Moses Malone vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy and Moses Malone, 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.

Moses Malone played 19 years in the NBA, 7 more than James Worthy, who played 12. Moses Malone had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, 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
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Buffalo Braves, Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Moses Malone	82	30.6	13.2	5.3	7.7	13.1	1.1	0.8	2.2	-	3.4	4.7	9.9	.480	-	-	-	3.7	5.4	.693
difference:	+5	+5.0	+0.2	+3.3	+4.6	+7.9	+0.6	+0.4	+1.4		-0.5	+1.1	+0.1	+.099				+1.9	+2.5	+.069
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
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	12	43.2	18.8	7.0	9.9	16.9	0.6	1.1	1.8	-	3.5	6.8	13.5	.500	-	-	-	5.3	7.6	.692
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1977-78	1983-84
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Moses Malone	59	35.7	19.4	6.4	8.6	15.0	0.5	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.0	7.0	14.0	.499	-	-	-	5.4	7.5	.718
difference:	+23	+6.2	+4.9	+4.5	+4.2	+8.7	+2.0	+0.1	+0.4	-1.5		+1.0	+3.1	+.057				+3.0	+4.4	+.041
James Worthy	82	29.5	14.5	1.9	4.4	6.3	2.5	0.9	0.9	2.2	3.0	6.0	10.9	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.759
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	21	33.7	17.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	2.7	1.3	0.5	1.9	2.7	7.8	13.0	.599	0.0	0.1	.500	2.0	3.3	.609

Season 3
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1978-79	1984-85
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Moses Malone	82	41.3	24.8	7.2	10.5	17.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	4.0	2.7	8.7	16.2	.540	-	-	-	7.3	9.9	.739
difference:	+2	+7.6	+7.2	+5.1	+6.2	+11.2	+0.7	+0.1	+0.7	-1.5	-0.2	+1.1	+2.9	+.032				+4.9	+6.8	+.037
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		%
Moses Malone	2	39.0	24.5	12.5	8.0	20.5	1.0	0.5	4.0	4.0	2.5	9.0	20.5	.439	-	-	-	6.5	9.0	.722
difference:	+17	+6.1	+3.0	+10.7	+4.8	+15.4	+1.2	+0.4	+3.3	-2.6	-0.3	+0.3	+6.4	+.183				+2.6	+3.2	+.046
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
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Moses Malone	82	38.3	25.8	7.0	7.5	14.5	1.8	1.0	1.3	3.7	2.6	9.5	18.9	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	6.9	9.5	.719
difference:	+7	+5.6	+5.8	+5.2	+4.2	+9.3	+0.9	+0.1	+0.3	-1.7		+1.1	+4.4	+.077		+0.1		+3.7	+5.3	+.052
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		%
Moses Malone	7	39.3	25.9	6.0	7.9	13.9	1.0	0.6	2.3	3.1	2.6	10.6	19.7	.536	0.0	0.1	.000	4.7	6.1	.767
difference:	+7	+0.8	+6.3	+4.4	+4.8	+9.3	+2.2	+0.5	+1.6	-0.5	-0.5	+2.0	+4.2	+.022		+0.2		+2.4	+2.7	+.086
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
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1980-81	1986-87
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Moses Malone	80	40.6	27.8	5.9	8.8	14.8	1.8	1.0	1.9	3.9	2.8	10.1	19.3	.522	0.0	0.0	-	7.6	10.1	.757
difference:	+2	+6.2	+8.4	+4.0	+5.0	+9.1	+1.0	+0.3	+0.9	-1.9	-0.3	+2.2	+4.6	+.017		+0.2		+4.0	+5.4	+.006
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		%
Moses Malone	21	45.5	26.8	6.0	8.6	14.5	1.7	0.6	1.6	2.8	2.6	9.9	20.6	.479	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	9.9	.712
difference:	+3	+7.7	+3.2	+4.3	+4.7	+8.9	+1.8	+1.0	+0.4	-0.6	-0.3	+0.1	+4.0	+.112				+2.9	+4.5	+.041
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

Season 6
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1981-82	1987-88
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Moses Malone	81	42.0	31.1	6.9	7.8	14.7	1.8	0.9	1.5	3.6	2.6	11.7	22.5	.519	0.0	0.1	.000	7.8	10.2	.762
difference:	+6	+6.6	+11.4	+5.2	+4.5	+9.7	+2.1	+0.1	+0.8	-1.5	-0.3	+3.5	+7.0	+.012		+0.1	+.125	+4.6	+6.1	+.034
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		%
Moses Malone	3	45.3	24.0	9.3	7.7	17.0	3.3	0.7	0.7	2.0	2.7	9.7	22.3	.433	0.0	0.0	-	4.7	5.0	.933
difference:	+21	+8.0	+2.9	+7.1	+4.1	+11.2	+1.1	+0.7	+0.1	-0.3	-0.3	+1.2	+6.0	+.090		+0.4		+0.7	+0.3	+.175
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

Season 7
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1982-83	1988-89
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Moses Malone	78	37.5	24.5	5.7	9.6	15.3	1.3	1.1	2.0	3.4	2.6	8.4	16.7	.501	0.0	0.0	-	7.7	10.1	.761
difference:	+3	+1.0	+4.0	+3.6	+5.6	+9.3	+2.3	+0.2	+1.3	-1.2	-0.4	+0.3	+0.9	+.047		+0.3		+4.6	+6.1	+.021
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	13	40.3	26.0	5.4	10.5	15.8	1.5	1.5	1.9	3.1	3.1	9.7	18.1	.536	0.0	0.1	.000	6.6	9.2	.717
difference:	+2	+0.3	+1.2	+2.9	+6.2	+9.1	+1.3	+0.3	+0.8	-0.9	-0.7	+0.5	+0.1	+.031	+0.2	+0.4	+.375	+2.4	+3.9	+.071
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788

