Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Payton Pritchard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Payton Pritchard and Hakeem Olajuwon, 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.

Hakeem Olajuwon played 18 years in the NBA, 13 more than Payton Pritchard, who played 5. Hakeem Olajuwon had the first of his seasons in 1984-85, while Payton Pritchard had his rookie season in 2020-21. 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Payton Pritchard
Season	1984-85	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	35.5	20.6	5.4	6.5	11.9	1.4	1.2	2.7	2.9	4.2	8.3	15.3	.538	0.0	0.0	-	4.1	6.7	.613
difference:	+16	+16.3	+12.9	+4.9	+4.6	+9.5	+0.4	+0.6	+2.6	-2.1	-2.6	+5.5	+9.0	+.098	+1.5	+3.8		+3.5	+6.0	+.276
Payton Pritchard	66	19.2	7.7	0.5	1.9	2.4	1.8	0.6	0.1	0.8	1.6	2.8	6.3	.440	1.5	3.8	.411	0.6	0.7	.889
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	5	37.4	21.2	6.6	6.4	13.0	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.2	4.4	8.4	17.6	.477	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	9.2	.478
difference:		+24.0	+17.8	+6.2	+5.0	+11.2	+1.0	+1.0	+2.6	-1.6	-3.6	+7.2	+14.2	+.124	+0.6	+2.0		+4.0	+8.8	+.522
Payton Pritchard	5	13.4	3.4	0.4	1.4	1.8	2.4	0.4	0.0	0.6	0.8	1.2	3.4	.353	0.6	2.0	.300	0.4	0.4	1.000

Season 2
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Payton Pritchard
Season	1985-86	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	68	36.3	23.5	4.9	6.6	11.5	2.0	2.0	3.4	2.9	4.0	9.2	17.5	.526	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	7.9	.645
difference:	+3	+22.2	+17.3	+4.4	+5.2	+9.6		+1.6	+3.3	-2.3	-3.1	+6.9	+12.2	+.097	+1.4	+3.5		+4.8	+7.6	+.355
Payton Pritchard	71	14.1	6.2	0.5	1.4	1.9	2.0	0.4	0.1	0.6	0.9	2.3	5.3	.429	1.4	3.5	.412	0.3	0.3	1.000
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	20	38.3	26.9	5.1	6.8	11.8	2.0	2.0	3.5	2.2	4.4	10.3	19.4	.530	0.0	0.1	.000	6.4	10.0	.638
difference:	+4	+25.4	+22.1	+4.7	+5.3	+9.9	+0.4	+1.7	+3.4	-1.8	-3.4	+8.5	+15.1	+.108	+1.0	+2.9	+.333	+6.2	+9.7	+.029
Payton Pritchard	24	12.9	4.8	0.4	1.5	1.9	1.6	0.3	0.1	0.4	1.0	1.8	4.3	.422	1.0	3.0	.333	0.2	0.3	.667

Season 3
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Payton Pritchard
Season	1986-87	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	75	36.8	23.4	4.2	7.2	11.4	2.9	1.9	3.4	3.0	3.9	9.0	17.8	.508	0.0	0.1	.200	5.3	7.6	.702
difference:	+27	+23.4	+17.8	+3.7	+5.9	+9.6	+1.6	+1.6	+3.4	-2.2	-3.1	+6.9	+12.7	+.096	+1.2	+3.1	+.164	+5.0	+7.3	+.048
Payton Pritchard	48	13.4	5.6	0.5	1.3	1.8	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.8	0.8	2.1	5.1	.412	1.2	3.2	.364	0.3	0.3	.750
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	10	38.9	29.2	3.9	7.4	11.3	2.5	1.3	4.3	3.6	4.4	11.0	17.9	.615	0.0	0.1	.000	7.2	9.7	.742
difference:		+33.2	+26.0	+3.9	+6.8	+10.7	+1.4	+1.2	+4.3	-3.1	-4.1	+9.8	+15.7	+.070	+0.4	+0.9	+.400	+6.8	+9.2	+.058
Payton Pritchard	10	5.7	3.2	0.0	0.6	0.6	1.1	0.1	0.0	0.5	0.3	1.2	2.2	.545	0.4	1.0	.400	0.4	0.5	.800

Season 4
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Payton Pritchard
Season	1987-88	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	79	35.8	22.8	3.8	8.3	12.1	2.1	2.1	2.7	3.1	4.1	9.0	17.5	.514	0.0	0.1	.000	4.8	6.9	.695
difference:	+3	+13.5	+13.2	+2.9	+5.9	+8.9	+1.3	+1.6	+2.6	-2.4	-2.8	+5.4	+9.8	+.046	+1.8	+4.6	+.385	+4.2	+6.2	+.126
Payton Pritchard	82	22.3	9.6	0.9	2.4	3.2	3.4	0.5	0.1	0.7	1.3	3.6	7.7	.468	1.8	4.7	.385	0.6	0.7	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	37.5	5.0	11.8	16.8	1.8	2.3	2.8	2.3	3.5	14.0	24.5	.571	0.0	0.3	.000	9.5	10.8	.884
difference:	+15	+21.8	+31.1	+4.3	+10.6	+14.9	+0.3	+2.1	+2.8	-1.6	-2.3	+11.7	+19.0	+.152	+1.2	+2.9	+.383	+8.9	+10.2	+.033
Payton Pritchard	19	18.7	6.4	0.7	1.2	1.9	2.1	0.2	0.0	0.7	1.2	2.3	5.5	.419	1.2	3.2	.383	0.6	0.6	.917

Season 5
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Payton Pritchard
Season	1988-89	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	36.9	24.8	4.1	9.4	13.5	1.8	2.6	3.4	3.4	4.0	9.6	19.0	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	5.5	8.0	.696
difference:	+2	+8.5	+10.5	+2.8	+6.8	+9.7	+1.7	+1.7	+3.2	-2.4	-2.5	+4.5	+8.2	+.036	+3.2	+7.7	+.407	+4.6	+6.9	+.149
Payton Pritchard	80	28.4	14.3	1.3	2.6	3.8	3.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	1.5	5.1	10.8	.472	3.2	7.8	.407	0.9	1.1	.845
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	25.3	3.5	9.5	13.0	3.0	2.5	2.8	2.5	4.3	10.5	20.3	.519	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	6.3	.680
difference:	+7	+13.0	+13.4	+2.7	+8.0	+10.7	+1.5	+2.0	+2.8	-1.7	-2.6	+6.4	+11.3	+.064	+2.5	+6.1		+3.0	+4.8	+.144
Payton Pritchard	11	27.5	11.9	0.8	1.5	2.3	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.8	1.7	4.1	9.0	.455	2.5	6.1	.403	1.3	1.5	.824

Additional Years
* Hakeem Olajuwon played 13 seasons more than Payton Pritchard in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 18, from 1990 to 2002—Hakeem Olajuwon played in 10 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 13 extra years over Payton Pritchard, Hakeem Olajuwon got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 3 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 3 All-Defensive Second Team 2 Defensive Player of the Year 1 Rebounds Leader 3 Blocks Leader 7 All-Star Game