Ernie Grunfeld vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum and Ernie Grunfeld, 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.

Ernie Grunfeld played 9 years in the NBA, 2 more than Jayson Tatum, who played 7. Ernie Grunfeld had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Jayson Tatum had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Rookie Season
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1977-78	2017-18
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	73	17.3	6.9	1.0	1.7	2.7	2.0	0.7	0.3	1.3	2.1	2.8	6.3	.443	-	-	-	1.3	2.0	.657
Jayson Tatum	80	30.5	13.9	0.6	4.4	5.0	1.6	1.0	0.7	1.4	2.1	5.0	10.4	.475	1.3	3.0	.434	2.7	3.2	.826
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	7	11.0	5.4	0.6	1.0	1.6	2.4	0.4	0.1	1.0	0.9	2.4	4.6	.531	-	-	-	0.6	0.7	.800
Jayson Tatum	19	35.9	18.5	0.5	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.5	2.2	2.6	6.5	13.7	.471	1.2	3.7	.324	4.3	5.1	.845

Season 3
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1979-80	2019-20
Team	Kansas City Kings	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	80	17.5	5.9	1.1	1.8	2.9	1.4	0.7	0.1	1.0	1.9	2.3	5.3	.443	0.0	0.0	.500	1.3	1.6	.771
Jayson Tatum	66	34.3	23.4	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.0	1.4	0.9	2.3	2.1	8.4	18.6	.450	2.9	7.1	.403	3.8	4.7	.812
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	3	10.7	3.7	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.7	3.0	.556	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	1.0	.333
Jayson Tatum	17	40.6	25.7	1.3	8.7	10.0	5.0	1.0	1.2	2.8	2.4	8.5	19.6	.434	2.8	7.4	.373	5.9	7.2	.813

Season 4
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1980-81	2020-21
Team	Kansas City Kings	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	Celtics 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	79	20.1	7.5	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.1	2.0	3.3	6.2	.535	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.3	.743
Jayson Tatum	64	35.8	26.4	0.8	6.6	7.4	4.3	1.2	0.5	2.7	1.9	9.5	20.6	.459	2.9	7.6	.386	4.6	5.3	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	15	42.2	16.8	0.7	3.5	4.2	5.9	2.0	0.6	2.9	3.4	6.5	13.4	.488	0.1	0.3	.500	3.6	4.5	.806
Jayson Tatum	5	37.0	30.6	0.6	5.2	5.8	4.6	1.2	1.6	2.6	3.0	9.4	22.2	.423	2.8	7.2	.389	9.0	9.8	.918

Season 5
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1981-82	2021-22
Team	Kansas City Kings	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	81	23.4	12.7	0.7	1.6	2.2	3.4	0.9	0.5	1.8	2.4	5.2	10.1	.511	0.0	0.2	.143	2.3	2.8	.821
Jayson Tatum	76	35.9	26.9	1.1	6.9	8.0	4.4	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.3	9.3	20.6	.453	3.0	8.6	.353	5.3	6.2	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jayson Tatum	24	41.0	25.6	1.0	5.7	6.7	6.2	1.2	0.9	4.2	3.0	8.4	19.7	.426	3.2	8.2	.393	5.7	7.1	.800

Season 6
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1982-83	2022-23
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	77	18.5	5.4	0.5	1.6	2.1	1.8	0.5	0.1	1.1	2.2	2.2	4.9	.443	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.3	.827
Jayson Tatum	74	36.9	30.1	1.1	7.7	8.8	4.6	1.1	0.7	2.9	2.2	9.8	21.1	.466	3.2	9.3	.350	7.2	8.4	.854
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	6	19.7	8.0	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.7	1.2	0.3	1.5	2.8	2.5	5.7	.441	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Jayson Tatum	20	40.0	27.2	1.3	9.2	10.5	5.3	1.1	1.1	2.8	2.2	9.3	20.2	.458	2.7	8.2	.323	6.0	6.9	.876

Season 7
	Ernie Grunfeld	Jayson Tatum
Season	1983-84	2023-24
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics TBD

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	76	14.7	5.2	0.3	1.3	1.6	1.4	0.6	0.1	0.9	2.0	2.2	4.8	.459	0.0	0.1	.222	0.8	1.1	.771
Jayson Tatum	74	35.7	26.9	0.9	7.2	8.1	4.9	1.0	0.6	2.5	2.0	9.1	19.3	.471	3.1	8.2	.376	5.6	6.7	.833
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	11	7.6	2.4	0.1	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.4	1.1	1.0	2.1	.478	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.4	1.000
Jayson Tatum	10	39.2	24.3	0.6	9.8	10.4	5.8	1.0	0.8	2.1	2.8	7.7	17.9	.430	1.8	6.4	.281	7.1	8.2	.866