Season 8
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1983-84	1989-90
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Moses Malone	71	36.8	22.7	5.0	8.4	13.4	1.4	1.0	1.5	3.5	2.6	7.5	15.5	.483	0.0	0.1	.000	7.7	10.2	.750
difference:	+9	+0.2	+1.6	+3.0	+4.4	+7.4	+2.2	+0.2	+0.9	-1.5	-0.2	+1.4	+0.7	+.065	+0.2	+0.5	+.306	+4.6	+6.2	+.032
James Worthy	80	37.0	21.1	2.0	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.2	0.6	2.0	2.4	8.9	16.2	.548	0.2	0.6	.306	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	5	42.4	21.4	4.0	9.8	13.8	1.4	0.6	2.2	4.2	3.0	7.6	16.6	.458	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	6.4	.969
difference:	+4	+1.7	+2.8	+2.8	+5.5	+8.2	+1.6	+1.0	+1.9	-1.8	-1.0	+2.4	+3.5	+.039	+0.2	+0.9		+2.2	+1.6	+.132
James Worthy	9	40.7	24.2	1.2	4.3	5.6	3.0	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.0	10.0	20.1	.497	0.2	0.9	.250	4.0	4.8	.837

Season 9
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1984-85	1990-91
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	79	37.4	24.6	4.9	8.2	13.1	1.6	0.8	1.6	3.6	2.7	7.6	16.3	.469	0.0	0.0	-	9.3	11.4	.815
difference:	+1	+1.2	+3.2	+3.5	+5.0	+8.5	+1.9	+0.5	+1.2	-2.0	-1.2	+1.6	+2.4	+.023	+0.3	+1.2		+6.6	+8.0	+.018
James Worthy	78	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.5	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.5	9.2	18.7	.492	0.3	1.2	.289	2.7	3.4	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	13	38.8	20.2	2.8	7.8	10.6	1.8	1.3	1.7	1.8	3.0	6.9	16.3	.425	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	7.9	.796
difference:	+5	+1.9	+0.9	+1.4	+5.1	+6.5	+2.1	+0.2	+1.6	-0.4	-1.1	+2.0	+2.9	+.040	+0.2	+1.2	+.167	+3.4	+3.9	+.060
James Worthy	18	40.7	21.1	1.4	2.7	4.1	3.9	1.1	0.1	2.2	1.9	8.9	19.2	.465	0.2	1.3	.167	2.9	4.0	.736

Season 10
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1985-86	1991-92
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	74	36.6	23.8	4.6	7.2	11.8	1.2	0.9	1.0	3.5	2.6	7.7	16.8	.458	0.0	0.0	-	8.3	10.6	.787
difference:	+20	+2.4	+3.9	+2.8	+3.4	+6.2	+3.5	+0.5	+0.6	-1.1	-1.0	+0.6	+1.8	+.011	+0.2	+0.8		+5.2	+6.8	+.027
James Worthy	54	39.0	19.9	1.8	3.8	5.6	4.7	1.4	0.4	2.4	1.6	8.3	18.6	.447	0.2	0.8	.209	3.1	3.8	.814
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Moses Malone nor James Worthy played in the postseason in their season 10

Season 11
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1986-87	1992-93
Team	Washington Bullets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	73	34.1	24.1	4.7	6.6	11.3	1.6	0.8	1.3	2.8	1.9	8.2	18.0	.454	0.0	0.2	.000	7.8	9.5	.824
difference:	+9	+5.3	+9.2	+3.8	+4.5	+8.3	+1.8	+0.3	+1.0	-1.1	-0.8	+2.0	+4.1	+.007	+0.4	+1.2	+.270	+5.7	+6.9	+.014
James Worthy	82	28.8	14.9	0.9	2.1	3.0	3.4	1.1	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.2	13.9	.447	0.4	1.4	.270	2.1	2.6	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	3	38.0	20.7	5.0	7.7	12.7	1.7	0.0	1.0	2.7	1.7	7.0	15.7	.447	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	7.0	.952
difference:	+2	+8.4	+6.9	+3.6	+5.7	+9.3	+0.9	+1.0	+1.0	-1.3	-0.5	+0.6	+1.5	+.075	+0.4	+1.6		+6.1	+6.0	+.352
James Worthy	5	29.6	13.8	1.4	2.0	3.4	2.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	2.2	6.4	17.2	.372	0.4	1.6	.250	0.6	1.0	.600

Season 12
	Moses Malone	James Worthy
Season	1987-88	1993-94
Team	Washington Bullets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	79	34.1	20.3	4.7	6.5	11.2	1.4	0.7	0.9	3.2	2.0	6.7	13.8	.487	0.0	0.1	.286	6.9	8.7	.788
difference:	+1	+14.1	+10.1	+4.1	+4.8	+8.9	+0.5	+0.1	+0.7	-2.0	-1.0	+2.4	+3.3	+.081	+0.4	+1.3	+.002	+5.6	+7.0	+.047
James Worthy	80	20.0	10.2	0.6	1.7	2.3	1.9	0.6	0.2	1.2	1.0	4.3	10.5	.406	0.4	1.4	.288	1.3	1.7	.741
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Moses Malone	5	39.6	18.6	4.4	6.8	11.2	1.4	0.6	0.8	3.0	1.8	6.0	13.0	.462	0.0	0.2	.000	6.6	8.0	.825
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Moses Malone played 7 seasons more than James Worthy in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 19, from 1989 to 1995—Moses Malone played in two Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over James Worthy, Moses Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game