Kobe Bryant vs. Alex Caruso Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Alex Caruso and Kobe Bryant, 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.

Kobe Bryant played 20 years in the NBA, 11 more than Alex Caruso, who played 9. Kobe Bryant had the first of his seasons in 1996-97, while Alex Caruso had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	1996-97	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Kobe Bryant	71	15.5	7.6	0.7	1.2	1.9	1.3	0.7	0.3	1.6	1.4	2.5	5.9	.417	0.7	1.9	.375	1.9	2.3	.819
difference:	+34	+0.3	+4.0	+0.3	+0.2	+0.1	+0.7	+0.1		-0.5		+1.1	+2.8	+.014	+0.3	+0.7	+.073	+1.3	+1.5	+.119
Alex Caruso	37	15.2	3.6	0.4	1.4	1.8	2.0	0.6	0.3	1.1	1.4	1.4	3.1	.431	0.4	1.2	.302	0.6	0.8	.700
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	9	14.8	8.2	0.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	0.3	0.2	1.6	2.6	2.3	6.1	.382	0.7	2.6	.261	2.9	3.3	.867
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	1997-98	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Kobe Bryant	79	26.0	15.4	1.0	2.1	3.1	2.5	0.9	0.5	2.0	2.3	4.9	11.6	.428	0.9	2.8	.341	4.6	5.8	.794
difference:	+54	+4.8	+6.2	+0.2	+0.2	+0.4	+0.6	+0.1	+0.1	-0.3	-0.1	+1.8	+4.7	+.017	+0.1	+0.8	+.139	+2.6	+3.2	+.003
Alex Caruso	25	21.2	9.2	0.8	1.9	2.7	3.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	2.2	3.1	6.9	.445	1.0	2.0	.480	2.0	2.6	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	11	20.2	8.7	0.6	1.3	1.9	1.5	0.3	0.7	1.0	2.5	2.8	6.9	.408	0.3	1.3	.214	2.8	4.1	.689
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	1998-99	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
Kobe Bryant	50	37.9	19.9	1.1	4.2	5.3	3.8	1.4	1.0	3.1	3.1	7.2	15.6	.465	0.5	2.0	.267	4.9	5.8	.839
difference:	+14	+19.5	+14.4	+0.8	+2.5	+3.4	+1.9	+0.3	+0.7	-2.3	-1.6	+5.3	+11.1	+.053	+0.1	+0.1	+.066	+3.8	+4.3	+.105
Alex Caruso	64	18.4	5.5	0.3	1.7	1.9	1.9	1.1	0.3	0.8	1.5	1.9	4.5	.412	0.6	1.9	.333	1.1	1.5	.734
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	8	39.6	19.8	1.6	5.3	6.9	4.6	1.9	1.3	3.9	3.0	7.6	17.8	.430	1.0	2.9	.348	3.5	4.4	.800
difference:	+13	+15.3	+13.3	+0.9	+3.7	+4.6	+1.8	+0.8	+0.7	-2.4	-0.4	+5.3	+12.4	+.005	+0.2		+.069	+2.4	+3.0
Alex Caruso	21	24.3	6.5	0.7	1.6	2.3	2.8	1.1	0.6	1.5	2.6	2.3	5.4	.425	0.8	2.9	.279	1.1	1.4	.800

Season 4
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	1999-00	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Kobe Bryant	66	38.2	22.5	1.6	4.7	6.3	4.9	1.6	0.9	2.8	3.3	8.4	17.9	.468	0.7	2.2	.319	5.0	6.1	.821
difference:	+8	+17.2	+16.1	+1.1	+2.3	+3.4	+2.1	+0.5	+0.6	-1.5	-1.4	+6.1	+12.6	+.032	+0.2	+0.2	+.082	+4.2	+4.8	+.176
Alex Caruso	58	21.0	6.4	0.5	2.4	2.9	2.8	1.1	0.3	1.3	1.9	2.3	5.3	.436	0.9	2.4	.401	0.8	1.3	.645
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	22	39.0	21.1	1.2	3.3	4.5	4.4	1.5	1.5	2.5	4.0	7.9	17.9	.442	1.0	2.9	.344	4.3	5.7	.754
difference:	+16	+18.8	+15.3	+0.9	+2.3	+3.2	+3.9	+1.3	+0.8	-1.3	-2.0	+5.6	+11.6	+.074	+0.2	+0.1	+.050	+4.0	+5.4	+.246
Alex Caruso	6	20.2	5.8	0.3	1.0	1.3	0.5	0.2	0.7	1.2	2.0	2.3	6.3	.368	0.8	2.8	.294	0.3	0.3	1.000

