Kyrie Irving vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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 13 years in the NBA, 5 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Kyrie Irving had the first of his seasons in 2011-12, 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Kyrie Irving	13	7	2011-12 to 2023-24
Yao Ming	8	4	2002-03 to 2010-11

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13


Rookie Season
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2011-12	2002-03
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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
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	.500	3.7	4.5	.811

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2012-13	2003-04
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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
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	.000	4.4	5.4	.809

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2013-14	2004-05
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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
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		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2014-15	2005-06
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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
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	.000	5.9	6.9	.853

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
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2015-16	2006-07
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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
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	.000	7.4	8.6	.862

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
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
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2016-17	2007-08
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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
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	.000	6.3	7.4	.850

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
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2017-18	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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
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	1.000	4.9	5.7	.866

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2018-19	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	67	33.0	23.8	1.1	3.9	5.0	6.9	1.5	0.5	2.6	2.5	9.0	18.5	.487	2.6	6.5	.401	3.2	3.7	.873
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		%
Kyrie Irving	9	36.7	21.3	0.6	3.8	4.3	7.0	1.4	0.4	3.1	2.9	7.7	19.9	.385	2.0	6.4	.310	4.0	4.4	.900
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2019-20	-
Team	Brooklyn Nets	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	20	32.9	27.4	1.1	4.1	5.2	6.4	1.4	0.5	2.6	2.7	10.0	20.8	.478	2.8	7.1	.394	4.7	5.1	.922
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2020-21	-
Team	Brooklyn Nets	-
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	54	34.9	26.9	1.0	3.8	4.8	6.0	1.4	0.7	2.4	2.6	10.2	20.1	.506	2.8	7.0	.402	3.7	4.0	.922
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	9	36.1	22.7	1.3	4.4	5.8	3.4	1.0	0.6	1.2	2.1	8.6	18.1	.472	2.7	7.2	.369	2.9	3.1	.929
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2021-22	-
Team	Brooklyn Nets	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	29	37.6	27.4	0.6	3.8	4.4	5.8	1.4	0.6	2.5	2.8	10.0	21.2	.469	3.4	8.2	.418	4.1	4.4	.915
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	4	42.5	21.3	1.5	3.8	5.3	5.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	7.0	15.8	.444	2.0	5.3	.381	5.3	5.3	1.000
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2022-23	-
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	60	37.3	27.1	1.0	4.1	5.1	5.5	1.1	0.8	2.1	2.8	9.9	20.1	.494	3.1	8.3	.379	4.1	4.6	.905
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Kyrie Irving	Yao Ming
Season	2023-24	-
Team	Dallas Mavericks	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Mavericks TBD	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	58	35.0	25.6	0.8	4.2	5.0	5.2	1.3	0.5	1.8	1.9	9.7	19.5	.497	3.0	7.3	.411	3.3	3.6	.905
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyrie Irving	7	39.6	25.6	1.1	3.9	5.0	4.4	1.9	0.4	2.6	3.1	9.1	17.9	.512	3.6	7.6	.472	3.7	4.3	.867
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Kyrie Irving vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13