Kevin Love vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and Kevin Love, 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.

Kevin Love played 17 years in the NBA, 9 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Kevin Love had the first of his seasons in 2008-09, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2008-09	2002-03
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kevin Love	81	25.3	11.1	3.4	5.7	9.1	1.0	0.4	0.6	1.5	2.5	3.9	8.5	.459	0.0	0.2	.105	3.3	4.1	.789
difference:	+1	+3.7	+2.4	+1.0	+0.1	+0.9	+0.7		+1.2	-0.6	-0.3	+1.0	+1.3	+.039		+0.2		+0.4	+0.4	+.022
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Love nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2009-10	2003-04
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Kevin Love	60	28.6	14.0	3.8	7.2	11.0	2.3	0.7	0.4	2.0	2.3	4.9	10.8	.450	0.6	1.8	.330	3.8	4.6	.815
difference:	+22	+4.2	+3.5	+1.4	+0.6	+2.0	+0.8	+0.4	+1.5	-0.5	-1.0	+1.6	+1.7	+.072	+0.6	+1.8		+0.6	+0.8	+.006
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Love	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2010-11	2004-05
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Most Improved Player	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Kevin Love	73	35.8	20.2	4.5	10.7	15.2	2.5	0.6	0.4	2.1	2.0	6.6	14.1	.470	1.2	2.9	.417	5.8	6.8	.850
difference:	+7	+5.2	+1.9	+1.9	+4.9	+6.8	+1.7	+0.2	+1.6	-0.4	-1.7	+0.1	+1.9	+.082	+1.2	+2.9		+0.9	+0.6	+.067
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Love	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2011-12	2005-06
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kevin Love	55	39.0	26.0	4.1	9.2	13.3	2.0	0.9	0.5	2.3	2.8	8.6	19.3	.448	1.9	5.1	.372	6.9	8.4	.824
difference:	+2	+4.8	+3.7	+1.5	+1.6	+3.1	+0.5	+0.4	+1.1	-0.3	-0.6	+0.4	+3.5	+.071	+1.9	+5.1		+1.0	+1.5	+.029
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Love nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2012-13	2006-07
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Kevin Love	18	34.3	18.3	3.6	10.4	14.0	2.3	0.7	0.5	2.2	1.9	5.8	16.6	.352	1.1	5.1	.217	5.6	7.9	.704
difference:	+30	+0.5	+6.7	+1.5	+3.1	+4.6	+0.3	+0.3	+1.5	-1.3	-1.4	+3.0	+0.5	+.164	+1.1	+5.1		+1.8	+0.7	+.158
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.4	8.6	.862
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Love	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2013-14	2007-08
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kevin Love	77	36.3	26.1	2.9	9.6	12.5	4.4	0.8	0.5	2.5	1.8	8.4	18.5	.457	2.5	6.6	.376	6.8	8.2	.821
difference:	+22	+0.9	+4.1	+0.2	+1.9	+1.7	+2.1	+0.3	+1.5	-0.8	-1.3	+0.5	+3.0	+.050	+2.5	+6.6		+0.5	+0.8	+.029
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kevin Love nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 6

Season 7
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2014-15	2008-09
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Kevin Love	75	33.8	16.4	1.9	7.9	9.7	2.2	0.7	0.5	1.6	1.9	5.5	12.7	.434	1.9	5.2	.367	3.4	4.3	.804
difference:	+2	+0.2	+3.3	+0.7	+0.7	+0.2	+0.4	+0.3	+1.4	-1.4	-1.4	+1.9	+0.7	+.114	+1.9	+5.2		+1.5	+1.4	+.062
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Love	4	26.8	14.3	1.5	5.5	7.0	2.5	0.3	0.5	1.5	3.0	4.3	10.3	.415	2.3	5.3	.429	3.5	4.8	.737
difference:	+5	+9.1	+2.8	+0.6	+3.3	+3.9	+1.5	+0.1	+0.7	-0.4		+1.7	+0.7	+.130	+2.3	+5.3		+1.6	+0.9	+.165
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Kevin Love	Yao Ming
Season	2015-16	2010-11
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
Kevin Love	77	31.5	16.0	1.9	8.0	9.9	2.4	0.8	0.5	1.8	2.1	5.3	12.7	.419	2.1	5.7	.360	3.4	4.1	.822
difference:	+72	+13.3	+5.8	+0.5	+4.0	+4.5	+1.6	+0.8	+1.1	-0.4	-0.5	+1.7	+5.3	+.067	+2.1	+5.7		+0.4	+0.9	+.116
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin Love	20	30.7	14.7	1.7	7.1	8.8	2.1	0.5	0.4	1.4	1.7	4.6	12.0	.385	2.3	5.6	.414	3.2	3.8	.840
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Kevin Love played 9 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 17, from 2017 to 2025—Kevin Love played in 4 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over Yao Ming, Kevin Love got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-Star Game