Larry Costello vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and Larry Costello, 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.

Larry Costello played 12 years in the NBA, 4 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Larry Costello had the first of his seasons in 1954-55, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
Rookie Season
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1954-55	2002-03
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	19	24.4	6.2	-	-	2.6	4.1	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	7.3	.331	-	-	-	1.4	1.7	.813
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	.500	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Larry Costello didn't play in 1955-56.

Season 2
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1956-57	2003-04
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	72	29.3	7.6	-	-	4.5	3.3	-	-	-	2.5	2.6	6.9	.374	-	-	-	2.4	3.1	.788
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	.000	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	2	8.0	3.0	-	-	2.5	1.0	-	-	-	1.5	1.5	4.0	.375	-	-	-	0.0	0.5	.000
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1957-58	2004-05
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	72	38.1	14.9	-	-	5.3	4.4	-	-	-	3.4	5.3	12.3	.426	-	-	-	4.4	5.3	.847
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	3	44.7	11.3	-	-	8.3	4.0	-	-	-	2.0	3.3	11.3	.294	-	-	-	4.7	4.7	1.000
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1958-59	2005-06
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	70	39.3	15.8	-	-	5.2	5.4	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	13.5	.437	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.802
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	.000	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	9	40.1	17.7	-	-	5.9	6.0	-	-	-	4.4	6.0	13.4	.446	-	-	-	5.7	6.8	.836
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1959-60	2006-07
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	71	34.8	14.0	-	-	5.5	6.3	-	-	-	3.3	5.2	11.6	.453	-	-	-	3.5	4.1	.862
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	.000	7.4	8.6	.862
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	3	40.7	16.7	-	-	4.7	6.7	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	15.7	.426	-	-	-	3.3	4.0	.833
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1960-61	2007-08
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	75	28.9	14.5	-	-	3.9	5.5	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	11.3	.482	-	-	-	3.6	4.5	.799
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	.000	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	8	33.6	16.4	-	-	4.4	6.5	-	-	-	4.9	5.3	12.9	.408	-	-	-	5.9	6.9	.855
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1961-62	2008-09
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	63	29.4	13.8	-	-	3.9	5.7	-	-	-	3.5	4.9	11.5	.427	-	-	-	3.9	4.7	.837
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	1.000	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	5	33.4	14.6	-	-	3.2	5.6	-	-	-	4.2	4.4	10.2	.431	-	-	-	5.8	6.6	.879
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1962-63	2010-11
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	78	26.5	11.0	-	-	3.0	4.3	-	-	-	3.4	3.7	8.5	.432	-	-	-	3.7	4.2	.881
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	5	26.8	10.2	-	-	0.8	4.6	-	-	-	5.4	3.2	7.4	.432	-	-	-	3.8	4.6	.826
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1964-65	-
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	64	30.7	13.5	-	-	2.6	4.3	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	10.9	.445	-	-	-	3.8	4.3	.877
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	10	20.7	5.5	-	-	1.2	2.0	-	-	-	4.3	2.2	5.3	.415	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.688
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Larry Costello didn't play in 1965-66.

Season 11
	Larry Costello	Yao Ming
Season	1966-67	-
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	49	19.9	7.8	-	-	2.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	2.7	6.0	.444	-	-	-	2.4	2.7	.902
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	2	12.5	8.5	-	-	2.0	1.5	-	-	-	1.0	3.0	4.0	.750	-	-	-	2.5	2.5	1.000
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-