Moses Malone vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson 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, 14 more than Zion Williamson, who played 5. Moses Malone had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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	Zion Williamson
Season	1976-77	2019-20
Team	Buffalo Braves, Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
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:	+58	+2.8	+9.3	+2.6	+4.1	+6.8	+1.0	+0.1	+1.8		-1.6	+4.1	+5.1	+.103				+1.1	+2.0	+.053
Zion Williamson	24	27.8	22.5	2.7	3.6	6.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	1.8	8.8	15.0	.583	0.3	0.6	.429	4.8	7.4	.640
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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Moses Malone	Zion Williamson
Season	1977-78	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	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		%
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:	+2	+2.5	+7.6	+3.7	+4.1	+7.8	+3.2	+0.1	+0.7	-1.0	-0.8	+3.4	+3.0	+.112				+0.6	+1.2	+.020
Zion Williamson	61	33.2	27.0	2.7	4.5	7.2	3.7	0.9	0.6	2.7	2.2	10.4	17.0	.611	0.2	0.6	.294	6.0	8.7	.698
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Moses Malone nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 2

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
	Moses Malone	Zion Williamson
Season	1978-79	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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:	+53	+8.3	+1.2	+5.2	+5.5	+10.6	+2.8	+0.1	+0.9	-0.6	-0.5	+1.1		+.068				+1.2	+1.3	+.025
Zion Williamson	29	33.0	26.0	2.0	5.0	7.0	4.6	1.1	0.6	3.4	2.2	9.8	16.2	.608	0.2	0.7	.368	6.1	8.6	.714
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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Moses Malone	Zion Williamson
Season	1979-80	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
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:	+12	+6.8	+2.9	+5.3	+3.4	+8.7	+3.2	+0.1	+0.6	-0.9	-0.3	+0.6	+3.3	+.068	+0.1	+0.2	+.333	+1.9	+2.4	+.017
Zion Williamson	70	31.5	22.9	1.7	4.1	5.8	5.0	1.1	0.7	2.8	2.3	8.9	15.6	.570	0.1	0.3	.333	5.0	7.1	.702
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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Moses Malone	Zion Williamson
Season	1980-81	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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:	+50	+12.0	+3.2	+3.4	+4.1	+7.6	+3.5	+0.2	+1.0	-0.9	-0.1	+0.5	+2.4	+.045	+0.1	+0.4		+2.3	+2.1	+.101
Zion Williamson	30	28.6	24.6	2.5	4.7	7.2	5.3	1.2	0.9	3.0	2.7	9.6	16.9	.567	0.1	0.4	.231	5.3	8.0	.656
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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Moses Malone played 14 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 19, from 1982 to 1995—Moses Malone played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 14 extra years over Zion Williamson, Moses Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 4 Rebounds Leader 8 All-Star Game