LaMelo Ball vs. Steve Francis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Steve Francis 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, 4 less than Steve Francis, who played 9. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Steve Francis had his rookie season in 1999-00. 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	Steve Francis
Season	2020-21	1999-00
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
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:	+26	+7.3	+2.3	+0.8	+1.4	+0.6	+0.5	+0.1		-1.2	-0.3	+0.8	+1.3	+.009	+0.4	+1.1	+.007	+1.2	+1.5	+.028
Steve Francis	77	36.1	18.0	2.0	3.3	5.3	6.6	1.5	0.4	4.0	3.0	6.5	14.5	.445	1.4	4.0	.345	3.7	4.7	.786
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Steve Francis played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Steve Francis
Season	2021-22	2000-01
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
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:	+5	+7.6	+0.2	+1.0	+0.7	+0.2	+1.1	+0.2			-0.2	+0.3	+1.5	+.022	+1.2	+3.3	+.007	+1.7	+2.3	+.055
Steve Francis	80	39.9	19.9	2.4	4.5	6.9	6.5	1.8	0.4	3.3	3.4	6.9	15.2	.451	1.7	4.2	.396	4.5	5.5	.817
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Steve Francis played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Steve Francis
Season	2022-23	2001-02
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+21	+5.9	+1.7	+0.6	+0.1	+0.6	+2.0	+0.1	+0.1	-0.3	-0.3	+0.8	+2.3	+.006	+2.8	+6.9	+.052	+2.9	+4.0	+.063
Steve Francis	57	41.1	21.6	1.8	5.2	7.0	6.4	1.2	0.4	3.9	3.0	7.4	17.7	.417	1.2	3.7	.324	5.7	7.4	.773
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Steve Francis played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Steve Francis
Season	2023-24	2002-03
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+59	+8.7	+2.9	+0.7	+0.4	+1.1	+1.8	+0.1	+0.3	-0.1	-0.5	+1.3	+3.0	+.002	+2.2	+6.0	+.001	+1.8	+2.6	+.065
Steve Francis	81	41.0	21.0	2.0	4.2	6.2	6.2	1.7	0.5	3.7	3.1	7.0	16.2	.435	1.0	3.0	.354	5.9	7.3	.800
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LaMelo Ball nor Steve Francis played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	LaMelo Ball	Steve Francis
Season	2024-25	2003-04
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+32	+8.4	+8.6	+0.5	+0.1	+0.6	+1.2	+0.7	+0.1	-0.1		+2.9	+7.2	+.002	+2.9	+8.0	+.047	+0.2	+0.6	+.068
Steve Francis	79	40.4	16.6	1.5	4.0	5.5	6.2	1.8	0.4	3.7	3.3	5.7	14.1	.403	0.9	3.2	.292	4.3	5.5	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Francis	5	44.6	19.2	1.2	7.2	8.4	7.6	1.4	0.2	4.2	3.6	6.0	14.0	.429	1.4	3.4	.412	5.8	8.0	.725