LaMelo Ball vs. Bill Walton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Walton 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, 5 less than Bill Walton, who played 10. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Bill Walton had his rookie season in 1974-75. 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	Bill Walton
Season	2020-21	1974-75
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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:	+16	+4.1	+2.9	+1.4	+5.3	+6.7	+1.3	+0.8	+2.3		-0.6	+0.6	+3.3	+.077				+0.2	+0.7	+.072
Bill Walton	35	32.9	12.8	2.6	10.0	12.6	4.8	0.8	2.7	-	3.3	5.1	9.9	.513	-	-	-	2.7	3.9	.686
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Bill Walton played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Bill Walton
Season	2021-22	1975-76
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	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:	+24	+0.8	+4.0	+1.2	+5.6	+6.7	+3.3	+0.6	+1.2		-0.4	+0.4	+2.3	+.042				+0.2	+1.3	+.289
Bill Walton	51	33.1	16.1	2.6	10.8	13.4	4.3	1.0	1.6	-	2.8	6.8	14.4	.471	-	-	-	2.6	4.5	.583
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Bill Walton played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Bill Walton
Season	2022-23	1976-77
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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:	+29	+0.4	+4.7	+2.0	+5.8	+8.0	+4.6	+0.3	+2.9		-0.6	+0.6	+5.7	+.117				+0.7	+1.6	+.139
Bill Walton	65	34.8	18.6	3.2	11.1	14.4	3.8	1.0	3.2	-	2.7	7.6	14.3	.528	-	-	-	3.5	5.0	.697
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Walton	19	39.7	18.2	2.9	12.2	15.2	5.5	1.1	3.4	-	4.2	8.1	15.9	.507	-	-	-	2.1	3.0	.684

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Bill Walton
Season	2023-24	1977-78
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West 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		%
LaMelo Ball	22	32.3	23.9	1.3	3.8	5.1	8.0	1.8	0.2	3.8	3.6	8.3	19.2	.433	3.2	9.0	.355	4.1	4.7	.865
difference:	+36	+1.0	+5.0	+0.7	+7.4	+8.1	+3.0	+0.8	+2.3	-0.2	-1.1	+0.4	+4.0	+.089				+1.0	+0.5	+.145
Bill Walton	58	33.3	18.9	2.0	11.2	13.2	5.0	1.0	2.5	3.6	2.5	7.9	15.2	.522	-	-	-	3.1	4.2	.720
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Walton	2	24.5	13.5	2.5	8.5	11.0	2.0	1.5	1.5	3.0	0.5	5.5	9.0	.611	-	-	-	2.5	3.5	.714

Note: Bill Walton didn't play in 1978-79.

Additional Years
* Bill Walton played 5 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 10, from 1983 to 1987—Bill Walton played in two Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 5 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Bill Walton got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Sixth Man of the Year