John Havlicek vs. Donovan Mitchell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Donovan Mitchell and John Havlicek, 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.

John Havlicek played 16 years in the NBA, 7 more than Donovan Mitchell, who played 9. John Havlicek had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Donovan Mitchell had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1962-63	2017-18
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz Lost West Conf 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		%
John Havlicek	80	27.5	14.3	-	-	6.7	2.2	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.6	.445	-	-	-	2.2	3.0	.728
difference:	+1	+5.9	+6.2			+3.0	+1.5				-0.3	+1.5	+3.6	+.008				+0.8	+0.8	+.077
Donovan Mitchell	79	33.4	20.5	0.7	3.1	3.7	3.7	1.5	0.3	2.7	2.7	7.5	17.2	.437	2.4	7.0	.340	3.0	3.8	.805
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	11	23.1	11.8	-	-	4.8	1.5	-	-	-	2.5	5.1	11.4	.448	-	-	-	1.6	2.5	.667
difference:		+14.3	+12.6			+1.1	+2.7				-0.7	+4.2	+10.7	+.028				+1.9	+1.4	+.240
Donovan Mitchell	11	37.4	24.4	0.8	5.1	5.9	4.2	1.5	0.4	2.9	3.2	9.3	22.1	.420	2.3	7.3	.313	3.5	3.9	.907

Season 2
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1963-64	2018-19
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz 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		%
John Havlicek	80	32.3	19.9	-	-	5.4	3.0	-	-	-	2.8	8.0	19.2	.417	-	-	-	3.9	5.3	.746
difference:	+3	+1.4	+3.9			+1.3	+1.2				-0.1	+0.6	+0.7	+.015				+0.2	+0.2	+.060
Donovan Mitchell	77	33.7	23.8	0.8	3.3	4.1	4.2	1.4	0.4	2.8	2.7	8.6	19.9	.432	2.4	6.7	.362	4.1	5.1	.806
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	10	28.9	15.7	-	-	4.3	3.2	-	-	-	2.6	6.1	15.9	.384	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	.795
difference:	+5	+9.7	+5.7			+0.7					-0.4	+1.1	+6.5	+.063				+1.3	+2.2	+.068
Donovan Mitchell	5	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.6	5.0	3.2	1.6	0.2	4.2	3.0	7.2	22.4	.321	2.2	8.6	.256	4.8	6.6	.727

Season 3
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1964-65	2019-20
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz 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		%
John Havlicek	75	28.9	18.3	-	-	4.9	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	18.9	.401	-	-	-	3.1	4.2	.744
difference:	+6	+5.4	+5.7			+0.5	+1.6				-0.2	+1.1	+0.5	+.048				+0.9	+0.5	+.119
Donovan Mitchell	69	34.3	24.0	0.8	3.6	4.4	4.3	1.0	0.2	2.7	2.5	8.7	19.4	.449	2.5	6.9	.366	4.0	4.7	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	12	33.8	18.5	-	-	7.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	7.3	20.8	.352	-	-	-	3.8	4.6	.836
difference:	+5	+3.9	+17.8			+2.3	+2.5				-2.1	+4.6	+1.6	+.177				+4.1	+3.7	+.112
Donovan Mitchell	7	37.7	36.3	0.9	4.1	5.0	4.9	1.0	0.3	4.1	1.6	11.9	22.4	.529	4.7	9.1	.516	7.9	8.3	.948

Season 4
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1965-66	2020-21
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz Lost West 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		%
John Havlicek	71	30.6	18.8	-	-	6.0	3.0	-	-	-	2.2	7.5	18.7	.399	-	-	-	3.9	4.9	.785
difference:	+18	+2.8	+7.6			+1.6	+2.2					+1.5	+1.9	+.039				+1.1	+1.1	+.060
Donovan Mitchell	53	33.4	26.4	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.2	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.2	9.0	20.6	.438	3.4	8.7	.386	5.0	6.0	.845
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	17	42.3	23.6	-	-	9.1	4.1	-	-	-	4.1	9.0	22.0	.409	-	-	-	5.6	6.6	.841
difference:	+7	+7.7	+8.7			+4.9	+1.4				-2.1	+1.5	+1.5	+.038				+0.7	+1.0	+.012
Donovan Mitchell	10	34.6	32.3	0.3	3.9	4.2	5.5	1.1	0.2	2.8	2.0	10.5	23.5	.447	5.0	11.5	.435	6.3	7.6	.829

