Lonzo Ball vs. Bob Lanier Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Lanier and Lonzo 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.

Lonzo Ball played 6 years in the NBA, 8 less than Bob Lanier, who played 14. Lonzo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Bob Lanier had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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
	Lonzo Ball	Bob Lanier
Season	2017-18	1970-71
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second 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		%
Lonzo Ball	52	34.2	10.2	1.3	5.6	6.9	7.2	1.7	0.8	2.6	2.3	3.9	10.8	.360	1.7	5.7	.305	0.6	1.4	.451
difference:	+30	+9.6	+5.4			+1.2	+5.4				-1.0	+2.2	+2.7	+.095				+2.7	+3.2	+.275
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Lonzo Ball nor Bob Lanier played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Lonzo Ball	Bob Lanier
Season	2018-19	1971-72
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Lonzo Ball	47	30.3	9.9	1.1	4.2	5.3	5.4	1.5	0.4	2.2	2.4	3.9	9.7	.406	1.6	4.9	.329	0.4	1.0	.417
difference:	+33	+8.4	+15.8			+8.9	+2.3				-1.3	+6.5	+11.4	+.087				+4.5	+5.3	+.351
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Lonzo Ball nor Bob Lanier played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	Lonzo Ball	Bob Lanier
Season	2019-20	1972-73
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Lonzo Ball	63	32.1	11.8	1.1	5.0	6.1	7.0	1.4	0.6	3.1	2.0	4.4	10.9	.403	2.3	6.3	.375	0.7	1.2	.566
difference:	+18	+6.8	+12.0			+8.8	+3.8				-1.4	+5.6	+9.5	+.087				+3.1	+3.7	+.207
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Lonzo Ball nor Bob Lanier played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 4
	Lonzo Ball	Bob Lanier
Season	2020-21	1973-74
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost West 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		%
Lonzo Ball	55	31.8	14.6	0.6	4.2	4.8	5.7	1.5	0.6	2.2	1.9	5.3	12.7	.414	3.1	8.3	.378	0.9	1.2	.781
difference:	+26	+5.8	+7.9	+2.7	+5.7	+8.5	+1.5	+0.1	+2.4		-1.5	+3.9	+5.6	+.090				+3.1	+3.8	+.016
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789

Season 5
	Lonzo Ball	Bob Lanier
Season	2021-22	1974-75
Team	Chicago Bulls	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Lonzo Ball	35	34.6	13.0	1.0	4.4	5.4	5.1	1.8	0.9	2.3	2.4	4.6	10.9	.423	3.1	7.4	.423	0.6	0.8	.750
difference:	+41	+4.7	+11.0	+2.0	+4.7	+6.6	+0.5	+0.8	+1.4		-0.7	+5.0	+8.0	+.087				+4.2	+5.1	+.052
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750

Note: Lonzo Ball didn't play in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Additional Years
* Bob Lanier played 8 seasons more than Lonzo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 14, from 1977 to 1984—Bob Lanier played in 6 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Lonzo Ball, Bob Lanier got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 All-Star Game