LaMelo Ball vs. Bob Cousy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Cousy 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 6 years in the NBA, 8 less than Bob Cousy, who played 14. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Bob Cousy had his rookie season in 1950-51. 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	Bob Cousy
Season	2020-21	1950-51
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
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:	+18		+0.1			+1.0	+1.2					+0.1	+3.3	+.084				+1.5	+2.1	+.002
Bob Cousy	69	-	15.6	-	-	6.9	4.9	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	16.5	.352	-	-	-	4.0	5.3	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	2	-	14.0	-	-	7.5	6.0	-	-	-	4.0	4.5	21.0	.214	-	-	-	5.0	6.0	.833

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Bob Cousy
Season	2021-22	1951-52
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
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:	+9	+8.3	+1.6			+0.3	+0.9				-0.3	+0.6	+4.3	+.060				+3.4	+4.5	+.064
Bob Cousy	66	40.6	21.7	-	-	6.4	6.7	-	-	-	2.9	7.8	21.0	.369	-	-	-	6.2	7.7	.808
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	3	46.0	31.0	-	-	4.0	6.3	-	-	-	4.3	8.7	21.7	.400	-	-	-	13.7	14.7	.932

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Bob Cousy
Season	2022-23	1952-53
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div Finals

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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:	+35	+6.3	+3.5			+0.1	+0.7				-0.1	+1.7	+1.4	+.059				+3.9	+4.9	+.020
Bob Cousy	71	41.5	19.8	-	-	6.3	7.7	-	-	-	3.2	6.5	18.6	.352	-	-	-	6.7	8.3	.816
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	6	45.0	25.5	-	-	4.2	6.2	-	-	-	3.5	7.7	20.0	.383	-	-	-	10.2	12.2	.836

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Bob Cousy
Season	2023-24	1953-54
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div Finals

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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:	+50	+7.4	+4.7			+0.4	+0.8				-0.8	+1.5	+1.7	+.048				+1.6	+2.6	+.078
Bob Cousy	72	39.7	19.2	-	-	5.5	7.2	-	-	-	2.8	6.8	17.5	.385	-	-	-	5.7	7.3	.787
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	6	43.3	21.0	-	-	5.3	6.3	-	-	-	3.3	5.5	19.3	.284	-	-	-	10.0	12.5	.800

Season 5
	LaMelo Ball	Bob Cousy
Season	2024-25	1954-55
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div Finals

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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:	+24	+6.7	+4.0			+1.1	+0.4				-1.0	+1.2	+2.8	+.008				+2.4	+3.1	+.036
Bob Cousy	71	38.7	21.2	-	-	6.0	7.8	-	-	-	2.3	7.4	18.5	.397	-	-	-	6.5	8.0	.807
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	7	42.7	21.7	-	-	6.1	9.3	-	-	-	3.7	7.6	19.9	.381	-	-	-	6.6	6.9	.958

Season 6
	LaMelo Ball	Bob Cousy
Season	2025-26	1955-56
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div Semis

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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		%
LaMelo Ball	4	32.5	26.3	1.8	6.5	8.3	9.5	1.8	0.3	4.0	3.8	8.5	19.0	.447	4.3	10.8	.395	5.0	6.3	.800
difference:	+68	+5.9	+7.5			+1.5	+0.6				-0.9	+2.4	+2.0	+.087				+1.6	+1.5	+.044
Bob Cousy	72	38.4	18.8	-	-	6.8	8.9	-	-	-	2.9	6.1	17.0	.360	-	-	-	6.6	7.8	.844
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Cousy	3	41.3	26.3	-	-	8.0	8.7	-	-	-	1.3	9.3	18.7	.500	-	-	-	7.7	8.3	.920

Additional Years
* Bob Cousy played 8 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 14, from 1957 to 1970—Bob Cousy played in 7 Playoffs and won 6 NBA Championships. In those 8 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Bob Cousy got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 5 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 4 Assists Leader 7 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP