Joel Embiid vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan 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 / Scoring / 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.

Joel Embiid played 10 years in the NBA, 5 less than Michael Jordan, who played 15. Joel Embiid had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, while Michael Jordan had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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
Joel Embiid	10	7	2016-17 to 2025-26
Michael Jordan	15	13	1984-85 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10


Rookie Season
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2016-17	1984-85
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+51	+12.9	+8.0		+1.4	+1.3	+3.8	+1.5	+1.7	-0.3	-0.1	+3.7	+6.0	+.049	+1.1	+2.6	+.194	+1.5	+1.2	+.062
Michael Jordan	82	38.3	28.2	2.0	4.5	6.5	5.9	2.4	0.8	3.5	3.5	10.2	19.8	.515	0.1	0.6	.173	7.7	9.1	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	4	42.8	29.3	1.8	4.0	5.8	8.5	2.8	1.0	3.8	3.8	8.5	19.5	.436	0.3	2.0	.125	12.0	14.5	.828


Season 2
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2017-18	1985-86
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls Lost East 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		%
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
difference:	+45	+5.2	+0.2	+1.0	+6.4	+7.4	+0.3	+1.5	+0.6	-1.2	-0.7	+0.2	+1.4	+.026	+0.8	+2.4	+.141	+0.1	+0.5	+.071
Michael Jordan	18	25.1	22.7	1.3	2.3	3.6	2.9	2.1	1.2	2.5	2.6	8.3	18.2	.457	0.2	1.0	.167	5.8	6.9	.840

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
difference:	+5	+10.2	+22.3	+1.2	+5.1	+6.3	+2.7	+1.4	+0.5	-1.1	-0.4	+8.5	+14.4	+.070	+0.7	+3.3	+.724	+5.9	+5.4	+.167
Michael Jordan	3	45.0	43.7	1.7	4.7	6.3	5.7	2.3	1.3	4.7	4.3	16.0	31.7	.505	0.3	0.3	1.000	11.3	13.0	.872


Season 3
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2018-19	1986-87
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls Lost East 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		%
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
difference:	+18	+6.3	+9.6	+0.5	+7.9	+8.4	+0.9	+2.2	+0.4	-0.2	-0.4	+4.3	+9.1	+.002	+1.1	+3.3	+.118	+2.0	+1.8	+.053
Michael Jordan	82	40.0	37.1	2.0	3.2	5.2	4.6	2.9	1.5	3.3	2.9	13.4	27.8	.482	0.1	0.8	.182	10.2	11.9	.857

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
difference:	+8	+12.3	+15.5	+0.4	+3.8	+3.5	+2.6	+1.3		-0.9	-0.6	+5.5	+13.5	+.011	+0.4	+1.8	+.092	+5.0	+4.8	+.075
Michael Jordan	3	42.7	35.7	2.3	4.7	7.0	6.0	2.0	2.3	2.7	3.7	11.7	28.0	.417	0.7	1.7	.400	11.7	13.0	.897


Season 4
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2019-20	1987-88
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
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
difference:	+31	+10.9	+12.0	+1.1	+5.1	+6.1	+2.9	+2.3	+0.3		-0.1	+5.5	+8.7	+.058	+1.0	+2.8	+.199	+1.9	+2.0	+.034
Michael Jordan	82	40.4	35.0	1.7	3.8	5.5	5.9	3.2	1.6	3.1	3.3	13.0	24.4	.535	0.1	0.6	.132	8.8	10.5	.841

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
difference:	+6	+6.4	+6.3	+0.5	+4.7	+5.2	+3.4	+0.9	+0.2	-0.1	-0.7	+5.3	+7.5	+.072	+0.9	+3.7	+.083	+3.4	+4.9	+.055
Michael Jordan	10	42.7	36.3	2.3	4.8	7.1	4.7	2.4	1.1	3.9	3.8	13.8	26.0	.531	0.1	0.3	.333	8.6	9.9	.869


Season 5
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2020-21	1988-89
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+30	+9.1	+4.0	+0.4	+2.2	+2.6	+5.2	+1.9	+0.6	-0.5	-0.6	+2.9	+4.6	+.025	+0.8	+1.8	+.101	+0.9	+0.9	+.009
Michael Jordan	81	40.2	32.5	1.8	6.2	8.0	8.0	2.9	0.8	3.6	3.0	11.9	22.2	.538	0.3	1.2	.276	8.3	9.8	.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
difference:	+6	+9.7	+6.7		+3.6	+3.5	+4.2	+1.5	+0.7	-0.2	-0.8	+2.5	+5.0	+.003	+0.9	+1.6	+.104	+2.5	+3.6	+.036
Michael Jordan	17	42.2	34.8	1.5	5.5	7.0	7.6	2.5	0.8	4.0	3.8	11.7	22.9	.510	0.6	2.1	.286	10.8	13.5	.799


