George Mikan vs. Cazzie Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Cazzie Russell and George Mikan, 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.

George Mikan played 7 years in the NBA, 5 less than Cazzie Russell, who played 12. George Mikan had the first of his seasons in 1948-49, while Cazzie Russell had his rookie season in 1966-67. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
Rookie Season
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1948-49	1966-67
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Div Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	60	-	28.3	-	-	-	3.6	-	-	-	4.3	9.7	23.4	.416	-	-	-	8.9	11.5	.772
Cazzie Russell	77	22.0	11.3	-	-	3.3	2.4	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	10.2	.436	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.785
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	10	-	30.3	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	10.3	22.7	.454	-	-	-	9.7	12.1	.802
Cazzie Russell	4	22.3	15.5	-	-	4.8	2.8	-	-	-	4.0	6.5	16.5	.394	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.769

Season 2
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1949-50	1967-68
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Div Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	68	-	27.4	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-	4.4	9.5	23.5	.407	-	-	-	8.3	10.7	.779
Cazzie Russell	82	28.0	16.9	-	-	4.6	2.4	-	-	-	2.7	6.7	14.5	.462	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	.808
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	-	31.3	-	-	-	3.0	-	-	-	3.9	10.1	26.3	.383	-	-	-	11.2	14.2	.788
Cazzie Russell	6	34.8	21.7	-	-	3.8	1.7	-	-	-	2.7	9.2	16.3	.561	-	-	-	3.3	4.0	.833

Season 3
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1950-51	1968-69
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Knicks Lost East Div Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	68	-	28.4	-	-	14.1	3.1	-	-	-	4.5	10.0	23.3	.428	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.803
Cazzie Russell	50	32.9	18.3	-	-	4.2	2.3	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.1	.450	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.796
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	7	-	24.0	-	-	10.6	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	21.7	.408	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.800
Cazzie Russell	5	7.2	2.4	-	-	1.0	0.2	-	-	-	0.8	1.0	4.2	.238	-	-	-	0.4	0.4	1.000

Season 4
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1951-52	1969-70
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	64	40.2	23.8	-	-	13.5	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	8.5	22.1	.385	-	-	-	6.8	8.7	.780
Cazzie Russell	78	20.0	11.5	-	-	3.0	1.7	-	-	-	1.8	4.9	9.9	.498	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	42.5	23.6	-	-	15.9	2.8	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	20.1	.379	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.790
Cazzie Russell	19	16.1	9.4	-	-	2.5	0.8	-	-	-	1.6	4.2	8.7	.485	-	-	-	0.9	1.0	.947

Season 5
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1952-53	1970-71
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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		%
George Mikan	70	37.9	20.6	-	-	14.4	2.9	-	-	-	4.1	7.1	17.9	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.780
Cazzie Russell	57	18.5	9.2	-	-	3.4	1.4	-	-	-	1.3	3.8	8.8	.429	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	38.6	19.8	-	-	15.4	1.9	-	-	-	4.7	6.5	17.8	.366	-	-	-	6.8	9.3	.732
Cazzie Russell	11	10.9	5.6	-	-	2.0	0.7	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	5.8	.391	-	-	-	1.1	1.1	1.000

Season 6
	George Mikan	Cazzie Russell
Season	1953-54	1971-72
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	72	32.8	18.1	-	-	14.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	16.1	.380	-	-	-	5.9	7.6	.777
Cazzie Russell	79	36.7	21.4	-	-	5.4	3.1	-	-	-	2.2	8.7	19.2	.455	-	-	-	4.0	4.8	.833
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	32.6	19.4	-	-	13.2	1.9	-	-	-	4.3	6.7	14.6	.458	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.813
Cazzie Russell	5	32.2	14.2	-	-	4.4	1.8	-	-	-	2.6	6.2	12.6	.492	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.750

Note: George Mikan didn't play in 1954-55.