LaMelo Ball vs. Karl-Anthony Towns Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl-Anthony Towns 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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, 5 less than Karl-Anthony Towns, who played 11. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Karl-Anthony Towns had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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.

Their Careers

Player		 Total Seasons Playoffs Played NBA Years
LaMelo Ball 6 0 2020-21 to 2025-26
Karl-Anthony Towns 11 5 2015-16 to 2025-26

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:

1-2-3-4-5-6

Rookie Season
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2020-212015-16
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards Achievement Rookie of the YearAchievement Rookie of the Year
Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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+3.2+2.6+1.6+3.0+4.6+4.1+0.9+1.3-0.6-0.3+1.9+0.9+.106+1.4+4.0+.011+0.2+0.2+.053
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 32.0 18.3 2.8 7.7 10.5 2.0 0.7 1.7 2.2 3.0 7.6 14.1 .542 0.4 1.1 .341 2.7 3.4 .811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Karl-Anthony Towns played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2021-222016-17
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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+4.7+5.0+2.2+3.5+5.6+4.9+0.9+0.9-0.7-0.3+2.6+1.3+.113+1.7+4.1+.022+1.5+2.0+.040
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 37.0 25.1 3.6 8.7 12.3 2.7 0.7 1.3 2.6 2.9 9.8 18.0 .542 1.2 3.4 .367 4.3 5.2 .832
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Karl-Anthony Towns played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2022-232017-18
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Third Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayTimberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+46+0.4+2.0+1.7+4.1+5.9+6.0+0.5+1.1-1.7-0.2+0.4+5.7+.134+2.5+7.1+.045+1.4+1.5+.022
Karl-Anthony Towns 82 35.6 21.3 2.9 9.4 12.3 2.4 0.8 1.4 1.9 3.5 7.8 14.3 .545 1.5 3.5 .421 4.2 4.9 .858
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
LaMelo Ball DNP------ --- ----------
Karl-Anthony Towns 5 34.0 15.2 3.0 10.4 13.4 2.2 0.4 1.0 2.4 2.8 5.6 12.0 .467 0.6 2.2 .273 3.4 4.6 .739

Season 4
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2023-242018-19
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+55+0.8+0.5+2.1+5.2+7.3+4.6+0.9+1.4-0.7-0.2+0.5+2.1+.085+1.4+4.4+.045+0.8+1.1+.029
Karl-Anthony Towns 77 33.1 24.4 3.4 9.0 12.4 3.4 0.9 1.6 3.1 3.8 8.8 17.1 .518 1.8 4.6 .400 4.9 5.8 .836
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Karl-Anthony Towns played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2024-252019-20
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+12+1.9+1.3+1.7+4.2+5.9+3.0+0.2+0.9-0.5+0.4+3.5+.103+0.5+3.3+.073+1.0+1.6+.047
Karl-Anthony Towns 35 33.9 26.5 2.7 8.1 10.8 4.4 0.9 1.2 3.1 3.3 9.0 17.8 .508 3.3 7.9 .412 5.1 6.5 .796
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Karl-Anthony Towns played in the postseason in their season 5

Season 6
LaMelo Ball Karl-Anthony Towns
Season 2025-262020-21
Team Charlotte HornetsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
LaMelo Ball 16 28.9 19.4 1.1 4.9 6.0 8.5 1.1 0.2 3.3 3.1 6.7 17.3 .386 2.4 8.6 .285 3.6 4.1 .877
difference:+34+4.9+5.4+1.6+3.0+4.6+4.0+0.3+0.9-0.1-0.6+1.8+0.2+.100+2.3+.102+1.7+2.1+.018
Karl-Anthony Towns 50 33.8 24.8 2.7 7.9 10.6 4.5 0.8 1.1 3.2 3.7 8.5 17.5 .486 2.4 6.3 .387 5.3 6.2 .859
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Karl-Anthony Towns played in the postseason in their season 6

Additional Years

* Karl-Anthony Towns played 5 seasons more than LaMelo Ball in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 7 to 11, from 2022 to 2026—Karl-Anthony Towns played in 4 Playoffs.

In those 5 extra years over LaMelo Ball, Karl-Anthony Towns got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 2 All-NBA Third Team
Achievement 3 All-Star Game
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