Ja Morant vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Ja Morant, 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.

Ja Morant played 6 years in the NBA, 7 less than Bill Russell, who played 13. Ja Morant had the first of his seasons in 2019-20, while Bill Russell had his rookie season in 1956-57. 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
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2019-20	1956-57
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Ja Morant	67	31.0	17.8	0.8	3.1	3.9	7.3	0.9	0.3	3.3	1.6	6.7	14.0	.477	0.9	2.7	.335	3.6	4.6	.776
difference:	+19	+4.3	+3.1			+15.7	+5.5				-1.4	+0.9	+0.5	+.050				+0.4	+1.8	+.284
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508

Season 2
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2020-21	1957-58
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Ja Morant	63	32.6	19.1	0.9	3.1	4.0	7.4	0.9	0.2	3.2	1.4	6.8	15.2	.449	1.2	3.8	.303	4.3	5.9	.728
difference:	+6	+5.7	+2.5			+18.7	+4.5				-1.2	+0.2	+0.2	+.007				+1.0	+0.5	+.209
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	5	40.6	30.2	1.4	3.4	4.8	8.2	0.4	0.0	3.4	1.8	11.0	22.6	.487	2.0	6.2	.323	6.2	8.0	.775
difference:	+4	+1.2	+15.1			+19.8	+5.5				-0.9	+5.7	+7.8	+.126				+1.8	+0.7	+.169
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606

Season 3
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2021-22	1958-59
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Most Improved Player	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
Ja Morant	57	33.1	27.4	1.4	4.4	5.7	6.7	1.2	0.4	3.4	1.5	10.2	20.6	.493	1.5	4.5	.344	5.5	7.3	.761
difference:	+13	+9.5	+10.7			+17.3	+3.5				-0.8	+3.7	+6.4	+.036				+1.8	+1.2	+.163
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	9	37.6	27.1	1.4	6.6	8.0	9.8	2.0	0.4	3.6	2.4	9.0	20.4	.440	1.9	5.6	.340	7.2	9.7	.747
difference:	+2	+7.5	+11.6			+19.7	+6.2				-0.1	+3.1	+5.9	+.031				+3.5	+3.6	+.135
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612

Season 4
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2022-23	1959-60
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies 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		%
Ja Morant	61	31.9	26.2	1.0	4.9	5.9	8.1	1.1	0.3	3.4	1.6	9.3	19.9	.466	1.5	4.9	.307	6.1	8.1	.748
difference:	+13	+10.6	+8.0			+18.1	+4.4				-1.2	+1.8	+3.8	+.001				+2.9	+2.8	+.136
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	5	37.4	24.6	1.6	5.2	6.8	7.0	1.8	0.2	3.4	2.4	9.0	21.2	.425	2.6	6.2	.419	4.0	5.2	.769
difference:	+8	+6.6	+6.1			+19.0	+4.1				-0.5	+1.8	+5.4	+.031				+0.1	+0.6	+.062
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 5
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2023-24	1960-61
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Ja Morant	9	35.3	25.1	0.7	4.9	5.6	8.1	0.8	0.6	3.0	2.1	8.9	18.9	.471	1.6	5.7	.275	5.8	7.1	.813
difference:	+69	+9.0	+8.2			+18.3	+4.7				-0.1	+2.1	+2.9	+.045				+2.5	+1.1	+.263
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523

Season 6
	Ja Morant	Bill Russell
Season	2024-25	1961-62
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	50	30.4	23.2	0.7	3.4	4.1	7.3	1.2	0.2	3.7	2.3	8.1	17.8	.454	1.8	5.7	.309	5.3	6.4	.824
difference:	+26	+14.8	+4.3			+19.5	+2.8				-0.4	+0.5	+1.2	+.003				+1.5	+0.1	+.229
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ja Morant	3	27.3	18.3	0.3	1.7	2.0	5.0	0.7	0.7	2.0	1.0	7.3	17.7	.415	1.3	5.3	.250	2.3	3.7	.636
difference:	+11	+20.7	+4.1			+24.4					-2.5	+1.0	+0.4	+.043				+3.6	+4.4	+.090
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 7 seasons more than Ja Morant in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 13, from 1963 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 7 Playoffs and won 6 NBA Championships. In those 7 extra years over Ja Morant, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 4 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 7 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP