Joel Embiid vs. Belus Smawley Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Belus Smawley and Joel Embiid, 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

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.

Joel Embiid played 8 years in the NBA, 2 more than Belus Smawley, who played 6. Joel Embiid had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, while Belus Smawley had his rookie season in 1946-47. 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 achivements, 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
Joel Embiid 8 7 2016-17 to 2023-24
Belus Smawley 6 3 1946-47 to 1951-52

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Rookie Season
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2016-171946-47
Team Philadelphia 76ersSt. Louis Bombers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Rookie First Team-
Playoffs Did Not PlayBombers Lost 1st Rd
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 31 25.4 20.2 2.0 5.9 7.8 2.1 0.9 2.5 3.8 3.6 6.5 13.8 .466 1.2 3.2 .367 6.2 7.9 .783
Belus Smawley 22 - 11.9 - - - 0.5 - - - 1.7 5.1 16.0 .321 - - - 1.6 2.1 .766
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------
Belus Smawley 3 - 17.3 - - - 0.3 - - - 4.0 7.7 23.7 .324 - - - 2.0 3.7 .545

Season 2
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2017-181947-48
Team Philadelphia 76ersSt. Louis Bombers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf SemisBombers Lost Semifinals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 63 30.3 22.9 2.3 8.7 11.0 3.2 0.6 1.8 3.7 3.3 8.1 16.8 .483 1.0 3.4 .308 5.7 7.4 .769
Belus Smawley 48 - 11.1 - - - 0.4 - - - 1.8 4.4 14.3 .308 - - - 2.3 3.1 .740
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 8 34.8 21.4 2.9 9.8 12.6 3.0 0.9 1.8 3.6 3.9 7.5 17.3 .435 1.0 3.6 .276 5.4 7.6 .705
Belus Smawley 6 - 11.0 - - - 0.3 - - - 2.5 4.3 14.3 .302 - - - 2.3 3.0 .778

Season 3
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2018-191948-49
Team Philadelphia 76ersSt. Louis Bombers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf SemisBombers Lost West Div Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 64 33.7 27.5 2.5 11.1 13.6 3.7 0.7 1.9 3.5 3.3 9.1 18.7 .484 1.2 4.1 .300 8.2 10.1 .804
Belus Smawley 59 - 15.5 - - - 3.1 - - - 2.5 6.0 16.0 .372 - - - 3.6 4.8 .747
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 11 30.4 20.2 1.9 8.5 10.5 3.4 0.7 2.3 3.6 3.1 6.2 14.5 .428 1.1 3.5 .308 6.7 8.2 .822
Belus Smawley 2 - 5.0 - - - 0.0 - - - 2.0 2.5 6.0 .417 - - - 0.0 0.0 -

Season 4
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2019-201949-50
Team Philadelphia 76ersSt. Louis Bombers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 51 29.5 23.0 2.8 8.9 11.6 3.0 0.9 1.3 3.1 3.4 7.5 15.7 .477 1.1 3.4 .331 6.9 8.5 .807
Belus Smawley 61 - 13.7 - - - 3.5 - - - 2.6 4.7 13.6 .345 - - - 4.3 5.1 .828
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 4 36.3 30.0 2.8 9.5 12.3 1.3 1.5 1.3 3.8 4.5 8.5 18.5 .459 1.0 4.0 .250 12.0 14.8 .814
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------

Season 5
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2020-211950-51
Team Philadelphia 76ersSyracuse Nationals, Baltimore Bullets (1st)
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 51 31.1 28.5 2.2 8.4 10.6 2.8 1.0 1.4 3.1 2.4 9.0 17.6 .513 1.1 3.0 .377 9.2 10.7 .859
Belus Smawley 60 - 12.2 - - 3.0 2.7 - - - 2.4 4.2 11.1 .380 - - - 3.8 4.5 .850
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 11 32.5 28.1 1.5 9.1 10.5 3.4 1.0 1.5 3.8 3.0 9.2 17.9 .513 1.5 3.7 .390 8.3 9.9 .835
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------

Season 6
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2021-221951-52
Team Philadelphia 76ersBaltimore Bullets (1st)
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 68 33.8 30.6 2.1 9.6 11.7 4.2 1.1 1.5 3.1 2.7 9.8 19.6 .499 1.4 3.7 .371 9.6 11.8 .814
Belus Smawley 11 12.6 3.6 - - 1.6 0.7 - - - 0.8 1.2 5.7 .206 - - - 1.3 1.5 .824
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 10 38.5 23.6 2.1 8.6 10.7 2.1 0.4 0.8 3.2 3.4 7.8 16.1 .484 0.7 3.3 .212 7.3 8.9 .820
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------

Season 7
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2022-23-
Team Philadelphia 76ers-
Honors & Awards Achievement Season MVP-
Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf Semis-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 66 34.6 33.1 1.7 8.4 10.2 4.2 1.0 1.7 3.4 3.1 11.0 20.1 .548 1.0 3.0 .330 10.0 11.7 .857
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 9 37.3 23.7 1.8 8.0 9.8 2.7 0.7 2.8 3.9 3.0 7.3 17.0 .431 0.6 3.1 .179 8.4 9.3 .905
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------

Season 8
Joel Embiid Belus Smawley
Season 2023-24-
Team Philadelphia 76ers-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs 76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 39 33.6 34.7 2.4 8.6 11.0 5.6 1.2 1.7 3.8 2.9 11.5 21.8 .529 1.4 3.6 .388 10.2 11.6 .883
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Joel Embiid 6 41.3 33.0 3.2 7.7 10.8 5.7 1.2 1.5 4.2 3.3 9.8 22.2 .444 2.2 6.5 .333 11.2 13.0 .859
Belus Smawley ------- --- ----------
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