Kenny Smith vs. John Starks Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of John Starks and Kenny Smith, 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.

Kenny Smith played 10 years in the NBA, 3 less than John Starks, who played 13. Kenny Smith had the first of his seasons in 1987-88, while John Starks had his rookie season in 1988-89. 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
	Kenny Smith	John Starks
Season	1987-88	1988-89
Team	Sacramento Kings	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	61	35.6	13.8	0.7	1.6	2.3	7.1	1.5	0.1	3.0	2.3	5.4	11.4	.477	0.2	0.6	.308	2.7	3.3	.819
difference:	+25	+26.8	+9.7	+0.3	+0.9	+1.2	+6.3	+0.9		-1.9	-1.3	+4.0	+7.9	+.069	+0.1	+0.1	+.077	+1.8	+1.9	+.165
John Starks	36	8.8	4.1	0.4	0.7	1.1	0.8	0.6	0.1	1.1	1.0	1.4	3.5	.408	0.3	0.7	.385	0.9	1.4	.654
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kenny Smith nor John Starks played in the postseason in their season 1

Note: John Starks didn't play in 1989-90.

Season 4
	Kenny Smith	John Starks
Season	1990-91	1992-93
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	78	34.6	17.7	0.5	1.6	2.1	7.1	1.4	0.1	3.0	1.7	6.7	12.9	.520	0.6	1.7	.363	3.7	4.4	.844
difference:	+2	+3.6	+0.2	+0.2	+0.3	+0.5	+2.0	+0.3	+0.1	-0.8	-1.2	+0.3	+2.1	+.092	+0.8	+2.5	+.042	+0.4	+0.3	+.049
John Starks	80	31.0	17.5	0.7	1.9	2.6	5.1	1.1	0.2	2.2	2.9	6.4	15.0	.428	1.4	4.2	.321	3.3	4.1	.795
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	3	37.7	15.3	1.3	1.3	2.7	8.0	1.3	0.3	2.0	1.7	6.0	12.7	.474	0.7	1.3	.500	2.7	3.0	.889
difference:	+12	+0.6	+1.2	+1.0	+1.9	+0.8	+1.6	+0.3	+0.1	-1.7	-2.1	+0.1	+0.6	+.034	+1.2	+3.7	+.127	+0.2	+1.0	+.172
John Starks	15	38.3	16.5	0.3	3.2	3.5	6.4	1.0	0.2	3.7	3.8	5.9	13.3	.440	1.9	5.0	.373	2.9	4.0	.717

Season 5
	Kenny Smith	John Starks
Season	1991-92	1993-94
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost NBA Finals

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	81	33.8	14.0	0.4	1.8	2.2	6.9	1.3	0.1	2.8	1.4	5.3	11.2	.475	0.7	1.7	.394	2.7	3.1	.866
difference:	+22	+1.1	+5.0	+0.2	+0.7	+0.9	+1.0	+0.3		-0.3	-1.8	+1.6	+5.4	+.055	+1.2	+4.0	+.059	+0.5	+1.1	+.112
John Starks	59	34.9	19.0	0.6	2.5	3.1	5.9	1.6	0.1	3.1	3.2	6.9	16.6	.420	1.9	5.7	.335	3.2	4.2	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
John Starks	25	33.6	14.6	0.4	2.0	2.3	4.6	1.4	0.1	2.3	3.4	4.4	11.6	.381	1.9	5.3	.356	3.9	5.0	.770

Season 7
	Kenny Smith	John Starks
Season	1993-94	1995-96
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	78	28.3	11.6	0.3	1.5	1.8	4.2	0.8	0.1	1.6	1.6	4.4	9.1	.480	1.1	2.8	.405	1.7	2.0	.871
difference:	+3	+2.5	+1.0	+0.1	+1.0	+1.1	+0.3	+0.5		-0.3	-1.2	+0.2	+1.3	+.037	+0.7	+2.1	+.044	+0.1	+0.1	+.118
John Starks	81	30.8	12.6	0.4	2.5	2.9	3.9	1.3	0.1	1.9	2.8	4.6	10.4	.443	1.8	4.9	.361	1.6	2.1	.753
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	23	30.3	10.8	0.2	2.1	2.3	4.1	1.0	0.2	1.4	1.7	3.7	8.2	.455	1.5	3.3	.447	1.8	2.3	.808
difference:	+15	+9.0	+5.2	+0.2	+1.2	+1.3		+0.6	+0.1	-1.7	-1.6	+1.2	+2.7	+.007	+1.1	+2.3	+.020	+1.8	+2.6	+.064
John Starks	8	39.3	16.0	0.4	3.3	3.6	4.1	1.6	0.1	3.1	3.3	4.9	10.9	.448	2.6	5.6	.467	3.6	4.9	.744

Season 8
	Kenny Smith	John Starks
Season	1994-95	1996-97
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	81	25.1	10.4	0.3	1.6	1.9	4.0	0.9	0.1	1.5	1.3	3.5	7.3	.484	1.8	4.1	.429	1.6	1.8	.851
difference:	+4	+1.4	+3.4	+0.2	+0.6	+0.8	+1.2	+0.3		-0.6	-1.2	+1.3	+3.8	+.053	+0.1	+1.2	+.060	+0.6	+1.1	+.082
John Starks	77	26.5	13.8	0.5	2.2	2.7	2.8	1.2	0.1	2.1	2.5	4.8	11.1	.431	1.9	5.3	.369	2.2	2.9	.769
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	22	29.6	10.8	0.3	1.9	2.2	4.5	0.6	0.1	1.4	2.1	3.5	8.1	.438	2.1	4.7	.442	1.6	1.8	.900
difference:	+13	+1.3	+3.2	+0.5	+0.8	+1.2	+1.7	+0.5	+0.1	-0.8	-0.7	+1.4	+2.9	+.006	+0.7	+0.1	+.125	+1.2	+1.6	+.094
John Starks	9	28.3	14.0	0.8	2.7	3.4	2.8	1.1	0.0	2.2	2.8	4.9	11.0	.444	1.4	4.6	.317	2.8	3.4	.806