Greg Ballard vs. Karl-Anthony Towns Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl-Anthony Towns and Greg Ballard, 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.

Greg Ballard played 11 years in the NBA, 2 more than Karl-Anthony Towns, who played 9. Greg Ballard had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Karl-Anthony Towns had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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
Greg Ballard 11 7 1977-78 to 1988-89
Karl-Anthony Towns 9 4 2015-16 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11

Rookie Season

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1977-782015-16
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement Rookie of the Year
-Achievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs NBA Champion NBA ChampionDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 76 12.3 4.9 1.3 2.2 3.5 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.8 1.2 1.9 4.4 .425 - - - 1.2 1.5 .772
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 32.0 18.3 2.8 7.7 10.5 2.0 0.7 1.7 2.2 3.0 7.6 14.1 .542 0.4 1.1 .341 2.7 3.4 .811
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 19 12.8 3.9 1.4 2.7 4.2 0.9 0.5 0.2 0.7 1.5 1.1 3.3 .333 - - - 1.7 2.2 .780
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Season 2

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1978-792016-17
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Bullets Lost NBA FinalsDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 82 18.9 7.8 1.7 3.7 5.5 1.4 0.7 0.4 1.2 2.0 3.2 6.8 .465 - - - 1.5 2.1 .692
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 37.0 25.1 3.6 8.7 12.3 2.7 0.7 1.3 2.6 2.9 9.8 18.0 .542 1.2 3.4 .367 4.3 5.2 .832
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 19 16.4 7.2 1.8 3.1 4.8 0.9 0.5 0.3 1.1 1.5 2.8 5.3 .525 - - - 1.6 2.2 .756
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Season 3

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1979-802017-18
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Third Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Bullets Lost East Conf 1st RdTimberwolves 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 %
Greg Ballard 82 29.7 15.6 2.9 4.9 7.8 1.9 1.1 0.4 1.6 2.4 6.6 13.4 .495 0.2 0.6 .340 2.1 2.8 .753
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 35.6 21.3 2.9 9.4 12.3 2.4 0.8 1.4 1.9 3.5 7.8 14.3 .545 1.5 3.5 .421 4.2 4.9 .858
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 2 36.5 11.0 1.0 6.0 7.0 3.5 0.5 0.5 4.0 4.0 4.5 14.0 .321 0.0 0.0 - 2.0 3.5 .571
Karl-Anthony Towns 5 34.0 15.2 3.0 10.4 13.4 2.2 0.4 1.0 2.4 2.8 5.6 12.0 .467 0.6 2.2 .273 3.4 4.6 .739

Season 4

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1980-812018-19
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 82 31.8 15.5 2.0 5.0 7.1 2.4 1.4 0.5 1.4 2.4 6.7 14.5 .463 0.1 0.4 .219 2.0 2.4 .847
Karl-Anthony Towns 77 33.1 24.4 3.4 9.0 12.4 3.4 0.9 1.6 3.1 3.8 8.8 17.1 .518 1.8 4.6 .400 4.9 5.8 .836
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard ------- --- ----------
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Season 5

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1981-822019-20
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Bullets Lost East Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 79 37.3 18.8 1.7 6.3 8.0 3.2 1.7 0.3 1.5 2.6 7.9 16.5 .475 0.1 0.3 .409 3.0 3.6 .830
Karl-Anthony Towns 35 33.9 26.5 2.7 8.1 10.8 4.4 0.9 1.2 3.1 3.3 9.0 17.8 .508 3.3 7.9 .412 5.1 6.5 .796
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 7 38.3 13.3 3.1 5.9 9.0 3.1 2.0 0.4 1.7 2.9 5.1 14.3 .360 0.0 0.0 - 3.0 3.6 .840
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Season 6

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1982-832020-21
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 78 36.4 18.0 1.6 4.9 6.5 3.4 1.7 0.3 2.0 2.3 7.7 16.3 .473 0.2 0.5 .351 2.3 3.0 .781
Karl-Anthony Towns 50 33.8 24.8 2.7 7.9 10.6 4.5 0.8 1.1 3.2 3.7 8.5 17.5 .486 2.4 6.3 .387 5.3 6.2 .859
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard ------- --- ----------
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Season 7

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1983-842021-22
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Third Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Bullets Lost East Conf 1st RdTimberwolves 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 %
Greg Ballard 82 32.9 14.5 1.7 4.2 6.0 3.5 1.1 0.4 1.7 2.6 6.2 12.9 .481 0.0 0.2 .133 2.0 2.5 .798
Karl-Anthony Towns 74 33.5 24.6 2.6 7.2 9.8 3.6 1.0 1.1 3.1 3.6 8.7 16.4 .529 2.0 4.9 .410 5.2 6.3 .822
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 4 42.0 16.5 1.8 4.3 6.0 3.5 1.8 0.8 2.0 3.0 6.8 14.8 .458 0.0 0.3 .000 3.0 3.3 .923
Karl-Anthony Towns 6 37.0 21.8 1.8 9.0 10.8 2.2 0.7 2.0 4.5 4.2 6.5 13.3 .488 1.7 3.7 .455 7.2 8.3 .860

Season 8

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1984-852022-23
Team Washington BulletsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Bullets Lost East Conf 1st RdTimberwolves 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 %
Greg Ballard 82 32.5 13.1 1.8 4.6 6.5 2.5 1.2 0.4 1.3 2.7 5.7 11.9 .480 0.2 0.6 .304 1.5 1.8 .795
Karl-Anthony Towns 29 33.0 20.8 1.7 6.5 8.1 4.8 0.7 0.6 3.0 3.8 7.3 14.8 .495 2.1 5.7 .366 4.1 4.7 .874
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 4 16.3 7.5 1.0 2.5 3.5 1.5 0.8 0.0 1.3 1.8 2.8 6.0 .458 0.0 0.5 .000 2.0 2.3 .889
Karl-Anthony Towns 5 36.0 18.2 1.2 9.0 10.2 2.0 0.6 0.8 3.6 4.2 6.4 14.0 .457 1.2 4.8 .250 4.2 5.6 .750

Season 9

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1985-862023-24
Team Golden State WarriorsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayTimberwolves TBD
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 75 23.9 8.8 1.8 3.8 5.6 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.7 2.3 3.6 7.6 .477 0.2 0.5 .486 1.3 1.7 .802
Karl-Anthony Towns 62 32.7 21.8 1.5 6.8 8.3 3.0 0.7 0.7 2.9 3.3 7.7 15.3 .504 2.2 5.3 .416 4.1 4.7 .873
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard ------- --- ----------
Karl-Anthony Towns 10 31.7 18.4 2.0 7.0 9.0 2.9 0.6 0.2 1.7 3.8 6.7 13.1 .511 2.1 4.4 .477 2.9 3.6 .806

Season 10

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1986-87-
Team Golden State Warriors-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs 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 %
Greg Ballard 82 19.3 7.1 1.2 2.9 4.1 1.3 0.6 0.2 0.9 2.0 3.0 6.9 .440 0.2 0.5 .375 0.8 1.1 .747
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 10 17.9 5.9 1.8 2.2 4.0 1.9 0.8 0.0 0.9 1.6 2.6 4.8 .542 0.4 1.0 .400 0.3 0.4 .750
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------

Note: Greg Ballard didn't play in 1987-88.

Season 11

Greg Ballard Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 1988-89-
Team Seattle Supersonics-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not Play-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard 2 7.5 3.0 1.0 2.5 3.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.5 4.0 .125 0.0 0.5 .000 2.0 2.0 1.000
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Greg Ballard ------- --- ----------
Karl-Anthony Towns ------- --- ----------