Elgin Baylor vs. Joe Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Smith and Elgin Baylor, 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.

Elgin Baylor played 14 years in the NBA, 2 less than Joe Smith, who played 16. Elgin Baylor had the first of his seasons in 1958-59, while Joe Smith had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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 achivements, 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
Elgin Baylor	14	12	1958-59 to 1971-72
Joe Smith	16	10	1995-96 to 2010-11

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1958-59	1995-96
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	70	40.8	24.9	-	-	15.0	4.1	-	-	-	3.9	8.6	21.2	.408	-	-	-	7.6	9.8	.777
Joe Smith	82	34.4	15.3	3.7	5.1	8.7	1.0	1.0	1.6	1.7	2.7	5.7	12.5	.458	0.1	0.3	.357	3.7	4.8	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	42.8	25.5	-	-	12.0	3.3	-	-	-	4.0	9.4	23.3	.403	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.770
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1959-60	1996-97
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	70	41.0	29.6	-	-	16.4	3.5	-	-	-	3.3	10.8	25.4	.424	-	-	-	8.1	11.0	.732
Joe Smith	80	38.6	18.7	3.3	5.2	8.5	1.6	0.9	1.1	2.4	3.1	7.3	16.2	.454	0.2	0.6	.261	3.8	4.7	.814

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	9	45.3	33.4	-	-	14.1	3.4	-	-	-	4.2	12.3	26.0	.474	-	-	-	8.8	10.4	.840
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1960-61	1997-98
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	73	42.9	34.8	-	-	19.8	5.1	-	-	-	3.8	12.8	29.7	.430	-	-	-	9.3	11.8	.783
Joe Smith	79	29.7	14.6	2.5	3.4	6.0	1.2	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.3	5.9	13.5	.434	0.0	0.1	.000	2.9	3.7	.775

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	12	45.0	38.1	-	-	15.3	4.6	-	-	-	3.7	14.2	30.2	.470	-	-	-	9.8	11.8	.824
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1961-62	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	48	44.4	38.3	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.2	14.2	33.1	.428	-	-	-	9.9	13.1	.754
Joe Smith	43	33.0	13.7	3.6	4.7	8.2	1.6	0.7	1.5	1.5	3.4	5.2	12.1	.427	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.4	.755

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.9	38.6	-	-	17.7	3.6	-	-	-	3.5	14.3	32.7	.438	-	-	-	10.0	12.9	.774
Joe Smith	4	30.0	7.5	2.5	4.0	6.5	1.3	0.5	2.0	1.3	3.8	2.8	9.3	.297	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.8	.727


Season 5
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1962-63	1999-00
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	80	42.1	34.0	-	-	14.3	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	12.9	28.4	.453	-	-	-	8.3	9.9	.837
Joe Smith	78	25.3	9.9	2.4	3.8	6.2	1.1	0.6	1.1	1.5	3.9	3.7	8.0	.464	0.0	0.0	1.000	2.5	3.3	.756

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.2	32.6	-	-	13.6	4.5	-	-	-	3.7	12.3	27.8	.442	-	-	-	8.0	9.7	.825
Joe Smith	4	19.8	4.5	1.8	1.3	3.0	0.3	0.8	0.3	1.0	3.8	2.0	4.3	.471	0.0	0.3	.000	0.5	0.5	1.000


Season 6
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1963-64	2000-01
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	78	40.6	25.4	-	-	12.0	4.4	-	-	-	3.0	9.7	22.8	.425	-	-	-	6.0	7.5	.804
Joe Smith	69	28.1	12.3	2.3	4.8	7.1	1.1	0.7	0.7	1.3	3.7	4.5	11.1	.403	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.2	.805

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	5	44.2	24.2	-	-	11.6	5.6	-	-	-	3.4	9.0	23.8	.378	-	-	-	6.2	8.0	.775
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1964-65	2001-02
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	74	41.3	27.1	-	-	12.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.2	10.3	25.7	.401	-	-	-	6.5	8.2	.792
Joe Smith	72	26.7	10.7	2.1	4.2	6.3	1.1	0.5	0.8	1.2	3.5	4.1	8.1	.511	0.0	0.0	.667	2.4	2.9	.830

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	1	5.0	0.0	-	-	0	1.0	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Joe Smith	3	14.3	4.3	1.3	2.3	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	2.7	1.0	2.3	.429	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	2.7	.875


