Kobe Bryant vs. D'Angelo Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of D'Angelo Russell 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, 9 more than D'Angelo Russell, who played 11. Kobe Bryant had the first of his seasons in 1996-97, while D'Angelo Russell had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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	D'Angelo Russell
Season	1996-97	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	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:	+9	+12.7	+5.6	+0.1	+1.6	+1.5	+2.0	+0.5	+0.1	-0.9	-0.4	+2.4	+6.1	+.007	+0.9	+2.7	+.024	+0.1	+0.1	+.082
D'Angelo Russell	80	28.2	13.2	0.6	2.8	3.4	3.3	1.2	0.2	2.5	1.8	4.9	12.0	.410	1.6	4.6	.351	1.8	2.4	.737
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
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	1997-98	2016-17
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:	+16	+2.7	+0.2	+0.5	+0.9	+0.4	+2.3	+0.5	+0.2	-0.8	-0.2	+0.7	+2.2	+.023	+1.2	+3.3	+.011	+2.3	+2.8	+.012
D'Angelo Russell	63	28.7	15.6	0.5	3.0	3.5	4.8	1.4	0.3	2.8	2.1	5.6	13.8	.405	2.1	6.1	.352	2.3	3.0	.782
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
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	1998-99	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did not play

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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:	+2	+12.2	+4.4	+0.5	+0.9	+1.4	+1.4	+0.6	+0.6		-1.2	+1.4	+1.6	+.051	+1.4	+3.8	+.057	+2.9	+3.1	+.099
D'Angelo Russell	48	25.7	15.5	0.6	3.3	3.9	5.2	0.8	0.4	3.1	1.9	5.8	14.0	.414	1.9	5.8	.324	2.0	2.7	.740
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
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	1999-00	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nets Lost East 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:	+15	+8.0	+1.4	+0.9	+1.5	+2.4	+2.1	+0.4	+0.7	-0.3	-1.6	+0.3	+0.8	+.034	+2.2	+5.6	+.050	+3.0	+3.6	+.041
D'Angelo Russell	81	30.2	21.1	0.7	3.2	3.9	7.0	1.2	0.2	3.1	1.7	8.1	18.7	.434	2.9	7.8	.369	2.0	2.5	.780
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:	+17	+9.4	+1.7	+0.8	+0.1	+0.9	+0.8	+0.1	+1.3	-0.3	-1.6	+0.5	+2.7	+.083	+1.4	+4.5	+.020	+2.1	+3.1	+.092
D'Angelo Russell	5	29.6	19.4	0.4	3.2	3.6	3.6	1.4	0.2	2.8	2.4	7.4	20.6	.359	2.4	7.4	.324	2.2	2.6	.846

Season 5
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2000-01	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did not play

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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:	+23	+8.6	+5.4	+1.1	+0.7	+2.0	+1.3	+0.6	+0.3	-0.1	-1.4	+2.3	+3.4	+.038	+2.6	+6.7	+.062	+3.4	+3.8	+.044
D'Angelo Russell	45	32.3	23.1	0.4	3.6	3.9	6.3	1.1	0.3	3.3	1.9	8.0	18.8	.426	3.5	9.6	.367	3.6	4.4	.809
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
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2001-02	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA 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:	+38	+9.8	+6.2	+1.0	+1.8	+2.9	+0.3	+0.4		-0.1	-1.3	+2.7	+4.5	+.038	+2.5	+5.7	+.137	+3.4	+3.9	+.064
D'Angelo Russell	42	28.5	19.0	0.4	2.3	2.6	5.8	1.1	0.4	2.7	1.6	6.7	15.5	.431	2.9	7.4	.387	2.7	3.5	.765
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
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2002-03	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+17	+9.5	+11.9	+0.9	+2.7	+3.6	+1.2	+1.2	+0.5	-1.0	-0.7	+4.4	+8.5	+.040	+1.2	+4.0	+.043	+4.3	+5.0	+.018
D'Angelo Russell	65	32.0	18.1	0.4	2.9	3.3	7.1	1.0	0.3	2.5	2.0	6.2	15.0	.411	2.7	8.0	.340	3.0	3.7	.825
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
difference:	+6	+11.6	+20.1	+1.3	+1.3	+2.6	+1.5	+0.3	+0.1	-0.7	-0.1	+7.4	+14.4	+.099	+0.1		+.016	+5.2	+6.0	+.077
D'Angelo Russell	6	32.7	12.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	6.7	1.5	0.0	2.8	2.8	4.0	12.0	.333	2.0	5.2	.387	2.0	2.7	.750

Season 8
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2003-04	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+6	+5.1	+6.2	+1.1	+1.4	+2.5	+1.1	+0.7			-0.7	+1.6	+4.7	+.031	+1.6	+3.6	+.069	+4.5	+5.2	+.023
D'Angelo Russell	71	32.5	17.8	0.5	2.5	3.0	6.2	1.0	0.4	2.6	2.0	6.3	13.4	.469	2.7	6.9	.396	2.5	3.0	.829
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:	+6	+14.6	+11.2	+0.2	+1.6	+1.8	+0.9	+1.2		-1.0	-0.7	+3.4	+8.7	+.013	+0.6	+1.0	+.063	+4.8	+5.9	+.044
D'Angelo Russell	16	29.6	13.3	0.6	2.3	2.9	4.6	0.7	0.3	1.8	2.0	5.2	12.2	.426	1.7	5.4	.310	1.3	1.6	.769

Season 9
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2004-05	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did not play	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
Others	-	NBA Cup Champion

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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:	+10	+8.0	+9.6	+1.0	+1.8	+2.8	+0.3	+0.4	+0.3	-2.0	-0.5	+2.2	+5.9	+.023	+1.0	+1.3	+.076	+6.1	+7.6	+.012
D'Angelo Russell	76	32.7	18.0	0.4	2.7	3.1	6.3	0.9	0.5	2.1	2.1	6.5	14.2	.456	3.0	7.2	.415	2.1	2.5	.828
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
D'Angelo Russell	5	37.0	14.2	0.2	2.6	2.8	4.2	0.8	0.2	1.8	1.2	5.6	14.6	.384	2.8	8.8	.318	0.2	0.4	.500

Season 10
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2005-06	2024-25
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did not play

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10th 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	41.0	35.4	0.9	4.4	5.3	4.5	1.8	0.4	3.1	2.9	12.2	27.2	.450	2.3	6.5	.347	8.7	10.2	.850
difference:	+22	+15.5	+22.8	+0.6	+2.0	+2.5	+0.6	+0.8		-1.2	-0.9	+7.9	+16.2	+.060	+0.4	+0.3	+.033	+6.6	+7.7	+.016
D'Angelo Russell	58	25.5	12.6	0.3	2.4	2.8	5.1	1.0	0.4	1.9	2.0	4.3	11.0	.390	1.9	6.2	.314	2.1	2.5	.834
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	7	44.9	27.9	0.6	5.7	6.3	5.1	1.1	0.4	4.7	3.6	10.3	20.7	.497	2.0	5.0	.400	5.3	6.9	.771
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Kobe Bryant	D'Angelo Russell
Season	2006-07	2025-26
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did not play (season in progress)

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11th 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	77	40.8	31.6	1.0	4.7	5.7	5.4	1.4	0.5	3.3	2.7	10.6	22.8	.463	1.8	5.2	.344	8.7	10.0	.868
difference:	+52	+21.8	+21.4	+0.7	+2.7	+3.3	+1.4	+0.9	+0.4	-1.4	-1.5	+7.0	+13.9	+.058	+0.5	+0.8	+.044	+7.0	+7.6	+.151
D'Angelo Russell	25	19.0	10.2	0.3	2.0	2.4	4.0	0.5	0.1	1.9	1.2	3.6	8.9	.405	1.3	4.4	.300	1.7	2.4	.717
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kobe Bryant	5	43.0	32.8	0.2	5.0	5.2	4.4	1.0	0.4	4.4	2.0	12.0	26.0	.462	2.0	5.6	.357	6.8	7.4	.919
D'Angelo Russell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Kobe Bryant played 9 seasons more than D'Angelo Russell in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 20, from 2008 to 2016—Kobe Bryant played in 5 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 9 extra years over D'Angelo Russell, Kobe Bryant got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 6 All-NBA First Team 4 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 9 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP