Kevin Garnett vs. Ricky Rubio Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ricky Rubio and Kevin Garnett, 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 / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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.

Kevin Garnett played 21 years in the NBA, 9 more than Ricky Rubio, who played 12. Kevin Garnett had the first of his seasons in 1995-96, while Ricky Rubio had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Kevin Garnett	21	14	1995-96 to 2015-16
Ricky Rubio	12	3	2011-12 to 2022-23

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12


Rookie Season
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	1995-96	2011-12
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second 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		%
Kevin Garnett	80	28.7	10.4	2.2	4.1	6.3	1.8	1.1	1.6	1.4	2.4	4.5	9.2	.491	0.1	0.4	.286	1.3	1.9	.705
difference:	+39	+5.5	+0.2	+1.7	+0.4	+2.1	+6.4	+1.1	+1.4	-1.8		+1.1	+0.3	+.134	+0.7	+1.9	+.054	+1.8	+1.9	+.098
Ricky Rubio	41	34.2	10.6	0.5	3.7	4.2	8.2	2.2	0.2	3.2	2.4	3.4	9.5	.357	0.8	2.3	.340	3.1	3.8	.803

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Garnett nor Ricky Rubio played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	1996-97	2012-13
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	77	38.9	17.0	2.5	5.6	8.0	3.1	1.4	2.1	2.3	2.6	7.1	14.3	.499	0.1	0.3	.286	2.7	3.5	.754
difference:	+20	+9.2	+6.3	+1.7	+2.4	+4.0	+4.2	+1.0	+2.0	-0.7	-0.1	+3.9	+5.3	+.139	+0.4	+1.3	+.007	+1.0	+1.1	+.045
Ricky Rubio	57	29.7	10.7	0.8	3.2	4.0	7.3	2.4	0.1	3.0	2.5	3.2	9.0	.360	0.5	1.6	.293	3.7	4.6	.799

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	3	41.7	17.3	4.7	4.7	9.3	3.7	1.3	1.0	1.3	2.0	8.0	17.0	.471	0.3	0.3	1.000	1.0	1.0	1.000
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	1997-98	2013-14
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	82	39.3	18.5	2.7	6.9	9.6	4.2	1.7	1.8	2.3	2.7	7.7	15.8	.491	0.0	0.2	.188	3.0	4.0	.738
difference:		+7.1	+9.0	+2.0	+3.5	+5.4	+4.4	+0.6	+1.7	-0.4		+4.6	+7.6	+.110	+0.5	+1.4	+.143	+0.2	+0.5	+.064
Ricky Rubio	82	32.2	9.5	0.7	3.4	4.2	8.6	2.3	0.1	2.7	2.7	3.1	8.2	.381	0.5	1.6	.331	2.8	3.5	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	5	38.6	15.8	3.4	6.2	9.6	4.0	0.8	2.4	4.4	3.4	7.2	15.0	.480	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	1.8	.778
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	1998-99	2014-15
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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		%
Kevin Garnett	47	37.9	20.8	3.5	6.9	10.4	4.3	1.7	1.8	2.9	3.2	8.8	19.1	.460	0.1	0.3	.286	3.1	4.4	.704
difference:	+25	+6.4	+10.5	+2.6	+2.1	+4.7	+4.5		+1.8		-0.5	+5.3	+9.1	+.104	+0.5	+2.0	+.031	+0.5	+1.2	+.099
Ricky Rubio	22	31.5	10.3	0.9	4.8	5.7	8.8	1.7	0.0	2.9	2.7	3.5	10.0	.356	0.6	2.3	.255	2.6	3.2	.803