Season 6
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2021-22	1989-90
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Scoring Leader	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+14	+5.2	+3.0	+0.4	+4.5	+4.8	+2.1	+1.7	+0.8	-0.1	-0.2	+2.8	+4.4	+.027	+0.3	+0.7	+.005	+2.4	+3.3	+.034
Michael Jordan	82	39.0	33.6	1.7	5.1	6.9	6.3	2.8	0.7	3.0	2.9	12.6	24.0	.526	1.1	3.0	.376	7.2	8.5	.848

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
difference:	+6	+3.6	+13.1	+0.6	+2.9	+3.5	+4.7	+2.4	+0.1	-0.3		+5.9	+10.5	+.030	+0.3	+0.2	+.108	+1.0	+1.0	+.016
Michael Jordan	16	42.1	36.7	1.5	5.7	7.2	6.8	2.8	0.9	3.5	3.4	13.7	26.6	.514	1.0	3.1	.320	8.3	9.9	.836


Season 7
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2022-23	1990-91
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Scoring Leader	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
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
difference:	+16	+2.4	+1.6	+0.3	+3.8	+4.2	+1.3	+1.7	+0.7	-0.9	-0.3	+1.1	+2.3	+.009	+0.6	+1.9	+.018	+3.0	+3.5	+.006
Michael Jordan	82	37.0	31.5	1.4	4.6	6.0	5.5	2.7	1.0	2.5	2.8	12.1	22.4	.539	0.4	1.1	.312	7.0	8.2	.851

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
difference:	+8	+3.2	+7.4	+0.7	+2.7	+3.4	+5.7	+1.7	+1.4	-1.4	-0.1	+4.3	+5.1	+.093		+1.6	+.206	+1.0	+0.6	+.060
Michael Jordan	17	40.5	31.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	8.4	2.4	1.4	2.5	3.1	11.6	22.1	.524	0.6	1.5	.385	7.4	8.7	.845


Season 8
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2023-24	1991-92
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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		%
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
difference:	+41	+5.2	+4.6	+1.3	+3.3	+4.6	+0.5	+1.1	+0.8	-1.3	-0.4	+0.3	+0.9	+.010	+1.1	+2.3	+.118	+4.1	+4.2	+.051
Michael Jordan	80	38.8	30.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	6.1	2.3	0.9	2.5	2.5	11.8	22.7	.519	0.3	1.3	.270	6.1	7.4	.832

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
difference:	+16	+0.5	+1.5	+1.5	+3.2	+4.6	+0.1	+0.8	+0.8	-0.5	-0.5	+3.4	+4.2	+.055	+1.4	+4.5	+.053	+3.8	+4.4	+.002
Michael Jordan	22	41.8	34.5	1.7	4.5	6.2	5.8	2.0	0.7	3.7	2.8	13.2	26.4	.499	0.8	2.0	.386	7.4	8.6	.857


Season 9
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2024-25	1992-93
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	19	30.2	23.8	1.9	6.3	8.2	4.5	0.7	0.9	3.3	2.2	7.4	16.6	.444	1.2	4.1	.299	7.8	8.9	.882
difference:	+59	+9.1	+8.8	+0.2	+1.3	+1.5	+1.0	+2.1	+0.1	-0.6	-0.2	+5.3	+9.1	+.051	+0.2	+1.2	+.053	+1.7	+1.6	+.045
Michael Jordan	78	39.3	32.6	1.7	5.0	6.7	5.5	2.8	0.8	2.7	2.4	12.7	25.7	.495	1.0	2.9	.352	6.1	7.3	.837

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	19	41.2	35.1	1.7	5.1	6.7	6.0	2.1	0.9	2.4	3.1	13.2	27.8	.475	1.5	3.8	.389	7.2	8.9	.805

Note: Michael Jordan didn't play in 1993-94.


Season 10
	Joel Embiid	Michael Jordan
Season	2025-26	1994-95
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	5	22.8	17.8	1.4	4.0	5.4	3.2	1.0	1.6	2.8	2.0	6.0	14.2	.423	1.6	4.8	.333	4.2	5.2	.808
difference:	+12	+16.5	+9.1	+0.1	+1.4	+1.5	+2.1	+0.8	+0.8	-0.7	-0.8	+3.8	+9.6	+.012	+0.7	+2.9	+.167	+2.2	+2.8	+.007
Michael Jordan	17	39.3	26.9	1.5	5.4	6.9	5.3	1.8	0.8	2.1	2.8	9.8	23.8	.411	0.9	1.9	.500	6.4	8.0	.801

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	10	42.0	31.5	2.0	4.5	6.5	4.5	2.3	1.4	4.1	3.0	12.0	24.8	.484	1.1	3.0	.367	6.4	7.9	.810


Additional Years
* Michael Jordan played 5 seasons more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 15, from 1996 to 2003—Michael Jordan played in 3 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 5 extra years over Joel Embiid, Michael Jordan got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 3 Scoring Leader 5 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP

Joel Embiid vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years