-	-	-	6.9	8.6	.800
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Earl Monroe	Zion Williamson
Season	1970-71	2023-24
Team	Baltimore Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bullets Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	81	35.1	21.4	-	-	2.6	4.4	-	-	-	2.7	8.2	18.5	.442	-	-	-	5.0	6.2	.802
difference:	+11	+3.6	+1.5			+3.2	+0.6				-0.4	+0.7	+2.9	+.128					+0.9	+.100
Zion Williamson	70	31.5	22.9	1.7	4.1	5.8	5.0	1.1	0.7	2.8	2.3	8.9	15.6	.570	0.1	0.3	.333	5.0	7.1	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	18	37.3	22.1	-	-	3.6	4.1	-	-	-	3.1	8.1	19.8	.407	-	-	-	5.9	7.5	.793
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Earl Monroe	Zion Williamson
Season	1972-73	2025-26
Team	New York Knicks	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	75	31.6	15.5	-	-	3.3	3.8	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	13.5	.488	-	-	-	2.3	2.8	.822
difference:	+70	+0.2	+7.3			+3.5	+0.8				-0.2	+1.0	+2.1	+.001				+5.3	+8.6	+.155
Zion Williamson	5	31.4	22.8	3.2	3.6	6.8	4.6	2.0	0.2	3.4	2.4	7.6	15.6	.487	0.0	0.0	-	7.6	11.4	.667
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Monroe	16	31.5	16.1	-	-	3.2	3.2	-	-	-	2.4	6.9	13.2	.526	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.750
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Earl Monroe played 7 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 13, from 1974 to 1980—Earl Monroe played in 3 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over Zion Williamson, Earl Monroe got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-Star Game