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	4	42.5	21.8	4.0	8.0	12.0	3.8	1.8	2.0	3.3	2.5	8.8	19.8	.443	0.0	0.5	.000	4.3	5.8	.739
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	1999-00	2015-16
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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		%
Kevin Garnett	81	40.0	22.9	2.8	9.0	11.8	5.0	1.5	1.6	3.3	2.5	9.4	18.8	.497	0.4	1.0	.370	3.8	5.0	.765
difference:	+5	+9.4	+12.8	+2.3	+5.2	+7.5	+3.7	+0.6	+1.5	-0.8	-0.1	+6.5	+11.1	+.123	+0.4	+1.5	+.044	+0.3	+0.9	+.082
Ricky Rubio	76	30.6	10.1	0.5	3.8	4.3	8.7	2.1	0.1	2.5	2.6	2.9	7.7	.374	0.8	2.5	.326	3.5	4.1	.847

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	4	42.5	18.8	3.3	7.5	10.8	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.8	3.0	7.5	19.5	.385	0.5	0.8	.667	3.3	4.0	.813
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2000-01	2016-17
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	81	39.5	22.0	2.7	8.7	11.4	5.0	1.4	1.8	2.8	2.5	8.7	18.2	.477	0.2	0.8	.288	4.4	5.8	.764
difference:	+6	+6.6	+10.9	+1.8	+5.5	+7.3	+4.1	+0.3	+1.7	-0.2	-0.2	+5.2	+9.5	+.075	+0.6	+1.8	+.018	+1.0	+2.0	+.127
Ricky Rubio	75	32.9	11.1	0.9	3.2	4.1	9.1	1.7	0.1	2.6	2.7	3.5	8.7	.402	0.8	2.6	.306	3.4	3.8	.891

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	4	41.3	21.0	2.5	9.5	12.0	4.3	1.0	1.5	1.5	3.3	6.8	14.5	.466	0.0	0.8	.000	7.5	9.0	.833
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2001-02	2017-18
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West 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		%
Kevin Garnett	81	39.2	21.2	3.0	9.1	12.1	5.2	1.2	1.6	2.8	2.3	8.1	17.3	.470	0.5	1.4	.319	4.4	5.5	.801
difference:	+4	+9.9	+8.1	+2.4	+5.1	+7.5	+0.1	+0.4	+1.5	-0.1	-0.4	+3.6	+6.6	+.052	+0.7	+2.1	+.033	+1.5	+2.2	+.065
Ricky Rubio	77	29.3	13.1	0.6	4.0	4.6	5.3	1.6	0.1	2.7	2.7	4.5	10.7	.418	1.2	3.5	.352	2.9	3.3	.866

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	3	43.3	24.0	5.3	13.3	18.7	5.0	1.7	1.7	4.0	3.7	8.0	18.7	.429	0.3	0.7	.500	7.7	10.7	.719
difference:	+3	+13.1	+10.0	+4.5	+6.8	+11.4	+2.0	+0.4	+1.2	-1.0	-1.5	+3.3	+5.5	+.075	+1.4	+4.6	+.187	+4.7	+6.9	+.064
Ricky Rubio	6	30.2	14.0	0.8	6.5	7.3	7.0	1.3	0.5	3.0	2.2	4.7	13.2	.354	1.7	5.3	.313	3.0	3.8	.783


Season 8
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2002-03	2018-19
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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		%
Kevin Garnett	82	40.5	23.0	3.0	10.5	13.4	6.0	1.4	1.6	2.8	2.4	9.1	18.1	.502	0.2	0.9	.282	4.6	6.1	.751
difference:	+14	+12.6	+10.3	+2.5	+7.4	+9.8	+0.1	+0.1	+1.5	-0.2	-0.2	+4.8	+7.4	+.098	+1.0	+2.8	+.029	+1.7	+2.7	+.104
Ricky Rubio	68	27.9	12.7	0.5	3.1	3.6	6.1	1.3	0.1	2.6	2.6	4.3	10.7	.404	1.2	3.7	.311	2.9	3.4	.855

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	6	44.0	27.0	1.8	13.8	15.7	5.2	1.7	1.7	3.0	3.8	11.8	23.0	.514	0.5	1.5	.333	2.8	4.7	.607
difference:	+1	+10.4	+11.6	+1.2	+11.2	+12.5	+3.4	+0.7	+1.5		-1.0	+6.2	+9.8	+.090	+0.3	+2.5	+.133	+0.6	+0.7	+.243
Ricky Rubio	5	33.6	15.4	0.6	2.6	3.2	8.6	2.4	0.2	3.0	2.8	5.6	13.2	.424	0.8	4.0	.200	3.4	4.0	.850