Season 5
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1966-67	2021-22
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Jazz 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		%
John Havlicek	81	32.1	21.4	-	-	6.6	3.4	-	-	-	2.6	8.4	19.0	.444	-	-	-	4.5	5.4	.828
difference:	+14	+1.7	+4.5			+2.4	+1.9				-0.2	+0.8	+1.5	+.004				+0.5	+0.7	+.025
Donovan Mitchell	67	33.8	25.9	0.8	3.4	4.2	5.3	1.5	0.2	3.0	2.4	9.2	20.5	.448	3.5	9.8	.355	4.0	4.7	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	9	36.7	27.4	-	-	8.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.3	10.6	23.6	.448	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.803
difference:	+3	+1.5	+1.9			+3.8	+2.6				-1.0	+1.8	+1.4	+.050				+0.1	+0.9	+.078
Donovan Mitchell	6	38.2	25.5	1.0	3.3	4.3	5.7	0.7	0.5	2.7	2.3	8.8	22.2	.398	1.7	8.0	.208	6.2	7.0	.881

Season 6
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1967-68	2022-23
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
John Havlicek	82	35.6	20.7	-	-	6.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.9	8.1	18.9	.429	-	-	-	4.5	5.5	.812
difference:	+14	+0.2	+7.6			+2.4	+0.3				-0.4	+1.9	+1.7	+.055				+0.2	+0.1	+.055
Donovan Mitchell	68	35.8	28.3	0.9	3.3	4.3	4.4	1.5	0.4	2.6	2.5	10.0	20.6	.484	3.6	9.3	.386	4.7	5.4	.867
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	19	45.4	25.9	-	-	8.6	7.5	-	-	-	3.5	9.7	21.4	.452	-	-	-	6.6	7.9	.828
difference:	+14	+4.0	+2.7			+3.6	+0.3				-0.7	+0.7	+0.6	+.019				+4.0	+4.3	+.106
Donovan Mitchell	5	41.4	23.2	0.6	4.4	5.0	7.2	2.0	0.6	3.8	2.8	9.0	20.8	.433	2.6	9.0	.289	2.6	3.6	.722

Season 7
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1968-69	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East 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		%
John Havlicek	82	38.7	21.6	-	-	7.0	5.4	-	-	-	3.0	8.4	20.8	.405	-	-	-	4.7	6.0	.780
difference:	+27	+3.4	+5.0			+1.9	+0.7				-0.9	+0.7	+1.0	+.057				+0.3	+0.2	+.085
Donovan Mitchell	55	35.3	26.6	0.8	4.3	5.1	6.1	1.8	0.5	2.8	2.1	9.1	19.8	.462	3.3	9.0	.368	5.0	5.8	.865
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	18	47.2	25.4	-	-	9.9	5.6	-	-	-	3.2	9.4	21.2	.445	-	-	-	6.6	7.7	.855
difference:	+8	+9.0	+4.2			+4.5	+0.9				-0.3	+1.3	+1.3	+.031				+1.3	+1.2	+.040
Donovan Mitchell	10	38.2	29.6	0.6	4.8	5.4	4.7	1.3	0.3	2.8	2.9	10.7	22.5	.476	2.9	8.2	.354	5.3	6.5	.815

Season 8
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1969-70	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
John Havlicek	81	41.6	24.2	-	-	7.8	6.8	-	-	-	2.6	9.1	19.6	.464	-	-	-	6.0	7.1	.844
difference:	+10	+10.2	+0.2			+3.3	+1.8				-0.6	+0.9	+1.0	+.021				+1.8	+2.0	+.021
Donovan Mitchell	71	31.4	24.0	0.8	3.7	4.5	5.0	1.3	0.2	2.1	2.0	8.2	18.6	.443	3.3	8.9	.368	4.2	5.1	.823
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Havlicek	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Donovan Mitchell	9	32.0	29.6	1.2	3.4	4.7	3.9	1.9	0.3	1.9	2.0	9.6	21.6	.443	3.1	9.3	.333	7.3	9.9	.742

Season 9
	John Havlicek	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1970-71	2025-26
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
John Havlicek	81	45.4	28.9	-	-	9.0	7.5	-	-	-	2.5	11.0	24.5	.450	-	-	-	6.8	8.4	.818
difference:	+77	+11.9	+2.4			+7.0	+3.5				-1.2		+5.0	+.114				+0.3	+0.1	+.030
Donovan Mitchell	4	33.5	31.3	0.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	1.5	0.3	4.0	1.3	11.0	19.5	.564	2.8	7.8	.355	6.5	8.3	.788
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher John Havlicek nor Donovan Mitchell played in the postseason in their season 9

Additional Years
* John Havlicek played 7 seasons more than Donovan Mitchell in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 16, from 1972 to 1978—John Havlicek played in 6 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 7 extra years over Donovan Mitchell, John Havlicek got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 5 All-Defensive First Team 7 All-Star Game