LeBron James vs. Ben Simmons Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Simmons and LeBron James, 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.

LeBron James played 22 years in the NBA, 15 more than Ben Simmons, who played 7. LeBron James had the first of his seasons in 2003-04, while Ben Simmons had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2003-04	2017-18
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
LeBron James	79	39.5	20.9	1.3	4.2	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.7	3.5	1.9	7.9	18.9	.417	0.8	2.7	.290	4.4	5.8	.754
difference:	+2	+5.8	+5.1	+0.5	+2.1	+2.6	+2.3	+0.1	+0.2	-0.1	-0.7	+1.2	+6.6	+.128	+0.8	+2.6	+.290	+2.0	+1.6	+.194
Ben Simmons	81	33.7	15.8	1.8	6.3	8.1	8.2	1.7	0.9	3.4	2.6	6.7	12.3	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	4.2	.560
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	10	36.9	16.3	1.6	7.8	9.4	7.7	1.7	0.8	4.4	3.4	6.1	12.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 2
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2004-05	2018-19
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
LeBron James	80	42.4	27.2	1.4	6.0	7.4	7.2	2.2	0.7	3.3	1.8	9.9	21.1	.472	1.4	3.9	.351	6.0	8.0	.750
difference:	+1	+8.2	+10.3	+0.8	+0.6	+1.4	+0.5	+0.8	+0.1	-0.2	-0.8	+3.1	+8.9	+.091	+1.4	+3.8	+.351	+2.7	+2.6	+.150
Ben Simmons	79	34.2	16.9	2.2	6.6	8.8	7.7	1.4	0.8	3.5	2.6	6.8	12.2	.563	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.600
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	12	35.1	13.9	1.9	5.1	7.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	2.7	3.8	6.0	9.7	.621	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.575

Season 3
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2005-06	2019-20
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
LeBron James	79	42.5	31.4	0.9	6.1	7.0	6.6	1.6	0.8	3.3	2.3	11.1	23.1	.480	1.6	4.8	.335	7.6	10.3	.738
difference:	+22	+7.1	+15.0	+1.1	+0.3	+0.8	+1.4	+0.5	+0.2	-0.2	-1.0	+4.5	+11.7	+.100	+1.6	+4.7	+.049	+4.4	+5.1	+.117
Ben Simmons	57	35.4	16.4	2.0	5.8	7.8	8.0	2.1	0.6	3.5	3.3	6.6	11.4	.580	0.0	0.1	.286	3.2	5.2	.621
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	13	46.5	30.8	1.7	6.4	8.1	5.8	1.4	0.7	5.0	3.4	11.2	23.6	.476	1.6	4.8	.333	6.7	9.1	.737
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2006-07	2020-21
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
LeBron James	78	40.9	27.3	1.1	5.7	6.7	6.0	1.6	0.7	3.2	2.2	9.9	20.8	.476	1.3	4.0	.319	6.3	9.0	.698
difference:	+20	+8.5	+13.0	+0.5	+0.1	+0.5	+0.9		+0.1	-0.2	-0.7	+4.3	+10.7	+.081	+1.2	+3.8	+.019	+3.3	+4.1	+.085
Ben Simmons	58	32.4	14.3	1.6	5.6	7.2	6.9	1.6	0.6	3.0	2.9	5.6	10.1	.557	0.1	0.2	.300	3.0	4.9	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	20	44.7	25.1	1.3	6.8	8.1	8.0	1.7	0.5	3.3	2.0	8.3	20.0	.416	1.1	3.8	.280	7.4	9.8	.755
difference:	+8	+11.2	+13.2	+0.8	+1.0	+0.2	+0.8	+0.4	+0.3	-1.0	-1.3	+3.4	+12.1	+.205	+1.1	+3.7	+.280	+5.3	+3.7	+.413
Ben Simmons	12	33.5	11.9	2.1	5.8	7.9	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.3	4.9	7.9	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	6.1	.342

Note: Ben Simmons didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 5
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2007-08	2022-23
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
LeBron James	75	40.4	30.0	1.8	6.1	7.9	7.2	1.8	1.1	3.4	2.2	10.6	21.9	.484	1.5	4.8	.315	7.3	10.3	.712
difference:	+33	+14.1	+23.1	+0.8	+0.8	+1.6	+1.1	+0.5	+0.5	-1.1	-1.1	+7.4	+16.3	+.082	+1.5	+4.8		+6.7	+8.9	+.273
Ben Simmons	42	26.3	6.9	1.0	5.3	6.3	6.1	1.3	0.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	5.6	.566	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.4	.439
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	13	42.5	28.2	1.2	6.6	7.8	7.6	1.8	1.3	4.2	2.5	8.7	21.2	.411	1.4	5.4	.257	9.4	12.8	.731
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2008-09	2023-24
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
LeBron James	81	37.7	28.4	1.3	6.3	7.6	7.2	1.7	1.1	3.0	1.7	9.7	19.9	.489	1.6	4.7	.344	7.3	9.4	.780
difference:	+66	+13.8	+22.3	+0.8	+0.4	+0.3	+1.5	+0.9	+0.5	-1.2	-0.7	+6.8	+15.0	+.092	+1.6	+4.7		+6.9	+8.4	+.380
Ben Simmons	15	23.9	6.1	2.1	5.9	7.9	5.7	0.8	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.9	4.9	.581	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	1.0	.400
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	14	41.4	35.3	1.4	7.8	9.1	7.3	1.6	0.9	2.7	2.1	11.4	22.3	.510	1.9	5.8	.333	10.6	14.2	.749
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	LeBron James	Ben Simmons
Season	2009-10	2024-25
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	76	39.0	29.7	0.9	6.4	7.3	8.6	1.6	1.0	3.4	1.6	10.1	20.1	.503	1.7	5.1	.333	7.8	10.2	.767
difference:	+25	+17.0	+24.7		+2.6	+2.6	+3.0	+0.9	+0.5	-1.4	-0.5	+7.8	+15.7	+.017	+1.7	+5.1		+7.3	+9.6	+.040
Ben Simmons	51	22.0	5.0	0.9	3.8	4.7	5.6	0.7	0.5	2.0	2.1	2.3	4.4	.520	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.6	.727
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	11	41.8	29.1	1.4	7.9	9.3	7.6	1.7	1.8	3.8	2.1	9.6	19.2	.502	1.8	4.5	.400	8.0	10.9	.733
difference:	+6	+33.4	+28.3	+0.8	+7.1	+7.9	+6.8	+1.5	+1.0	-3.4	-0.1	+9.2	+18.0	+.169	+1.8	+4.5		+8.0	+10.9
Ben Simmons	5	8.4	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.2	0.4	1.2	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Additional Years
* LeBron James played 15 seasons more than Ben Simmons in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 22, from 2011 to 2025—LeBron James played in 13 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships and one NBA Cup. In those 15 extra years over Ben Simmons, LeBron James got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 9 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 4 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Assists Leader 1 Cup MVP 1 Cup All-Tournament Team 15 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP