Julius Erving vs. Franz Wagner Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Franz Wagner 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, 6 more than Franz Wagner, who played 5. Julius Erving had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Franz Wagner had his rookie season in 2021-22. 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	Franz Wagner
Season	1976-77	2021-22
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Rookie First 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:	+3	+5.2	+6.4	+1.2	+2.7	+4.0	+0.8	+1.0	+1.0		-1.0	+2.6	+4.4	+.031				+2.5	+3.5	+.086
Franz Wagner	79	30.7	15.2	1.1	3.4	4.5	2.9	0.9	0.4	1.5	2.1	5.8	12.3	.468	1.2	3.4	.354	2.4	2.8	.863
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
Franz Wagner	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Julius Erving	Franz Wagner
Season	1977-78	2022-23
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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:	+6	+0.2	+2.0	+1.5	+0.9	+2.4	+0.3	+0.8	+1.1	-1.1	-0.5	+1.5	+2.4	+.017				+0.7	+0.9	+.003
Franz Wagner	80	32.6	18.6	0.9	3.2	4.1	3.5	1.0	0.2	2.1	2.3	6.8	14.0	.485	1.6	4.5	.361	3.4	4.0	.842
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
Franz Wagner	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Julius Erving	Franz Wagner
Season	1978-79	2023-24
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Magic 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		%
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	+3.4	+3.4	+1.5	+0.4	+1.9	+0.9	+0.6	+0.9	-2.1	-0.4	+1.9	+3.5	+.009				+1.0	+2.0	+.105
Franz Wagner	72	32.5	19.7	1.0	4.3	5.3	3.7	1.1	0.4	1.9	2.3	7.3	15.2	.482	1.3	4.6	.281	3.8	4.4	.850
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
difference:	+2	+4.3	+6.5	+1.8	+0.8	+0.9	+1.5	+1.3	+0.6	-2.9	-0.5	+3.9	+4.4	+.109				+0.1	+1.1	+.125
Franz Wagner	7	37.0	18.9	1.4	5.4	6.9	4.4	0.7	1.3	1.3	2.9	6.0	14.7	.408	1.3	4.9	.265	5.6	6.3	.886

Season 4
	Julius Erving	Franz Wagner
Season	1979-80	2024-25
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost NBA Finals	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+18	+2.4	+2.7	+1.9	+0.2	+1.7	+0.1	+0.9	+1.4	-1.3	-0.2	+1.7	+1.3	+.056	+1.6	+5.6	+.095	+0.9	+1.6	+.084
Franz Wagner	60	33.7	24.2	0.9	4.8	5.7	4.7	1.3	0.4	2.3	2.5	9.0	19.4	.463	1.7	5.9	.295	4.5	5.2	.871
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
difference:	+13	+0.4	+1.4	+1.1	+1.6	+2.8	+1.2	+0.8	+1.7	-1.1	-0.1	+1.0	+4.2	+.045	+1.3	+6.9	+.033	+2.0	+2.4	+.025
Franz Wagner	5	39.0	25.8	0.6	4.2	4.8	5.6	1.2	0.4	2.0	3.2	10.2	23.0	.443	1.4	7.4	.189	4.0	5.2	.769

Season 5
	Julius Erving	Franz Wagner
Season	1980-81	2025-26
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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:	+76	+0.2	+2.4	+1.8	+0.7	+2.5	+1.4	+1.1	+1.5	-1.2	-0.2	+1.7	+3.4	+.006	+1.8	+4.0	+.218	+0.8	+0.5	+.065
Franz Wagner	6	34.8	22.2	1.2	4.3	5.5	3.0	1.0	0.3	2.0	3.0	8.0	15.2	.527	1.8	4.2	.440	4.3	6.0	.722
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
Franz Wagner	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Julius Erving played 6 seasons more than Franz Wagner in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 11, from 1982 to 1987—Julius Erving played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 6 extra years over Franz Wagner, Julius Erving got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 6 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP