Lonzo Ball vs. Sam Cassell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Sam Cassell 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Stats Rankings

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 7 years in the NBA, 8 less than Sam Cassell, who played 15. Lonzo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Sam Cassell had his rookie season in 1993-94. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Lonzo Ball	7	0	2017-18 to 2025-26
Sam Cassell	15	11	1993-94 to 2007-08

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7


Rookie Season
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2017-18	1993-94
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+14	+17.2	+3.5	+0.9	+3.9	+4.9	+4.3	+0.8	+0.7	-1.2	-0.2	+1.4	+4.9	+.058	+1.3	+4.4	+.010	+0.8	+0.2	+.390
Sam Cassell	66	17.0	6.7	0.4	1.7	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.1	1.4	2.1	2.5	5.9	.418	0.4	1.3	.295	1.4	1.6	.841

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	22	21.7	9.4	0.9	1.8	2.7	4.2	1.0	0.2	2.1	2.8	2.9	7.3	.394	0.8	2.0	.378	2.9	3.4	.865


Season 2
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2018-19	1994-95
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+35	+7.3	+0.4	+0.6	+2.1	+2.7	+0.5	+0.4	+0.2	-0.2	-0.1	+0.8	+2.5	+.021	+0.8	+2.6	+.001	+2.2	+2.1	+.426
Sam Cassell	82	23.0	9.5	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.9	1.1	0.2	2.0	2.5	3.1	7.2	.427	0.8	2.3	.330	2.6	3.1	.843

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	22	22.0	11.0	0.4	1.5	1.9	4.0	1.0	0.1	1.5	3.0	3.4	7.7	.438	1.1	2.7	.400	3.2	3.9	.835


Season 3
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2019-20	1995-96
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+2	+4.5	+2.7	+0.3	+2.8	+3.0	+2.4	+0.5	+0.5	-0.5	-0.7	+0.3	+0.1	+.036	+1.1	+2.9	+.027	+3.2	+3.5	+.259
Sam Cassell	61	27.6	14.5	0.8	2.2	3.1	4.6	0.9	0.1	2.6	2.7	4.7	10.8	.439	1.2	3.4	.348	3.9	4.7	.825

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	8	25.8	10.4	0.1	2.0	2.1	4.3	0.8	0.1	2.3	2.5	3.3	10.1	.321	1.0	3.6	.276	2.9	3.6	.793


Season 4
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2020-21	1996-97
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+6	+3.7	+1.3	+0.2	+2.0	+1.8	+0.7	+0.2	+0.3	-0.6	-1.4	+0.2	+0.1	+.016	+1.8	+4.5	+.027	+2.6	+2.9	+.064
Sam Cassell	61	28.1	15.9	0.8	2.2	3.0	5.0	1.3	0.3	2.8	3.3	5.5	12.8	.430	1.3	3.8	.351	3.5	4.1	.845

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Lonzo Ball nor Sam Cassell played in the postseason in their season 4


Season 5
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2021-22	1997-98
Team	Chicago Bulls	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nets Lost East 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:	+40	+0.1	+6.6		+2.3	+2.4	+2.9	+0.2	+0.6	-1.3	-1.1	+2.2	+4.5	+.018	+2.9	+6.3	+.235	+5.2	+6.0	+.110
Sam Cassell	75	34.7	19.6	1.0	2.1	3.0	8.0	1.6	0.3	3.6	3.5	6.8	15.4	.441	0.2	1.1	.188	5.8	6.8	.860

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	3	9.0	2.0	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.0	0.3	0.7	2.3	1.0	3.0	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

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


Season 6
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2024-25	1998-99
Team	Chicago Bulls	New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+27	+2.7	+8.3	+0.1	+1.4	+1.5	+1.2	+0.2	+0.5	-1.3	-1.2	+2.4	+4.7	+.053	+1.6	+4.3	+.144	+5.3	+5.5	+.125
Sam Cassell	8	24.9	15.9	0.6	1.3	1.9	4.5	1.1	0.0	2.5	2.8	4.9	11.6	.419	0.3	1.3	.200	5.9	6.3	.940

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	3	34.3	15.3	0.0	2.0	2.0	8.7	1.0	0.0	2.3	4.7	5.3	10.7	.500	0.0	0.3	.000	4.7	5.3	.875


Season 7
	Lonzo Ball	Sam Cassell
Season	2025-26	1999-00
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bucks Lost East 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		%
Lonzo Ball	4	23.5	4.8	1.0	2.8	3.8	6.0	1.0	0.0	2.8	0.5	1.5	5.8	.261	1.0	4.5	.222	0.8	1.3	.600
difference:	+77	+12.3	+13.8	+0.1	+0.1	+0.1	+3.0	+0.3	+0.1	-0.5	-2.6	+5.2	+8.6	+.205	+0.7	+3.4	+.067	+4.0	+4.2	+.276
Sam Cassell	81	35.8	18.6	0.9	2.9	3.7	9.0	1.3	0.1	3.3	3.1	6.7	14.4	.466	0.3	1.1	.289	4.8	5.5	.876

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Cassell	5	35.6	15.8	0.0	3.4	3.4	9.0	0.8	0.0	1.8	3.8	6.0	14.4	.417	0.2	1.0	.200	3.6	4.2	.857


Additional Years
* Sam Cassell played 8 seasons more than Lonzo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 15, from 2001 to 2008—Sam Cassell played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over Lonzo Ball, Sam Cassell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game

Lonzo Ball vs. Sam Cassell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Sam Cassell 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years