Jayson Tatum vs. Wes Unseld Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wes Unseld and Jayson Tatum, 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.

Jayson Tatum played 8 years in the NBA, 5 less than Wes Unseld, who played 13. Jayson Tatum had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Wes Unseld had his rookie season in 1968-69. 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
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2017-18	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Div Semis

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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		%
Jayson Tatum	80	30.5	13.9	0.6	4.4	5.0	1.6	1.0	0.7	1.4	2.1	5.0	10.4	.475	1.3	3.0	.434	2.7	3.2	.826
difference:	+2	+5.7	+0.1			+13.2	+1.0				-1.3	+0.2	+0.5	+.001				+0.7	+2.4	+.221
Wes Unseld	82	36.2	13.8	-	-	18.2	2.6	-	-	-	3.4	5.2	10.9	.476	-	-	-	3.4	5.6	.605
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	19	35.9	18.5	0.5	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.5	2.2	2.6	6.5	13.7	.471	1.2	3.7	.324	4.3	5.1	.845
difference:	+15	+5.4	+0.3			+14.1	+1.4				-0.9	+1.0	+0.6	+.055				+0.5	+0.3	+.056
Wes Unseld	4	41.3	18.8	-	-	18.5	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	7.5	14.3	.526	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.789

Season 3
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2019-20	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bullets Lost NBA 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		%
Jayson Tatum	66	34.3	23.4	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.0	1.4	0.9	2.3	2.1	8.4	18.6	.450	2.9	7.1	.403	3.8	4.7	.812
difference:	+8	+4.9	+9.3			+9.9	+1.0				-1.1	+2.7	+7.2	+.051				+1.1	+0.6	+.155
Wes Unseld	74	39.2	14.1	-	-	16.9	4.0	-	-	-	3.2	5.7	11.4	.501	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.657
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	17	40.6	25.7	1.3	8.7	10.0	5.0	1.0	1.2	2.8	2.4	8.5	19.6	.434	2.8	7.4	.373	5.9	7.2	.813
difference:	+1	+1.6	+12.5			+8.8	+1.2				-0.9	+3.2	+8.0	+.028				+3.3	+2.7	+.245
Wes Unseld	18	42.2	13.2	-	-	18.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.3	5.3	11.6	.462	-	-	-	2.6	4.5	.568

Season 4
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2020-21	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Jayson Tatum	64	35.8	26.4	0.8	6.6	7.4	4.3	1.2	0.5	2.7	1.9	9.5	20.6	.459	2.9	7.6	.386	4.6	5.3	.868
difference:	+12	+5.9	+13.4			+10.2	+0.6				-1.0	+4.1	+9.8	+.039				+2.3	+1.7	+.239
Wes Unseld	76	41.7	13.0	-	-	17.6	3.7	-	-	-	2.9	5.4	10.8	.498	-	-	-	2.3	3.6	.629
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	5	37.0	30.6	0.6	5.2	5.8	4.6	1.2	1.6	2.6	3.0	9.4	22.2	.423	2.8	7.2	.389	9.0	9.8	.918
difference:	+1	+7.3	+18.3			+6.7	+0.4				-0.7	+4.1	+11.4	+.069				+7.3	+6.6	+.392
Wes Unseld	6	44.3	12.3	-	-	12.5	4.2	-	-	-	3.7	5.3	10.8	.492	-	-	-	1.7	3.2	.526

Season 5
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2021-22	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Bullets 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		%
Jayson Tatum	76	35.9	26.9	1.1	6.9	8.0	4.4	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.3	9.3	20.6	.453	3.0	8.6	.353	5.3	6.2	.853
difference:	+3	+3.2	+14.4			+7.9					-0.2	+4.0	+9.8	+.040				+3.4	+3.5	+.150
Wes Unseld	79	39.1	12.5	-	-	15.9	4.4	-	-	-	2.1	5.3	10.8	.493	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.703
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	24	41.0	25.6	1.0	5.7	6.7	6.2	1.2	0.9	4.2	3.0	8.4	19.7	.426	3.2	8.2	.393	5.7	7.1	.800
difference:	+19	+0.8	+15.8			+8.5	+2.8				-0.6	+4.4	+10.1	+.009				+3.9	+3.3	+.326
Wes Unseld	5	40.2	9.8	-	-	15.2	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	4.0	9.6	.417	-	-	-	1.8	3.8	.474

