Happy Hairston vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and Happy Hairston, 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.

Happy Hairston played 11 years in the NBA, 3 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Happy Hairston had the first of his seasons in 1964-65, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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
Rookie Season
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1964-65	2002-03
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Royals Lost East Div 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		%
Happy Hairston	61	12.1	6.1	-	-	4.8	0.4	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	5.8	.373	-	-	-	1.8	2.7	.667
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	.500	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	3	13.0	4.0	-	-	6.7	1.0	-	-	-	0.7	1.7	6.0	.278	-	-	-	0.7	1.0	.667
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1965-66	2003-04
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Royals Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Happy Hairston	72	24.9	14.1	-	-	7.6	0.6	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	11.3	.489	-	-	-	3.1	4.5	.685
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	.000	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	5	30.0	15.4	-	-	7.4	0.0	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	12.4	.403	-	-	-	5.4	7.6	.711
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1966-67	2004-05
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Royals Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Happy Hairston	79	30.9	14.9	-	-	8.0	0.8	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	12.2	.479	-	-	-	3.2	4.8	.660
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	4	35.0	16.0	-	-	6.8	1.5	-	-	-	3.8	7.0	13.5	.519	-	-	-	2.0	3.8	.533
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1967-68	2005-06
Team	Cincinnati Royals, Detroit Pistons	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div 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		%
Happy Hairston	74	34.0	17.9	-	-	8.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.7	6.5	13.3	.487	-	-	-	4.9	7.1	.699
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	.000	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	6	24.8	11.7	-	-	6.2	1.2	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	11.8	.408	-	-	-	2.0	3.3	.600
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1968-69	2006-07
Team	Detroit Pistons	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Happy Hairston	81	35.7	18.1	-	-	11.8	1.3	-	-	-	3.1	6.5	14.0	.469	-	-	-	5.0	6.8	.731
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	.000	7.4	8.6	.862
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1969-70	2007-08
Team	Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Happy Hairston	70	34.7	18.5	-	-	11.1	1.7	-	-	-	3.3	6.9	13.9	.496	-	-	-	4.7	5.9	.789
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	.000	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	16	18.5	7.4	-	-	4.8	1.3	-	-	-	1.9	2.9	6.8	.435	-	-	-	1.5	2.2	.686
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1970-71	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Happy Hairston	80	36.5	18.6	-	-	10.0	2.1	-	-	-	3.2	7.2	15.4	.466	-	-	-	4.2	5.4	.782
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	1.000	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	12	39.3	17.0	-	-	9.1	2.8	-	-	-	3.4	6.9	13.7	.506	-	-	-	3.2	4.2	.760
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Happy Hairston	Yao Ming
Season	1971-72	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Happy Hairston	80	34.4	13.1	-	-	13.1	2.4	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	10.0	.461	-	-	-	3.9	5.0	.779
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	15	38.5	13.5	-	-	13.1	2.1	-	-	-	2.9	4.9	11.2	.440	-	-	-	3.6	4.5	.794
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-