Jalen Brunson vs. John Havlicek Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of John Havlicek 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Stats / Stats Rankings

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 8 years in the NBA, 8 less than John Havlicek, who played 16. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while John Havlicek had his rookie season in 1962-63. 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.

Their Careers

Player		 Total Seasons Playoffs Played NBA Years
Jalen Brunson 8 5 2018-19 to 2025-26
John Havlicek 16 13 1962-63 to 1977-78

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Rookie Season
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2018-191962-63
Team Dallas MavericksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+7+5.7+5.0+4.4+1.0-0.7+2.4+5.9+.022+1.0+1.4+.003
John Havlicek 80 27.5 14.3 - - 6.7 2.2 - - - 2.4 6.0 13.6 .445 - - - 2.2 3.0 .728
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Jalen Brunson DNP------ --- ----------
John Havlicek 11 23.1 11.8 - - 4.8 1.5 - - - 2.5 5.1 11.4 .448 - - - 1.6 2.5 .667

Season 2
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2019-201963-64
Team Dallas MavericksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+23+14.4+11.7+3.0+0.3-1.5+4.8+12.4+.049+2.8+4.0+.067
John Havlicek 80 32.3 19.9 - - 5.4 3.0 - - - 2.8 8.0 19.2 .417 - - - 3.9 5.3 .746
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Jalen Brunson DNP------ --- ----------
John Havlicek 10 28.9 15.7 - - 4.3 3.2 - - - 2.6 6.1 15.9 .384 - - - 3.5 4.4 .795

Season 3
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2020-211964-65
Team Dallas MavericksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st RdNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+7+3.9+5.7+1.5+0.8-1.1+2.8+9.7+.122+1.3+2.0+.051
John Havlicek 75 28.9 18.3 - - 4.9 2.7 - - - 2.7 7.6 18.9 .401 - - - 3.1 4.2 .744
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+5+17.5+10.5+4.7+1.0-2.8+4.4+14.5+.103+2.4+2.7+.067
John Havlicek 12 33.8 18.5 - - 7.3 2.4 - - - 3.7 7.3 20.8 .352 - - - 3.8 4.6 .836

Season 4
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2021-221965-66
Team Dallas MavericksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Mavericks Lost West Conf FinalsNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+8+1.3+2.5+2.1+1.8-0.3+1.1+5.9+.103+1.6+2.2+.055
John Havlicek 71 30.6 18.8 - - 6.0 3.0 - - - 2.2 7.5 18.7 .399 - - - 3.9 4.9 .785
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+1+7.4+2.0+4.5+0.4-2.0+0.9+4.7+.057+1.6+1.6+.041
John Havlicek 17 42.3 23.6 - - 9.1 4.1 - - - 4.1 9.0 22.0 .409 - - - 5.6 6.6 .841

Season 5
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2022-231966-67
Team New York KnicksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Knicks Lost East Conf SemisCeltics Lost East Div Finals
more >>
5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+13+2.9+2.6+3.1+2.8-0.4+0.2+1.4+.047+0.3+0.4+.001
John Havlicek 81 32.1 21.4 - - 6.6 3.4 - - - 2.6 8.4 19.0 .444 - - - 4.5 5.4 .828
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+2+3.6+0.4+3.2+2.5-0.9+0.7+2.7+.026+0.7+1.7+.109
John Havlicek 9 36.7 27.4 - - 8.1 3.1 - - - 3.3 10.6 23.6 .448 - - - 6.3 7.9 .803

Season 6
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2023-241967-68
Team New York KnicksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second TeamAchievement All-NBA Second Team
Achievement All-Star GameAchievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Knicks Lost East Conf SemisNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+5+0.2+8.0+3.1+2.0-1.0+2.2+2.5+.050+1.0+1.0+.035
John Havlicek 82 35.6 20.7 - - 6.7 4.7 - - - 2.9 8.1 18.9 .429 - - - 4.5 5.5 .812
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+6+5.6+6.5+5.3-1.5+1.9+4.8+.008+0.6+1.3+.053
John Havlicek 19 45.4 25.9 - - 8.6 7.5 - - - 3.5 9.7 21.4 .452 - - - 6.6 7.9 .828

Season 7
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2024-251968-69
Team New York KnicksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second TeamAchievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Defensive Second Team
Achievement Clutch Player of the Year-
Achievement All-Star GameAchievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Knicks Lost East Conf FinalsNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+17+3.3+4.4+4.1+1.9-0.9+0.6+2.3+.083+1.0+0.9+.041
John Havlicek 82 38.7 21.6 - - 7.0 5.4 - - - 3.0 8.4 20.8 .405 - - - 4.7 6.0 .780
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+9.4+4.0+6.5+1.4-0.1+0.7+0.6+.016+0.1+0.1+.004
John Havlicek 18 47.2 25.4 - - 9.9 5.6 - - - 3.2 9.4 21.2 .445 - - - 6.6 7.7 .855

Season 8
Jalen Brunson John Havlicek
Season 2025-261969-70
Team New York KnicksBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Defensive Second Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Jalen Brunson 5 34.8 31.2 0.6 3.0 3.6 5.4 1.0 0.0 2.0 2.8 11.0 22.8 .482 2.6 8.0 .325 6.6 8.0 .825
difference:+76+6.8+7.0+4.2+1.4-0.2+1.9+3.2+.018+0.6+0.9+.019
John Havlicek 81 41.6 24.2 - - 7.8 6.8 - - - 2.6 9.1 19.6 .464 - - - 6.0 7.1 .844
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Jalen Brunson nor John Havlicek played in the postseason in their season 8

Additional Years

* John Havlicek played 8 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 9 to 16, from 1971 to 1978—John Havlicek played in 6 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships.

In those 8 extra years over Jalen Brunson, John Havlicek got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 1 Finals MVP
Achievement 4 All-NBA First Team
Achievement 2 All-NBA Second Team
Achievement 5 All-Defensive First Team
Achievement 1 All-Defensive Second Team
Achievement 8 All-Star Game
Share: