Julius Erving vs. Daniel Gafford Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Daniel Gafford and Julius Erving, 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.

Julius Erving played 11 years in the NBA, 5 more than Daniel Gafford, who played 6. Julius Erving had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Daniel Gafford had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1976-77	2019-20
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Julius Erving	82	35.9	21.6	2.3	6.1	8.5	3.7	1.9	1.4	-	3.1	8.4	16.7	.499	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.777
difference:	+39	+21.7	+16.5	+1.1	+4.8	+6.0	+3.2	+1.6	+0.1		-0.8	+6.2	+13.6	+.202				+4.2	+4.9	+.244
Daniel Gafford	43	14.2	5.1	1.2	1.3	2.5	0.5	0.3	1.3	0.7	2.3	2.2	3.1	.701	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.4	.533
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	19	39.9	27.3	2.2	4.3	6.4	4.5	2.2	1.2	-	2.4	10.7	20.5	.523	-	-	-	5.8	7.1	.821
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1977-78	2020-21
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Wizards 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		%
Julius Erving	74	32.8	20.6	2.4	4.1	6.5	3.8	1.8	1.3	3.2	2.8	8.3	16.4	.502	-	-	-	4.1	4.9	.845
difference:	+20	+18.2	+13.6	+0.7	+1.6	+2.2	+3.3	+1.3	+0.1	-2.4	-1.0	+5.4	+12.2	+.182				+2.8	+2.9	+.178
Daniel Gafford	54	14.6	7.0	1.7	2.5	4.3	0.5	0.5	1.4	0.8	1.8	2.9	4.2	.684	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	2.0	.667
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	10	35.8	21.8	4.0	5.7	9.7	4.0	1.5	1.8	3.5	3.0	8.8	18.0	.489	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750
difference:	+5	+12.4	+10.0	+1.2	+2.7	+3.9	+3.4	+0.5	+0.2	-2.9	-0.4	+4.4	+12.8	+.357				+1.2	+0.8	+.125
Daniel Gafford	5	23.4	11.8	2.8	3.0	5.8	0.6	1.0	2.0	0.6	3.4	4.4	5.2	.846	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.8	.625

Season 3
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1978-79	2021-22
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Julius Erving	78	35.9	23.1	2.5	4.7	7.2	4.6	1.7	1.3	4.0	2.7	9.2	18.7	.491	-	-	-	4.8	6.4	.745
difference:	+6	+15.8	+13.7	+0.3	+1.2	+1.5	+3.7	+1.3	+0.1	-3.1	-0.3	+5.2	+13.0	+.202				+3.3	+4.3	+.046
Daniel Gafford	72	20.1	9.4	2.2	3.5	5.7	0.9	0.4	1.4	0.9	2.4	4.0	5.7	.693	0.0	0.0	-	1.5	2.1	.699
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	9	41.3	25.4	3.2	4.6	7.8	5.9	2.0	1.9	4.2	2.4	9.9	19.1	.517	-	-	-	5.7	7.4	.761
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1979-80	2022-23
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost NBA 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		%
Julius Erving	78	36.1	26.9	2.8	4.6	7.4	4.6	2.2	1.8	3.6	2.7	10.7	20.7	.519	0.1	0.3	.200	5.4	6.8	.787
difference:		+15.5	+17.9	+0.7	+1.1	+1.8	+3.5	+1.8	+0.5	-2.5	-0.3	+7.0	+15.6	+.213	+0.1	+0.3		+3.8	+4.4	+.108
Daniel Gafford	78	20.6	9.0	2.1	3.5	5.6	1.1	0.4	1.3	1.1	2.4	3.7	5.1	.732	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.4	.679
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	18	38.6	24.4	1.7	5.8	7.6	4.4	2.0	2.1	3.1	3.1	9.2	18.8	.488	0.1	0.5	.222	6.0	7.6	.794
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1980-81	2023-24
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost NBA 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		%
Julius Erving	82	35.0	24.6	3.0	5.0	8.0	4.4	2.1	1.8	3.2	2.8	9.7	18.6	.521	0.0	0.2	.222	5.1	6.5	.787
difference:	+8	+10.5	+13.6	+0.4		+0.4	+2.8	+1.2	+0.3	-2.2	-0.3	+5.0	+12.1	+.204		+0.2		+3.5	+4.1	+.113
Daniel Gafford	74	24.5	11.0	2.6	5.0	7.6	1.6	0.9	2.1	1.0	3.1	4.7	6.5	.725	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.4	.674
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	16	37.0	22.9	3.3	3.9	7.1	3.4	1.4	2.6	3.4	3.4	8.9	18.8	.475	0.0	0.1	.000	5.1	6.7	.757
difference:	+6	+16.8	+13.9	+1.4	+0.3	+1.6	+2.7	+1.1	+1.1	-2.5	-1.7	+5.4	+13.2	+.159		+0.1		+3.2	+3.7	+.126
Daniel Gafford	22	20.2	9.0	1.9	3.6	5.5	0.7	0.3	1.5	0.9	1.7	3.5	5.6	.634	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.0	.631

Season 6
	Julius Erving	Daniel Gafford
Season	1981-82	2024-25
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Julius Erving	81	34.4	24.4	2.7	4.2	6.9	3.9	2.0	1.7	2.6	2.8	9.6	17.6	.546	0.0	0.1	.273	5.1	6.7	.763
difference:	+24	+12.9	+12.1		+0.1	+0.1	+2.5	+1.6	+0.1	-1.4	-0.1	+4.6	+10.5	+.156		+0.1		+2.7	+3.3	+.074
Daniel Gafford	57	21.5	12.3	2.7	4.1	6.8	1.4	0.4	1.8	1.2	2.7	5.0	7.1	.702	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.4	.689
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Julius Erving	21	37.1	22.0	2.7	4.7	7.4	4.7	1.8	1.8	3.2	2.6	8.0	15.4	.519	0.0	0.3	.167	5.9	7.9	.752
Daniel Gafford	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Julius Erving played 5 seasons more than Daniel Gafford in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 11, from 1983 to 1987—Julius Erving played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 5 extra years over Daniel Gafford, Julius Erving got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 5 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP