Kyrie Irving vs. Ben Simmons Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving, 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.

Kyrie Irving played 14 years in the NBA, 7 more than Ben Simmons, who played 7. Kyrie Irving had the first of his seasons in 2011-12, while Ben Simmons 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
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2011-12	2017-18
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Kyrie Irving	51	30.5	18.5	0.9	2.9	3.7	5.4	1.1	0.4	3.1	2.2	6.9	14.6	.469	1.4	3.6	.399	3.4	3.8	.872
difference:	+30	+3.2	+2.7	+0.9	+3.4	+4.4	+2.8	+0.6	+0.5	-0.3	-0.4	+0.2	+2.3	+.076	+1.4	+3.5	+.399	+1.0	+0.4	+.312
Ben Simmons	81	33.7	15.8	1.8	6.3	8.1	8.2	1.7	0.9	3.4	2.6	6.7	12.3	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	4.2	.560
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	10	36.9	16.3	1.6	7.8	9.4	7.7	1.7	0.8	4.4	3.4	6.1	12.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 2
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2012-13	2018-19
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Kyrie Irving	59	34.7	22.5	0.6	3.1	3.7	5.9	1.5	0.4	3.2	2.5	8.2	18.1	.452	1.8	4.7	.391	4.2	4.9	.855
difference:	+20	+0.5	+5.6	+1.6	+3.5	+5.1	+1.8	+0.1	+0.4	-0.3	-0.1	+1.4	+5.9	+.111	+1.8	+4.6	+.391	+0.9	+0.5	+.255
Ben Simmons	79	34.2	16.9	2.2	6.6	8.8	7.7	1.4	0.8	3.5	2.6	6.8	12.2	.563	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.600
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	12	35.1	13.9	1.9	5.1	7.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	2.7	3.8	6.0	9.7	.621	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.575

Season 3
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2013-14	2019-20
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kyrie Irving	71	35.2	20.8	0.7	2.9	3.6	6.1	1.5	0.3	2.7	2.3	7.5	17.4	.430	1.7	4.8	.358	4.1	4.8	.861
difference:	+14	+0.2	+4.4	+1.3	+2.9	+4.2	+1.9	+0.6	+0.3	-0.8	-1.0	+0.9	+6.0	+.150	+1.7	+4.7	+.072	+0.9	+0.4	+.240
Ben Simmons	57	35.4	16.4	2.0	5.8	7.8	8.0	2.1	0.6	3.5	3.3	6.6	11.4	.580	0.0	0.1	.286	3.2	5.2	.621
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kyrie Irving nor Ben Simmons played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 4
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2014-15	2020-21
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Kyrie Irving	75	36.4	21.7	0.7	2.4	3.2	5.2	1.5	0.3	2.5	1.9	7.7	16.5	.468	2.1	5.0	.415	4.2	4.9	.863
difference:	+17	+4.0	+7.4	+0.9	+3.2	+4.0	+1.7	+0.1	+0.3	-0.5	-1.0	+2.1	+6.4	+.089	+2.0	+4.8	+.115	+1.2		+.250
Ben Simmons	58	32.4	14.3	1.6	5.6	7.2	6.9	1.6	0.6	3.0	2.9	5.6	10.1	.557	0.1	0.2	.300	3.0	4.9	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	13	35.7	19.0	0.8	2.8	3.6	3.8	1.3	0.8	1.5	2.2	6.2	14.2	.438	2.1	4.6	.450	4.5	5.3	.841
difference:	+1	+2.2	+7.1	+1.3	+3.0	+4.3	+5.0			-0.8	-1.1	+1.3	+6.3	+.183	+2.1	+4.5	+.450	+2.4	+0.8	+.499
Ben Simmons	12	33.5	11.9	2.1	5.8	7.9	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.3	4.9	7.9	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	6.1	.342

Note: Ben Simmons didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 5
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2015-16	2022-23
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards
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		%
Kyrie Irving	53	31.5	19.6	0.8	2.1	3.0	4.7	1.1	0.3	2.3	2.0	7.4	16.6	.448	1.6	4.9	.321	3.2	3.6	.885
difference:	+11	+5.2	+12.7	+0.2	+3.2	+3.3	+1.4	+0.2	+0.3		-1.3	+4.2	+11.0	+.118	+1.6	+4.9		+2.6	+2.2	+.446
Ben Simmons	42	26.3	6.9	1.0	5.3	6.3	6.1	1.3	0.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	5.6	.566	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.4	.439
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	21	36.9	25.2	0.7	2.2	3.0	4.7	1.7	0.6	2.3	2.2	9.6	20.1	.475	2.4	5.5	.440	3.7	4.2	.875
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2016-17	2023-24
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Kyrie Irving	72	35.1	25.2	0.7	2.5	3.2	5.8	1.2	0.3	2.5	2.2	9.3	19.7	.473	2.5	6.1	.401	4.1	4.6	.905
difference:	+57	+11.2	+19.1	+1.4	+3.4	+4.7	+0.1	+0.4	+0.3	-0.7	-0.2	+6.4	+14.8	+.108	+2.5	+6.1		+3.7	+3.6	+.505
Ben Simmons	15	23.9	6.1	2.1	5.9	7.9	5.7	0.8	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.9	4.9	.581	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	1.0	.400
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	18	36.3	25.9	0.7	2.1	2.8	5.3	1.3	0.4	2.7	2.1	9.6	20.6	.468	2.4	6.6	.373	4.2	4.7	.905
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Kyrie Irving	Ben Simmons
Season	2017-18	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Clippers 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		%
Kyrie Irving	60	32.2	24.4	0.6	3.2	3.8	5.1	1.1	0.3	2.3	2.0	8.9	18.1	.491	2.8	6.8	.408	3.9	4.4	.889
difference:	+9	+10.2	+19.4	+0.3	+0.6	+0.9	+0.5	+0.4	+0.2	-0.3	-0.1	+6.6	+13.7	+.029	+2.8	+6.8		+3.4	+3.8	+.162
Ben Simmons	51	22.0	5.0	0.9	3.8	4.7	5.6	0.7	0.5	2.0	2.1	2.3	4.4	.520	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.6	.727
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	5	8.4	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.2	0.4	1.2	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Additional Years
* Kyrie Irving played 7 seasons more than Ben Simmons in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 14, from 2019 to 2025—Kyrie Irving played in 4 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game