Jalen Brunson vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Jalen Brunson, 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.

Jalen Brunson played 7 years in the NBA, 6 less than Bill Russell, who played 13. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2018-19	1956-57
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
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		%
Jalen Brunson	73	21.8	9.3	0.3	2.0	2.3	3.2	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.7	3.6	7.7	.467	0.9	2.5	.348	1.2	1.6	.725
difference:	+25	+13.5	+5.4			+17.3	+1.4				-1.3	+2.2	+5.8	+.040				+2.0	+4.8	+.233
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		%
Jalen Brunson	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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2019-20	1957-58
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Jalen Brunson	57	17.9	8.2	0.4	2.0	2.4	3.3	0.4	0.1	1.2	1.3	3.2	6.8	.466	0.8	2.1	.358	1.1	1.3	.813
difference:	+12	+20.4	+8.4			+20.3	+0.4				-1.3	+3.4	+8.2	+.024				+2.2	+5.1	+.294
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		%
Jalen Brunson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2020-21	1958-59
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	25.0	12.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	3.5	0.5	0.0	1.2	1.6	4.8	9.2	.523	1.2	2.9	.405	1.8	2.2	.795
difference:	+2	+17.6	+4.1			+19.6	+0.3				-0.7	+1.7	+5.0	+.066				+1.9	+3.9	+.197
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		%
Jalen Brunson	7	16.3	8.0	0.9	1.7	2.6	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	2.9	6.3	.455	0.9	1.9	.462	1.4	1.9	.769
difference:	+4	+28.8	+7.5			+25.1	+2.2				-1.6	+3.0	+8.2	+.046				+2.3	+4.2	+.157
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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2021-22	1959-60
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Jalen Brunson	79	31.9	16.3	0.5	3.4	3.9	4.8	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	6.4	12.8	.502	1.2	3.2	.373	2.3	2.7	.840
difference:	+5	+10.6	+1.9			+20.1	+1.1				-0.9	+1.1	+3.3	+.035				+0.9	+2.6	+.228
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	34.9	21.6	0.8	3.8	4.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	1.1	2.1	8.1	17.3	.466	1.4	4.2	.347	4.0	5.0	.800
difference:	+5	+9.1	+3.1			+21.2	+0.8				-0.8	+0.9	+1.5	+.010				+0.1	+0.8	+.093
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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2022-23	1960-61
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	35.0	24.0	0.6	3.0	3.5	6.2	0.9	0.2	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.6	.491	2.0	4.7	.416	4.8	5.8	.829
difference:	+10	+9.3	+7.1			+20.4	+2.8				-0.2	+1.8	+1.6	+.065				+1.5	+0.2	+.279
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		%
Jalen Brunson	11	40.3	27.8	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.6	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.4	9.9	20.9	.474	2.4	7.3	.325	5.6	6.2	.912
difference:	+1	+5.9	+8.7			+25.0	+0.8					+2.6	+3.8	+.047				+1.1	+2.4	+.389
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
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2023-24	1961-62
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Jalen Brunson	77	35.4	28.7	0.6	3.1	3.6	6.7	0.9	0.2	2.4	1.9	10.3	21.4	.479	2.7	6.8	.401	5.5	6.5	.847
difference:	+1	+9.8	+9.8			+20.0	+2.2				-0.8	+2.7	+4.8	+.022				+1.7	+0.2	+.252
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		%
Jalen Brunson	13	39.8	32.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	0.8	0.2	2.7	2.0	11.6	26.2	.444	2.0	6.5	.310	7.2	9.2	.775
difference:	+1	+8.2	+10.0			+23.1	+2.5				-1.5	+3.3	+8.1	+.014				+1.3	+1.1	+.049
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726

Season 7
	Jalen Brunson	Bill Russell
Season	2024-25	1962-63
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Clutch Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	65	35.4	26.0	0.4	2.5	2.9	7.3	0.9	0.1	2.5	2.1	9.0	18.5	.488	2.3	6.1	.383	5.7	6.9	.821
difference:	+13	+9.5	+9.2			+20.7	+2.8				-0.3	+2.4	+3.3	+.056				+2.0	+0.3	+.266
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	18	37.8	29.4	0.7	2.8	3.4	7.0	0.4	0.3	3.1	3.3	10.1	21.8	.461	2.7	7.4	.358	6.7	7.8	.851
difference:	+5	+9.7	+9.1			+21.7	+1.9				-0.5	+2.7	+5.5	+.008				+1.2	+0.6	+.190
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 6 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 13, from 1964 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 6 Playoffs and won 5 NBA Championships. In those 6 extra years over Jalen Brunson, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 1 All-NBA First Team 4 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 6 All-Star Game