LaMelo Ball vs. Jamaal Wilkes Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jamaal Wilkes 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, 6 less than Jamaal Wilkes, who played 12. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Jamaal Wilkes 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	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	2020-21	1974-75
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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	+1.9	+1.5	+1.3	+1.0	+2.3	+3.9	+0.3	+0.1			+0.4	+0.6	+.006				+0.5	+0.5	+.024
Jamaal Wilkes	82	30.7	14.2	2.5	5.7	8.2	2.2	1.3	0.3	-	2.7	6.1	13.8	.442	-	-	-	2.0	2.7	.734
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jamaal Wilkes	17	29.6	15.0	1.8	5.2	7.0	1.6	1.5	0.8	-	3.1	6.5	14.6	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.8	.702

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	2021-22	1975-76
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals

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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	+0.8	+2.3	+1.0	+1.2	+2.1	+5.6	+0.4			-0.5	+0.3	+0.4	+.034					+0.4	+.100
Jamaal Wilkes	82	33.1	17.8	2.4	6.4	8.8	2.0	1.2	0.4	-	2.7	7.5	16.3	.463	-	-	-	2.8	3.6	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jamaal Wilkes	13	34.6	15.9	1.9	6.0	7.9	2.2	0.9	0.6	-	2.5	6.6	15.4	.430	-	-	-	2.7	3.5	.778

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	2022-23	1976-77
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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:	+40	+1.3	+5.6	+0.8	+0.3	+1.2	+5.6	+0.4	+0.1		-0.4	+1.0	+4.9	+.067				+0.5	+0.7	+.039
Jamaal Wilkes	76	33.9	17.7	2.0	5.6	7.6	2.8	1.7	0.2	-	2.9	7.2	15.1	.478	-	-	-	3.3	4.1	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jamaal Wilkes	10	34.6	15.5	1.8	6.2	8.0	1.6	1.6	0.6	-	2.3	6.6	15.4	.429	-	-	-	2.3	2.8	.821

Season 6
	LaMelo Ball	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	2025-26	1979-80
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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	8	31.9	22.0	1.3	5.6	6.9	9.6	1.4	0.1	3.4	3.3	7.5	18.5	.405	2.9	9.1	.315	4.1	4.9	.846
difference:	+74	+6.0	+2.0	+0.8	+1.3	+0.5	+6.6	+0.2	+0.2	-1.5	-0.6	+1.4	+1.9	+.130	+2.9	+8.9	+.139	+1.8	+2.0	+.038
Jamaal Wilkes	82	37.9	20.0	2.1	4.3	6.4	3.0	1.6	0.3	1.9	2.7	8.9	16.6	.535	0.0	0.2	.176	2.3	2.9	.808
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jamaal Wilkes	16	40.8	20.3	3.3	4.7	8.0	3.0	1.5	0.3	2.2	3.2	8.8	18.4	.476	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	3.4	.815

Additional Years
* Jamaal Wilkes played 6 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 12, from 1981 to 1986—Jamaal Wilkes played in 4 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 6 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Jamaal Wilkes got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-Star Game