LaMelo Ball vs. Chris Paul Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Chris Paul 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, 15 less than Chris Paul, who played 20. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Chris Paul had his rookie season in 2005-06. 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	Chris Paul
Season	2020-21	2005-06
Team	Charlotte Hornets	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	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:	+27	+7.2	+0.4	+0.4	+0.4	+0.8	+1.7	+0.6	+0.3	-0.5	-0.1	+0.5	+1.1	+.006	+1.2	+2.8	+.070	+2.6	+2.8	+.089
Chris Paul	78	36.0	16.1	0.8	4.3	5.1	7.8	2.2	0.1	2.3	2.8	5.2	12.1	.430	0.6	2.3	.282	5.1	6.0	.847
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Chris Paul played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Chris Paul
Season	2021-22	2006-07
Team	Charlotte Hornets	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
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:	+11	+4.5	+2.8	+0.6	+1.7	+2.3	+1.3	+0.2	+0.4	-0.8	-0.8	+1.2	+3.1	+.008	+2.1	+5.3	+.039	+1.8	+2.4	+.054
Chris Paul	64	36.8	17.3	0.8	3.5	4.4	8.9	1.8	0.0	2.5	2.4	6.0	13.6	.437	0.8	2.2	.350	4.6	5.6	.818
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Chris Paul played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Chris Paul
Season	2022-23	2007-08
Team	Charlotte Hornets	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hornets Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+44	+2.4	+2.2	+0.4	+2.1	+2.4	+3.2	+1.4	+0.2	-1.1	-1.0	+0.3	+3.9	+.077	+2.8	+7.5	+.007	+1.4	+1.5	+.015
Chris Paul	80	37.6	21.1	0.8	3.2	4.0	11.6	2.7	0.1	2.5	2.3	7.9	16.1	.488	1.2	3.1	.369	4.2	4.9	.851
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chris Paul	12	40.5	24.1	1.3	3.6	4.9	11.3	2.3	0.2	1.8	3.6	9.3	18.4	.502	0.4	1.8	.238	5.2	6.6	.785

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Chris Paul
Season	2023-24	2008-09
Team	Charlotte Hornets	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hornets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+56	+6.2	+1.1	+0.4	+0.9	+0.4	+3.0	+1.0	+0.1	-0.8	-0.9	+0.2	+3.1	+.070	+2.4	+6.7	+.009	+1.7	+2.0	+.003
Chris Paul	78	38.5	22.8	0.9	4.7	5.5	11.0	2.8	0.1	3.0	2.7	8.1	16.1	.503	0.8	2.3	.364	5.8	6.7	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chris Paul	5	40.2	16.6	0.8	3.6	4.4	10.4	1.6	0.0	4.8	1.6	6.0	14.6	.411	1.0	3.2	.313	3.6	4.2	.857

Season 5
	LaMelo Ball	Chris Paul
Season	2024-25	2009-10
Team	Charlotte Hornets	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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:	+2	+6.0	+6.5	+0.6	+0.1	+0.7	+3.3	+1.0	+0.1	-1.1	-0.7	+1.6	+7.1	+.088	+2.6	+8.4	+.070	+0.5	+0.7	+.004
Chris Paul	45	38.0	18.7	0.4	3.8	4.2	10.7	2.1	0.2	2.5	2.6	7.0	14.2	.493	1.2	2.8	.409	3.6	4.2	.847
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Chris Paul played in the postseason in their season 5

Additional Years
* Chris Paul played 15 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 20, from 2011 to 2025—Chris Paul played in 13 Playoffs. In those 15 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Chris Paul got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-NBA First Team 4 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 6 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 3 Assists Leader 4 Steals Leader 9 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP