Kevin McHale vs. Jalen Suggs Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jalen Suggs and Kevin McHale, 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 McHale played 13 years in the NBA, 9 more than Jalen Suggs, who played 4. Kevin McHale had the first of his seasons in 1980-81, while Jalen Suggs 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
	Kevin McHale	Jalen Suggs
Season	1980-81	2021-22
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 McHale	82	20.1	10.0	1.9	2.5	4.4	0.7	0.3	1.8	1.3	3.2	4.3	8.1	.533	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	1.9	.679
difference:	+34	+7.1	+1.8	+1.4	+0.5	+0.8	+3.7	+0.9	+1.4	-1.7	-0.2	+0.2	+3.3	+.172	+0.9	+4.1		+1.3	+1.5	+.094
Jalen Suggs	48	27.2	11.8	0.5	3.0	3.6	4.4	1.2	0.4	3.0	3.0	4.1	11.4	.361	0.9	4.1	.214	2.6	3.4	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	17	17.4	8.5	1.7	1.8	3.5	0.8	0.2	1.5	0.9	3.0	3.6	6.6	.540	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.1	.639
Jalen Suggs	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Kevin McHale	Jalen Suggs
Season	1982-83	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Kevin McHale	82	28.6	14.1	2.6	4.1	6.7	1.3	0.4	2.3	1.9	2.9	5.9	10.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.3	.717
difference:	+7	+1.6	+1.5	+2.0	+1.7	+3.6	+1.4	+1.0	+1.7	-0.1	-0.2	+1.4	+1.4	+.070	+2.0	+5.1		+0.8	+1.2	+.039
Jalen Suggs	75	27.0	12.6	0.6	2.4	3.1	2.7	1.4	0.6	1.8	2.7	4.5	9.5	.471	2.0	5.1	.397	1.6	2.1	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	7	25.3	11.1	2.1	3.9	6.0	0.7	0.4	1.0	1.4	2.3	4.9	8.9	.548	0.0	0.1	.000	1.4	2.6	.556
difference:		+7.8	+3.6	+0.5	+0.3	+0.9	+2.6	+0.9	+0.6	-1.5	-0.3	+0.2	+2.8	+.146	+2.0	+6.8	+.292	+1.9	+1.7	+.211
Jalen Suggs	7	33.1	14.7	1.6	3.6	5.1	3.3	1.3	0.4	2.9	2.6	4.7	11.7	.402	2.0	6.9	.292	3.3	4.3	.767

Season 4
	Kevin McHale	Jalen Suggs
Season	1983-84	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 McHale	82	31.4	18.4	2.5	4.9	7.4	1.3	0.3	1.5	1.8	3.0	7.2	12.9	.556	0.0	0.0	-	4.1	5.4	.765
difference:	+47	+2.8	+2.2	+1.8	+1.5	+3.4	+2.4	+1.2	+0.6	-1.1	-0.2	+1.6	+0.8	+.146	+2.2	+6.9		+1.3	+2.3	+.117
Jalen Suggs	35	28.6	16.2	0.7	3.4	4.0	3.7	1.5	0.9	2.9	2.8	5.6	13.7	.410	2.2	6.9	.314	2.8	3.1	.882
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	23	30.5	14.8	2.7	3.5	6.2	1.2	0.1	1.5	1.7	3.3	5.3	10.6	.504	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.3	.777
Jalen Suggs	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Kevin McHale played 9 seasons more than Jalen Suggs in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 5 to 13, from 1985 to 1993—Kevin McHale played in 9 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Jalen Suggs, Kevin McHale got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Sixth Man of the Year 6 All-Star Game