LeBron James vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum 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, 14 more than Jayson Tatum, who played 8. LeBron James had the first of his seasons in 2003-04, while Jayson Tatum 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	Jayson Tatum
Season	2003-04	2017-18
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+1	+9.0	+7.0	+0.7	+0.2	+0.5	+4.3	+0.6		-2.1	-0.2	+2.9	+8.5	+.058	+0.5	+0.3	+.144	+1.7	+2.6	+.072
Jayson Tatum	80	30.5	13.9	0.6	4.4	5.0	1.6	1.0	0.7	1.4	2.1	5.0	10.4	.475	1.3	3.0	.434	2.7	3.2	.826
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jayson Tatum	19	35.9	18.5	0.5	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.5	2.2	2.6	6.5	13.7	.471	1.2	3.7	.324	4.3	5.1	.845

Season 2
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2004-05	2018-19
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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	+11.3	+11.5	+0.5	+0.8	+1.4	+5.1	+1.1		-1.8	-0.3	+4.0	+8.0	+.022	+0.1		+.022	+3.5	+5.1	+.105
Jayson Tatum	79	31.1	15.7	0.9	5.2	6.0	2.1	1.1	0.7	1.5	2.1	5.9	13.1	.450	1.5	3.9	.373	2.5	2.9	.855
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jayson Tatum	9	32.8	15.2	0.8	5.9	6.7	1.9	1.1	0.8	2.0	2.3	5.4	12.4	.438	1.1	3.4	.323	3.2	4.3	.744

Season 3
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2005-06	2019-20
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+13	+8.2	+8.0	+0.1	+0.1		+3.6	+0.2	+0.1	-1.0	-0.2	+2.7	+4.5	+.030	+1.3	+2.3	+.068	+3.8	+5.6	+.074
Jayson Tatum	66	34.3	23.4	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.0	1.4	0.9	2.3	2.1	8.4	18.6	.450	2.9	7.1	.403	3.8	4.7	.812
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
difference:	+4	+5.9	+5.1	+0.4	+2.3	+1.9	+0.8	+0.4	+0.5	-2.2	-1.0	+2.7	+4.0	+.042	+1.2	+2.6	+.040	+0.8	+1.9	+.076
Jayson Tatum	17	40.6	25.7	1.3	8.7	10.0	5.0	1.0	1.2	2.8	2.4	8.5	19.6	.434	2.8	7.4	.373	5.9	7.2	.813

Season 4
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2006-07	2020-21
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+14	+5.1	+0.9	+0.3	+0.9	+0.7	+1.7	+0.4	+0.2	-0.5	-0.3	+0.4	+0.2	+.017	+1.6	+3.6	+.067	+1.7	+3.7	+.170
Jayson Tatum	64	35.8	26.4	0.8	6.6	7.4	4.3	1.2	0.5	2.7	1.9	9.5	20.6	.459	2.9	7.6	.386	4.6	5.3	.868
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:	+15	+7.7	+5.5	+0.7	+1.6	+2.3	+3.4	+0.5	+1.1	-0.7	-1.0	+1.1	+2.2	+.007	+1.7	+3.4	+.109	+1.6		+.163
Jayson Tatum	5	37.0	30.6	0.6	5.2	5.8	4.6	1.2	1.6	2.6	3.0	9.4	22.2	.423	2.8	7.2	.389	9.0	9.8	.918

Season 5
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2007-08	2021-22
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+1	+4.5	+3.1	+0.7	+0.8	+0.1	+2.8	+0.8	+0.5	-0.5	-0.1	+1.3	+1.3	+.031	+1.5	+3.8	+.038	+2.0	+4.1	+.141
Jayson Tatum	76	35.9	26.9	1.1	6.9	8.0	4.4	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.3	9.3	20.6	.453	3.0	8.6	.353	5.3	6.2	.853
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
difference:	+11	+1.5	+2.6	+0.2	+0.9	+1.1	+1.4	+0.6	+0.4		-0.5	+0.3	+1.5	+.015	+1.8	+2.8	+.136	+3.7	+5.7	+.069
Jayson Tatum	24	41.0	25.6	1.0	5.7	6.7	6.2	1.2	0.9	4.2	3.0	8.4	19.7	.426	3.2	8.2	.393	5.7	7.1	.800

