LaMelo Ball vs. Artis Gilmore Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Artis Gilmore and LaMelo Ball, 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.

LaMelo Ball played 5 years in the NBA, 7 less than Artis Gilmore, who played 12. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Artis Gilmore had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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
	LaMelo Ball	Artis Gilmore
Season	2020-21	1976-77
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
LaMelo Ball	51	28.8	15.7	1.2	4.7	5.9	6.1	1.6	0.4	2.8	2.7	5.7	13.2	.436	1.8	5.1	.352	2.5	3.2	.758
difference:	+31	+6.3	+2.9	+2.6	+4.5	+7.1	+3.7	+1.1	+2.1		-0.5	+1.3	+0.1	+.086				+2.2	+3.9	+.098
Artis Gilmore	82	35.1	18.6	3.8	9.2	13.0	2.4	0.5	2.5	-	3.2	7.0	13.3	.522	-	-	-	4.7	7.1	.660
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Artis Gilmore	3	42.0	18.7	5.0	8.0	13.0	2.0	1.0	2.7	-	3.0	6.3	13.3	.475	-	-	-	6.0	7.7	.783

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Artis Gilmore
Season	2021-22	1977-78
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
LaMelo Ball	75	32.3	20.1	1.4	5.2	6.7	7.6	1.6	0.4	3.3	3.2	7.2	16.7	.429	2.9	7.5	.389	2.8	3.2	.872
difference:	+7	+5.1	+2.8	+2.5	+4.0	+6.4	+4.4	+1.1	+1.8	-1.2		+1.4	+1.3	+.130				+2.9	+5.0	+.168
Artis Gilmore	82	37.4	22.9	3.9	9.2	13.1	3.2	0.5	2.2	4.5	3.2	8.6	15.4	.559	-	-	-	5.7	8.2	.704
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Artis Gilmore played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Artis Gilmore
Season	2022-23	1978-79
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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		%
LaMelo Ball	36	35.2	23.3	1.2	5.3	6.4	8.4	1.3	0.3	3.6	3.3	8.2	20.0	.411	4.0	10.6	.376	2.8	3.4	.836
difference:	+46	+4.6	+0.4	+2.4	+3.8	+6.3	+5.1	+0.7	+1.6	-0.2	-0.1	+1.0	+4.0	+.164				+2.5	+3.8	+.097
Artis Gilmore	82	39.8	23.7	3.6	9.1	12.7	3.3	0.6	1.9	3.8	3.4	9.2	16.0	.575	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.739
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Artis Gilmore played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 5
	LaMelo Ball	Artis Gilmore
Season	2024-25	1980-81
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
LaMelo Ball	47	32.0	25.2	1.0	3.9	4.9	7.4	1.1	0.3	3.6	3.3	8.6	21.3	.405	3.8	11.2	.339	4.1	4.9	.843
difference:	+35	+2.5	+7.3	+1.7	+3.5	+5.2	+5.3	+0.5	+2.1	-0.7	-0.3	+1.9	+11.3	+.265	+3.8	+11.2		+0.5	+1.6	+.138
Artis Gilmore	82	34.5	17.9	2.7	7.4	10.1	2.1	0.6	2.4	2.9	3.6	6.7	10.0	.670	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	6.5	.705
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Artis Gilmore	6	41.2	18.0	4.0	7.2	11.2	2.0	1.0	2.8	2.8	2.5	5.8	10.0	.583	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	9.2	.691

Additional Years
* Artis Gilmore played 7 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 12, from 1982 to 1988—Artis Gilmore played in 4 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Artis Gilmore got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-Star Game