Season 6
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2022-23	1973-74
Team	Boston Celtics	Capital Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Jayson Tatum	74	36.9	30.1	1.1	7.7	8.8	4.6	1.1	0.7	2.9	2.2	9.8	21.1	.466	3.2	9.3	.350	7.2	8.4	.854
difference:	+18	+6.1	+24.2	+1.6	+1.2	+0.4	+1.8	+0.1	+0.4			+7.2	+15.2	+.028				+6.6	+7.4	+.199
Wes Unseld	56	30.8	5.9	2.7	6.5	9.2	2.8	1.0	0.3	-	2.2	2.6	5.9	.438	-	-	-	0.6	1.0	.655
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	20	40.0	27.2	1.3	9.2	10.5	5.3	1.1	1.1	2.8	2.2	9.3	20.2	.458	2.7	8.2	.323	6.0	6.9	.876
difference:	+13	+2.4	+17.1	+1.8	+0.2	+1.6	+1.4	+0.5	+1.0		-0.1	+4.9	+11.2	+.034				+4.7	+4.8	+.276
Wes Unseld	7	42.4	10.1	3.1	9.0	12.1	3.9	0.6	0.1	-	2.1	4.4	9.0	.492	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.600

Season 7
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2023-24	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Jayson Tatum	74	35.7	26.9	0.9	7.2	8.1	4.9	1.0	0.6	2.5	2.0	9.1	19.3	.471	3.1	8.2	.376	5.6	6.7	.833
difference:	+1	+4.1	+17.7	+3.5	+3.2	+6.7	+0.8	+0.6	+0.3		-0.5	+5.4	+11.8	+.031				+3.9	+4.2	+.148
Wes Unseld	73	39.8	9.2	4.4	10.4	14.8	4.1	1.6	0.9	-	2.5	3.7	7.5	.502	-	-	-	1.7	2.5	.685
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	19	40.4	25.0	0.9	8.8	9.7	6.3	1.1	0.7	2.6	2.8	8.4	19.6	.427	2.1	7.3	.283	6.2	7.2	.861
difference:	+2	+2.8	+14.3	+2.9	+3.6	+6.5	+2.5	+0.2	+0.5		-0.5	+4.2	+12.0	+.119				+3.8	+3.6	+.205
Wes Unseld	17	43.2	10.7	3.8	12.4	16.2	3.8	0.9	1.2	-	2.3	4.2	7.6	.546	-	-	-	2.4	3.6	.656

Season 8
	Jayson Tatum	Wes Unseld
Season	2024-25	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	72	36.4	26.8	0.7	8.0	8.7	6.0	1.1	0.5	2.9	2.2	9.2	20.3	.452	3.5	10.1	.343	5.0	6.1	.814
difference:	+6	+1.1	+17.2	+2.8	+1.8	+4.6	+0.8		+0.3		-0.4	+5.1	+13.0	+.109				+3.5	+3.6	+.229
Wes Unseld	78	37.5	9.6	3.5	9.8	13.3	5.2	1.1	0.8	-	2.6	4.1	7.3	.561	-	-	-	1.5	2.5	.585
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jayson Tatum	8	40.3	28.1	1.1	10.4	11.5	5.4	2.1	0.8	3.3	2.6	9.3	21.9	.423	3.6	9.8	.372	6.0	6.8	.889
difference:	+1	+4.0	+21.1	+2.6	+2.0	+0.6	+1.4	+1.2	+0.2		-0.1	+6.7	+16.3	+.039				+4.1	+3.4	+.347
Wes Unseld	7	44.3	7.0	3.7	8.4	12.1	4.0	0.9	0.6	-	2.7	2.6	5.6	.462	-	-	-	1.9	3.4	.542

Additional Years
* Wes Unseld played 5 seasons more than Jayson Tatum in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 13, from 1977 to 1981—Wes Unseld played in 4 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 5 extra years over Jayson Tatum, Wes Unseld got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP