Joe Johnson vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and Joe Johnson, 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.

Joe Johnson played 18 years in the NBA, 10 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Joe Johnson had the first of his seasons in 2001-02, 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 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
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2001-02	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

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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		%
Joe Johnson	77	24.9	7.5	1.0	2.4	3.3	2.3	0.8	0.3	0.9	1.5	3.3	7.6	.430	0.5	1.7	.292	0.5	0.7	.774
difference:	+5	+4.1	+6.0	+1.4	+3.4	+4.9	+0.6	+0.4	+1.5	-1.2	-1.3	+1.6	+2.2	+.068	+0.5	+1.7		+3.2	+3.8	+.037
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	-	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Joe Johnson nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2002-03	2003-04
Team	Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Joe Johnson	82	27.5	9.8	0.7	2.5	3.2	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.3	1.7	3.9	9.7	.397	0.9	2.5	.366	1.2	1.5	.774
difference:		+5.3	+7.7	+1.7	+4.1	+5.8	+1.1	+0.5	+1.7	-1.2	-1.6	+2.6	+2.8	+.125	+0.9	+2.5		+3.2	+3.9	+.035
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	-	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	6	27.3	5.3	1.0	3.3	4.3	1.3	0.7	0.3	2.0	2.5	2.3	8.5	.275	0.3	2.2	.154	0.3	0.8	.400
difference:	+1	+10.3	+9.7	+1.2	+1.9	+3.1	+0.5	+0.3	+1.1	-0.6	-1.5	+3.9	+5.1	+.181	+0.3	+2.2		+2.3	+2.6	+.365
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
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2003-04	2004-05
Team	Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.6	16.7	1.0	3.7	4.7	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	2.2	6.8	15.7	.430	1.0	3.3	.305	2.1	2.8	.750
difference:	+2	+10.0	+1.6	+1.6	+2.1	+3.7	+3.6	+0.7	+1.7	-0.1	-1.5	+0.1	+3.5	+.122	+1.0	+3.3		+2.8	+3.4	+.033
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		%
Joe Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2004-05	2005-06
Team	Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Finals	Did not play

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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		%
Joe Johnson	82	39.5	17.1	1.5	3.7	5.1	3.5	1.0	0.3	1.8	2.0	6.6	14.4	.461	2.2	4.5	.478	1.6	2.2	.750
difference:	+25	+5.3	+5.2	+1.1	+3.9	+5.1	+2.0	+0.5	+1.3	-0.8	-1.4	+1.6	+1.4	+.058	+2.2	+4.5		+4.3	+4.7	+.103
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	-	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	9	39.3	18.8	0.8	3.6	4.3	3.3	1.1	0.4	1.1	2.0	7.0	13.9	.504	2.2	4.0	.556	2.6	3.7	.697
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2005-06	2006-07
Team	Atlanta Hawks	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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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.7	20.2	1.2	2.9	4.1	6.5	1.3	0.4	3.3	2.3	7.7	17.0	.453	1.6	4.4	.356	3.2	4.0	.791
difference:	+34	+6.9	+4.8	+0.9	+4.4	+5.3	+4.5	+0.9	+1.6	-0.2	-1.0	+1.1	+0.1	+.063	+1.6	+4.4		+4.2	+4.6	+.071
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	-	7.4	8.6	.862
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2006-07	2007-08
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

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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		%
Joe Johnson	57	41.4	25.0	0.9	3.3	4.2	4.4	1.1	0.2	3.1	2.0	9.4	20.0	.471	2.1	5.5	.381	4.1	5.5	.748
difference:	+2	+4.2	+3.0	+2.2	+4.4	+6.6	+2.1	+0.6	+1.8	-0.2	-1.1	+1.5	+4.5	+.036	+2.1	+5.5		+2.2	+1.9	+.102
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	-	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Joe Johnson nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 6

Season 7
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2007-08	2008-09
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.8	21.7	1.0	3.5	4.5	5.8	1.0	0.2	2.7	2.0	7.9	18.3	.432	2.1	5.4	.381	3.9	4.6	.834
difference:	+5	+7.2	+2.0	+1.6	+3.7	+5.4	+4.0	+0.6	+1.7	-0.3	-1.3	+0.5	+4.9	+.116	+2.1	+5.4		+1.0	+1.1	+.032
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	-	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	7	39.3	20.0	1.3	2.6	3.9	4.0	0.3	0.0	2.3	2.3	6.7	16.4	.409	2.3	5.1	.444	4.3	4.7	.909
difference:	+2	+3.4	+2.9	+0.8	+6.2	+7.0	+3.0	+0.1	+1.2	-0.4	-0.7	+0.7	+5.4	+.136	+2.3	+5.1		+0.8	+1.0	+.007
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
	Joe Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	2008-09	2010-11
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis	Did not play

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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		%
Joe Johnson	79	39.5	21.4	0.8	3.6	4.4	5.8	1.1	0.2	2.5	2.2	7.8	18.0	.437	1.9	5.2	.360	3.8	4.6	.826
difference:	+74	+21.3	+11.2	+0.6	+0.4	+1.0	+5.0	+1.1	+1.4	-1.1	-0.4	+4.2	+10.6	+.049	+1.9	+5.2		+0.8	+1.4	+.112
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		%
Joe Johnson	11	39.0	16.4	1.5	2.9	4.5	3.5	1.3	0.0	2.9	2.2	6.4	15.3	.417	1.1	3.2	.343	2.5	4.1	.622
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Joe Johnson played 10 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 18, from 2010 to 2022—Joe Johnson played in 9 Playoffs. In those 10 extra years over Yao Ming, Joe Johnson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game