Season 5
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	2000-01	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls Lost East 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		%
Kobe Bryant	68	40.9	28.5	1.5	4.3	5.9	5.0	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.3	10.3	22.2	.464	0.9	2.9	.305	7.0	8.2	.853
difference:	+27	+12.9	+21.1	+0.7	+1.5	+2.3	+1.0		+0.2	-1.8	-0.7	+7.8	+16.0	+.066	+0.1	+0.2	+.028	+5.6	+6.4	+.058
Alex Caruso	41	28.0	7.4	0.8	2.8	3.6	4.0	1.7	0.4	1.4	2.6	2.5	6.2	.398	1.0	3.1	.333	1.4	1.8	.795
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	16	43.4	29.4	1.8	5.4	7.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	3.2	3.3	10.5	22.4	.469	0.7	2.1	.324	7.8	9.4	.821
difference:	+12	+15.1	+23.1	+1.3	+3.1	+4.5	+1.8	+0.3	+0.2	-2.9	-0.5	+8.2	+16.6	+.078	+1.1	+2.4	+.065	+7.8	+9.4
Alex Caruso	4	28.3	6.3	0.5	2.3	2.8	4.3	1.3	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.3	5.8	.391	1.8	4.5	.389	0.0	0.0	-

Season 6
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	2001-02	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Kobe Bryant	80	38.3	25.2	1.4	4.1	5.5	5.5	1.5	0.4	2.8	2.9	9.4	20.0	.469	0.4	1.7	.250	6.1	7.4	.829
difference:	+13	+14.8	+19.6	+0.8	+1.8	+2.6	+2.6		+0.3	-1.7	-0.5	+7.5	+15.7	+.014	+0.4	+0.6	+.114	+5.2	+6.3	+.021
Alex Caruso	67	23.5	5.6	0.6	2.3	2.9	2.9	1.5	0.7	1.1	2.4	1.9	4.3	.455	0.8	2.3	.364	0.9	1.1	.808
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	19	43.8	26.6	1.5	4.4	5.8	4.6	1.4	0.9	2.8	3.4	9.8	22.7	.434	1.2	3.1	.379	5.8	7.6	.759
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	2002-03	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Kobe Bryant	82	41.5	30.0	1.3	5.6	6.9	5.9	2.2	0.8	3.5	2.7	10.6	23.5	.451	1.5	4.0	.383	7.3	8.7	.843
difference:	+11	+12.8	+19.9	+0.4	+2.6	+3.1	+2.4	+0.5	+0.2	-2.1	-0.2	+7.0	+15.9	+.017	+0.4	+0.7	+.025	+6.3	+7.3	+.083
Alex Caruso	71	28.7	10.1	0.9	3.0	3.8	3.5	1.7	1.0	1.4	2.5	3.6	7.6	.468	1.9	4.7	.408	1.0	1.4	.760
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	12	44.3	32.1	1.3	3.8	5.1	5.2	1.2	0.1	3.5	2.9	11.4	26.4	.432	2.1	5.2	.403	7.2	8.7	.827
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	2003-04	2024-25
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
Kobe Bryant	65	37.6	24.0	1.6	3.9	5.5	5.1	1.7	0.4	2.6	2.7	7.9	18.1	.438	1.1	3.3	.327	7.0	8.2	.852
difference:	+11	+18.3	+16.9	+0.9	+1.7	+2.6	+2.6	+0.1	+0.2	-1.9	-0.8	+5.3	+12.3	+.008		+0.2	+.026	+6.2	+7.3	+.028
Alex Caruso	54	19.3	7.1	0.7	2.2	2.9	2.5	1.6	0.6	0.7	1.9	2.6	5.8	.446	1.1	3.1	.353	0.8	0.9	.824
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	22	44.2	24.5	0.8	3.9	4.7	5.5	1.9	0.3	2.8	2.7	8.6	20.9	.413	1.1	4.4	.247	6.1	7.5	.813
difference:	+1	+19.8	+15.3	+0.1	+1.9	+2.0	+3.3	+0.1	+0.3	-2.0		+5.5	+13.9	+.037	+0.5	+0.5	+.164	+4.8	+5.8	+.018
Alex Caruso	23	24.4	9.2	0.7	2.0	2.7	2.2	2.0	0.6	0.8	2.7	3.1	7.0	.450	1.6	3.9	.411	1.3	1.7	.795

Season 9
	Kobe Bryant	Alex Caruso
Season	2004-05	2025-26
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	66	40.7	27.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	6.0	1.3	0.8	4.1	2.6	8.7	20.1	.433	2.0	5.9	.339	8.2	10.1	.816
difference:	+50	+22.3	+22.1	+1.0	+2.6	+3.6	+3.6	+0.4	+0.5	-3.0	-1.5	+6.8	+15.2	+.036	+0.9	+2.8	+.021	+7.7	+9.5	+.016
Alex Caruso	16	18.4	5.5	0.4	1.9	2.3	2.4	1.7	0.3	1.1	1.1	1.9	4.9	.397	1.1	3.1	.360	0.5	0.6	.800
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kobe Bryant nor Alex Caruso played in the postseason in their season 9

Additional Years
* Kobe Bryant played 11 seasons more than Alex Caruso in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 20, from 2006 to 2016—Kobe Bryant played in 7 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 11 extra years over Alex Caruso, Kobe Bryant got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 8 All-NBA First Team 6 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 2 Scoring Leader 11 All-Star Game 3 All-Star Game MVP