Season 8
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1965-66	2002-03
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	65	30.4	16.6	-	-	9.6	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	6.4	15.9	.401	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	.739
Joe Smith	54	20.7	7.5	2.1	2.9	5.0	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.8	3.2	2.8	6.1	.460	0.0	0.0	.000	1.9	2.4	.779

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	14	41.9	26.8	-	-	14.1	3.7	-	-	-	2.7	10.4	23.4	.442	-	-	-	6.1	7.5	.810
Joe Smith	5	8.0	2.8	0.0	1.2	1.2	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.6	2.8	0.8	1.2	.667	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.2	1.000


Season 9
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1966-67	2003-04
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	70	38.7	26.6	-	-	12.8	3.1	-	-	-	3.0	10.2	23.7	.429	-	-	-	6.3	7.7	.813
Joe Smith	76	29.7	10.9	3.0	5.4	8.5	1.0	0.6	1.2	1.1	2.8	4.1	9.3	.439	0.0	0.1	.200	2.7	3.2	.859

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	3	40.3	23.7	-	-	13.0	3.0	-	-	-	2.0	9.3	25.3	.368	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	.750
Joe Smith	5	35.4	13.2	4.6	5.4	10.0	0.4	0.8	2.0	1.2	3.0	5.4	11.0	.491	0.0	0.2	.000	2.4	2.6	.923


Season 10
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1967-68	2004-05
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	77	39.3	26.0	-	-	12.2	4.6	-	-	-	3.0	9.8	22.2	.443	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.786
Joe Smith	74	30.6	11.0	2.4	4.9	7.3	0.9	0.6	0.5	1.1	3.0	4.3	8.4	.514	0.0	0.0	.000	2.4	3.1	.768

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	15	42.2	28.5	-	-	14.5	4.0	-	-	-	2.7	11.7	25.1	.468	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.679
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1968-69	2005-06
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	76	40.3	24.8	-	-	10.6	5.4	-	-	-	2.7	9.6	21.5	.447	-	-	-	5.5	7.5	.743
Joe Smith	44	20.2	8.6	1.9	3.3	5.2	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.9	2.7	3.3	6.9	.475	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.6	.774

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	18	35.6	15.4	-	-	9.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.1	5.9	15.4	.385	-	-	-	3.5	5.6	.630
Joe Smith	5	21.2	7.6	1.2	4.2	5.4	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.2	3.2	3.2	6.6	.485	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.8	.667


Season 12
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1969-70	2006-07
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	54	41.0	24.0	-	-	10.4	5.4	-	-	-	2.4	9.5	19.5	.486	-	-	-	5.1	6.6	.773
Joe Smith	65	23.1	8.5	1.8	4.3	6.2	0.8	0.6	0.4	1.2	2.3	3.3	7.3	.449	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.3	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	18	37.1	18.7	-	-	9.6	4.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.7	16.4	.466	-	-	-	3.3	4.5	.741
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1970-71	2007-08
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	2	28.5	10.0	-	-	5.5	1.0	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	9.5	.421	-	-	-	2.0	3.0	.667
Joe Smith	77	22.4	10.1	2.1	3.1	5.2	0.9	0.4	0.6	0.9	2.4	4.1	8.5	.478	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.6	.755

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	13	20.2	6.6	1.5	3.1	4.6	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5	3.2	2.8	5.7	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.7	.636


Season 14
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	1971-72	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	9	26.6	11.8	-	-	6.3	2.0	-	-	-	2.2	4.7	10.8	.433	-	-	-	2.4	3.0	.815
Joe Smith	57	19.3	6.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.4	2.1	2.7	5.8	.468	0.1	0.1	.429	1.0	1.4	.720

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	13	16.8	5.5	0.8	2.9	3.7	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.5	1.9	1.8	3.8	.460	0.2	0.4	.600	1.8	2.2	.793


Season 15
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	-	2009-10
Team	-	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	64	9.3	3.0	1.0	1.4	2.5	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.3	1.5	1.2	3.0	.399	0.0	0.1	.143	0.6	0.8	.813

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	5	4.8	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.6	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 16
	Elgin Baylor	Joe Smith
Season	-	2010-11
Team	-	New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	16	4.3	0.5	0.2	1.1	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.8	0.2	1.0	.188	0.0	0.0	-	0.1	0.1	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	5	2.2	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.4	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Elgin Baylor vs. Joe Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Smith and Elgin Baylor, 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

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15

Season 16