Season 6
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2008-09	2022-23
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+7	+0.8	+1.7	+0.2	+1.4	+1.2	+2.6	+0.6	+0.4	-0.1	-0.5	+0.1	+1.2	+.023	+1.6	+4.6	+.006	+0.1	+1.0	+.074
Jayson Tatum	74	36.9	30.1	1.1	7.7	8.8	4.6	1.1	0.7	2.9	2.2	9.8	21.1	.466	3.2	9.3	.350	7.2	8.4	.854
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
difference:	+6	+1.4	+8.1	+0.1	+1.4	+1.4	+2.0	+0.5	+0.2	-0.1	-0.1	+2.1	+2.1	+.052	+0.8	+2.4	+.010	+4.6	+7.3	+.127
Jayson Tatum	20	40.0	27.2	1.3	9.2	10.5	5.3	1.1	1.1	2.8	2.2	9.3	20.2	.458	2.7	8.2	.323	6.0	6.9	.876

Season 7
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2009-10	2023-24
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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:	+2	+3.3	+2.8		+0.8	+0.8	+3.7	+0.6	+0.4	-0.9	-0.4	+1.0	+0.8	+.032	+1.4	+3.1	+.043	+2.2	+3.5	+.066
Jayson Tatum	74	35.7	26.9	0.9	7.2	8.1	4.9	1.0	0.6	2.5	2.0	9.1	19.3	.471	3.1	8.2	.376	5.6	6.7	.833
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:	+8	+1.4	+4.1	+0.5	+0.9	+0.4	+1.3	+0.6	+1.1	-1.2	-0.7	+1.2	+0.4	+.075	+0.3	+2.8	+.117	+1.8	+3.7	+.128
Jayson Tatum	19	40.4	25.0	0.9	8.8	9.7	6.3	1.1	0.7	2.6	2.8	8.4	19.6	.427	2.1	7.3	.283	6.2	7.2	.861

Season 8
	LeBron James	Jayson Tatum
Season	2010-11	2024-25
Team	Miami Heat	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Heat Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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8th 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	38.8	26.7	1.0	6.5	7.5	7.0	1.6	0.6	3.6	2.1	9.6	18.8	.510	1.2	3.5	.330	6.4	8.4	.759
difference:	+7	+2.4	+0.1	+0.3	+1.5	+1.2	+1.0	+0.5	+0.1	-0.7	-0.1	+0.4	+1.5	+.058	+2.3	+6.6	+.013	+1.4	+2.3	+.055
Jayson Tatum	72	36.4	26.8	0.7	8.0	8.7	6.0	1.1	0.5	2.9	2.2	9.2	20.3	.452	3.5	10.1	.343	5.0	6.1	.814
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	21	43.9	23.7	1.6	6.8	8.4	5.9	1.7	1.2	3.1	2.7	8.3	17.8	.466	1.4	4.0	.353	5.7	7.4	.763
difference:	+13	+3.6	+4.4	+0.5	+3.6	+3.1	+0.5	+0.4	+0.4	-0.2	-0.1	+1.0	+4.1	+.043	+2.2	+5.8	+.019	+0.3	+0.6	+.126
Jayson Tatum	8	40.3	28.1	1.1	10.4	11.5	5.4	2.1	0.8	3.3	2.6	9.3	21.9	.423	3.6	9.8	.372	6.0	6.8	.889

Additional Years
* LeBron James played 14 seasons more than Jayson Tatum in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 22, from 2012 to 2025—LeBron James played in 12 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships and one NBA Cup. In those 14 extra years over Jayson Tatum, LeBron James got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 8 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 4 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Assists Leader 1 Cup MVP 1 Cup All-Tournament Team 14 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP