Ernie Grunfeld vs. Kyrie Irving Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kyrie Irving 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.

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.

Ernie Grunfeld played 9 years in the NBA, 4 less than Kyrie Irving, who played 13. Ernie Grunfeld had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Kyrie Irving had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Ernie Grunfeld	9	5	1977-78 to 1985-86
Kyrie Irving	13	7	2011-12 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1977-78	2011-12
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf 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		%
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
Kyrie Irving	51	30.5	18.5	0.9	2.9	3.7	5.4	1.1	0.4	3.1	2.2	6.9	14.6	.469	1.4	3.6	.399	3.4	3.8	.872

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
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1978-79	2012-13
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	82	21.7	10.3	1.5	2.9	4.4	2.6	0.7	0.2	1.7	2.7	4.0	8.1	.493	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.761
Kyrie Irving	59	34.7	22.5	0.6	3.1	3.7	5.9	1.5	0.4	3.2	2.5	8.2	18.1	.452	1.8	4.7	.391	4.2	4.9	.855

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1979-80	2013-14
Team	Kansas City Kings	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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
Kyrie Irving	71	35.2	20.8	0.7	2.9	3.6	6.1	1.5	0.3	2.7	2.3	7.5	17.4	.430	1.7	4.8	.358	4.1	4.8	.861

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
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1980-81	2014-15
Team	Kansas City Kings	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	Cavaliers 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	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
Kyrie Irving	75	36.4	21.7	0.7	2.4	3.2	5.2	1.5	0.3	2.5	1.9	7.7	16.5	.468	2.1	5.0	.415	4.2	4.9	.863

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
Kyrie Irving	13	35.7	19.0	0.8	2.8	3.6	3.8	1.3	0.8	1.5	2.2	6.2	14.2	.438	2.1	4.6	.450	4.5	5.3	.841


Season 5
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1981-82	2015-16
Team	Kansas City Kings	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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
Kyrie Irving	53	31.5	19.6	0.8	2.1	3.0	4.7	1.1	0.3	2.3	2.0	7.4	16.6	.448	1.6	4.9	.321	3.2	3.6	.885

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	21	36.9	25.2	0.7	2.2	3.0	4.7	1.7	0.6	2.3	2.2	9.6	20.1	.475	2.4	5.5	.440	3.7	4.2	.875


Season 6
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1982-83	2016-17
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers 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	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
Kyrie Irving	72	35.1	25.2	0.7	2.5	3.2	5.8	1.2	0.3	2.5	2.2	9.3	19.7	.473	2.5	6.1	.401	4.1	4.6	.905

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
Kyrie Irving	18	36.3	25.9	0.7	2.1	2.8	5.3	1.3	0.4	2.7	2.1	9.6	20.6	.468	2.4	6.6	.373	4.2	4.7	.905


Season 7
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1983-84	2017-18
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 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		%
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
Kyrie Irving	60	32.2	24.4	0.6	3.2	3.8	5.1	1.1	0.3	2.3	2.0	8.9	18.1	.491	2.8	6.8	.408	3.9	4.4	.889

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
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1984-85	2018-19
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	69	15.4	6.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	1.5	0.7	0.1	0.6	1.9	2.7	5.6	.490	0.0	0.1	.250	1.1	1.5	.740
Kyrie Irving	67	33.0	23.8	1.1	3.9	5.0	6.9	1.5	0.5	2.6	2.5	9.0	18.5	.487	2.6	6.5	.401	3.2	3.7	.873

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	9	36.7	21.3	0.6	3.8	4.3	7.0	1.4	0.4	3.1	2.9	7.7	19.9	.385	2.0	6.4	.310	4.0	4.4	.900


Season 9
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	1985-86	2019-20
Team	New York Knicks	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	76	18.4	5.4	0.6	2.2	2.7	1.6	0.5	0.2	0.7	2.5	1.9	4.7	.417	0.3	0.8	.426	1.2	1.4	.833
Kyrie Irving	20	32.9	27.4	1.1	4.1	5.2	6.4	1.4	0.5	2.6	2.7	10.0	20.8	.478	2.8	7.1	.394	4.7	5.1	.922

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Nets 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	54	34.9	26.9	1.0	3.8	4.8	6.0	1.4	0.7	2.4	2.6	10.2	20.1	.506	2.8	7.0	.402	3.7	4.0	.922

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	9	36.1	22.7	1.3	4.4	5.8	3.4	1.0	0.6	1.2	2.1	8.6	18.1	.472	2.7	7.2	.369	2.9	3.1	.929


Season 11
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Nets 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	29	37.6	27.4	0.6	3.8	4.4	5.8	1.4	0.6	2.5	2.8	10.0	21.2	.469	3.4	8.2	.418	4.1	4.4	.915

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	4	42.5	21.3	1.5	3.8	5.3	5.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	7.0	15.8	.444	2.0	5.3	.381	5.3	5.3	1.000


Season 12
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	60	37.3	27.1	1.0	4.1	5.1	5.5	1.1	0.8	2.1	2.8	9.9	20.1	.494	3.1	8.3	.379	4.1	4.6	.905

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kyrie Irving
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Mavericks 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	58	35.0	25.6	0.8	4.2	5.0	5.2	1.3	0.5	1.8	1.9	9.7	19.5	.497	3.0	7.3	.411	3.3	3.6	.905

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kyrie Irving	12	40.1	21.1	1.2	2.8	4.0	5.4	1.4	0.5	2.5	3.2	7.8	16.3	.482	2.8	6.3	.440	2.7	3.2	.842

Ernie Grunfeld vs. Kyrie Irving Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kyrie Irving 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.

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