Lonzo Ball vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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, 6 less than James Worthy, who played 12. Lonzo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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	James Worthy
Season	2017-18	1982-83
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
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:	+25	+8.6	+3.2	+0.7	+2.5	+1.7	+5.5	+0.5		-0.3	-0.6	+1.9	+0.8	+.219	+1.7	+5.6	+.055	+1.2	+1.5	+.173
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Lonzo Ball nor James Worthy played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Lonzo Ball	James Worthy
Season	2019-20	1984-85
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+17	+1.6	+5.8	+1.0	+0.7	+0.3	+4.5	+0.3	+0.2	-0.6	-0.5	+3.2	+2.4	+.169	+2.3	+6.2	+.375	+1.7	+1.9	+.210
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676

Season 4
	Lonzo Ball	James Worthy
Season	2020-21	1985-86
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+20	+0.9	+5.4	+1.2	+0.9	+0.4	+3.0	+0.4	+0.4	-0.2	-0.7	+3.1	+1.8	+.165	+3.1	+8.1	+.378	+2.3	+3.0	+.010
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681

Season 5
	Lonzo Ball	James Worthy
Season	2021-22	1986-87
Team	Chicago Bulls	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+47	+0.2	+6.4	+0.9	+0.6	+0.3	+2.3	+0.5	+0.1	-0.3	-0.1	+3.3	+3.8	+.116	+3.1	+7.2	+.423	+3.0	+3.9	+.001
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753

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

Season 6
	Lonzo Ball	James Worthy
Season	2024-25	1987-88
Team	Chicago Bulls	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Lonzo Ball	35	22.2	7.6	0.7	2.7	3.4	3.3	1.3	0.5	1.2	1.6	2.5	6.9	.366	1.9	5.6	.344	0.6	0.8	.815
difference:	+40	+13.2	+12.1	+1.0	+0.6	+1.6	+0.6	+0.3	+0.2	-0.9	-0.7	+5.7	+8.6	+.165	+1.9	+5.4	+.219	+2.6	+3.3	+.019
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758

Additional Years
* James Worthy played 6 seasons more than Lonzo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 12, from 1989 to 1994—James Worthy played in 4 Playoffs. In those 6 extra years over Lonzo Ball, James Worthy got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game