Season 9
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2003-04	2019-20
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	82	39.4	24.2	3.0	10.9	13.9	5.0	1.5	2.2	2.6	2.5	9.8	19.6	.499	0.1	0.5	.256	4.5	5.7	.791
difference:	+17	+8.4	+11.2	+2.3	+6.9	+9.2	+3.8	+0.1	+2.0	-0.1	-0.1	+5.4	+9.0	+.084	+1.1	+2.8	+.105	+1.5	+2.2	+.072
Ricky Rubio	65	31.0	13.0	0.7	4.0	4.7	8.8	1.4	0.2	2.7	2.6	4.4	10.6	.415	1.2	3.3	.361	3.0	3.5	.863

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	18	43.5	24.3	2.2	12.4	14.6	5.1	1.3	2.3	4.2	3.2	9.3	20.7	.452	0.3	0.9	.313	5.4	6.9	.776
Ricky Rubio	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2004-05	2020-21
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	82	38.1	22.2	3.0	10.5	13.5	5.7	1.5	1.4	2.7	2.5	8.3	16.6	.502	0.1	0.3	.240	5.4	6.7	.811
difference:	+14	+12.0	+13.6	+2.6	+7.6	+10.2	+0.7	+0.1	+1.3	-1.1	-0.5	+5.5	+9.3	+.114	+0.9	+2.8	+.068	+3.5	+4.5	+.056
Ricky Rubio	68	26.1	8.6	0.4	2.9	3.3	6.4	1.4	0.1	1.6	2.0	2.8	7.3	.388	1.0	3.1	.308	1.9	2.2	.867

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Garnett nor Ricky Rubio played in the postseason in their season 10


Season 11
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2005-06	2021-22
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	76	38.9	21.8	2.8	9.9	12.7	4.1	1.4	1.4	2.4	2.7	8.2	15.7	.526	0.1	0.4	.267	5.2	6.4	.810
difference:	+42	+10.4	+8.7	+2.4	+6.2	+8.6	+2.5		+1.2	-0.2	-0.5	+3.8	+3.6	+.163	+1.6	+4.7	+.072	+2.6	+3.4	+.044
Ricky Rubio	34	28.5	13.1	0.4	3.7	4.1	6.6	1.4	0.2	2.6	2.2	4.4	12.1	.363	1.7	5.1	.339	2.6	3.0	.854

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Garnett nor Ricky Rubio played in the postseason in their season 11


Season 12
	Kevin Garnett	Ricky Rubio
Season	2006-07	2022-23
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	76	39.4	22.4	2.4	10.4	12.8	4.1	1.2	1.7	2.7	2.4	8.4	17.6	.476	0.2	0.7	.214	5.5	6.6	.835
difference:	+43	+22.2	+17.2	+2.1	+8.6	+10.7	+0.6	+0.4	+1.5	-1.8	-0.9	+6.6	+12.2	+.133	+0.4	+1.8	+.042	+4.7	+5.5	+.035
Ricky Rubio	33	17.2	5.2	0.3	1.8	2.1	3.5	0.8	0.2	0.9	1.5	1.8	5.4	.343	0.6	2.5	.256	0.8	1.1	.800

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Garnett	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ricky Rubio	3	5.7	0.0	0.7	1.3	2.0	1.0	0.3	0.0	1.7	1.7	0.0	0.3	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Additional Years
* Kevin Garnett played 9 seasons more than Ricky Rubio in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 21, from 2008 to 2016—Kevin Garnett played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Ricky Rubio, Kevin Garnett got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Defensive Player of the Year 5 All-Star Game

Kevin Garnett vs. Ricky Rubio Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ricky Rubio and Kevin Garnett, 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

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years