LaMelo Ball vs. Joe Dumars Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Dumars 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, 9 less than Joe Dumars, who played 14. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Joe Dumars had his rookie season in 1985-86. 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	Joe Dumars
Season	2020-21	1985-86
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East 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	+4.9	+6.3	+0.5	+4.0	+4.4	+1.3	+0.8	+0.3	-0.9	-0.3	+2.2	+5.9	+.045	+1.7	+4.9	+.039	+0.2	+0.3	+.040
Joe Dumars	82	23.9	9.4	0.7	0.7	1.5	4.8	0.8	0.1	1.9	2.4	3.5	7.3	.481	0.1	0.2	.313	2.3	2.9	.798
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Dumars	4	36.8	15.0	1.5	1.8	3.3	6.3	1.0	0.0	1.8	4.0	6.3	10.3	.610	0.0	0.0	-	2.5	3.8	.667

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Joe Dumars
Season	2021-22	1986-87
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East 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:	+4	+1.4	+8.3	+0.8	+3.7	+4.6	+3.1	+0.5	+0.3	-1.1	-0.7	+2.5	+7.2	+.064	+2.8	+7.2	+.020	+0.5	+0.1	+.124
Joe Dumars	79	30.9	11.8	0.6	1.5	2.1	4.5	1.1	0.1	2.2	2.5	4.7	9.5	.493	0.1	0.3	.409	2.3	3.1	.748
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Dumars	15	31.5	12.7	0.5	0.7	1.3	4.8	0.8	0.1	1.8	1.7	5.2	9.7	.538	0.1	0.2	.667	2.1	2.7	.780

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Joe Dumars
Season	2023-24	1988-89
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+47	+2.6	+6.7	+0.5	+2.1	+2.6	+2.3	+0.9	+0.1	-1.2	-2.1	+1.7	+6.1	+.072	+3.0	+8.6	+.128	+0.3	+0.3	+.015
Joe Dumars	69	34.9	17.2	0.8	1.7	2.5	5.7	0.9	0.1	2.6	1.5	6.6	13.1	.505	0.2	0.4	.483	3.8	4.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Dumars	17	36.5	17.6	0.6	1.9	2.6	5.6	0.7	0.1	1.8	1.8	6.2	13.7	.455	0.1	0.7	.083	5.1	5.9	.861

Season 5
	LaMelo Ball	Joe Dumars
Season	2024-25	1989-90
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+28	+2.4	+7.4	+0.2	+1.9	+2.1	+2.5	+0.3	+0.3	-1.7	-1.6	+1.8	+7.2	+.075	+3.5	+10.5	+.061	+0.1	+0.5	+.057
Joe Dumars	75	34.4	17.8	0.8	2.0	2.8	4.9	0.8	0.0	1.9	1.7	6.8	14.1	.480	0.3	0.7	.400	4.0	4.4	.900
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Dumars	20	37.7	18.2	0.9	1.3	2.2	4.8	1.1	0.0	2.7	1.9	6.5	14.2	.458	0.3	1.0	.263	5.0	5.7	.876

Additional Years
* Joe Dumars played 9 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 14, from 1991 to 1999—Joe Dumars played in 5 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Joe Dumars got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 5 All-Star Game