Obi Toppin vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy and Obi Toppin, 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.

Obi Toppin played 6 years in the NBA, 6 less than James Worthy, who played 12. Obi Toppin had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, 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
	Obi Toppin	James Worthy
Season	2020-21	1982-83
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Obi Toppin	62	11.0	4.1	0.4	1.8	2.2	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.9	1.7	3.4	.498	0.4	1.4	.306	0.3	0.4	.731
difference:	+15	+14.6	+9.3	+1.6	+1.3	+3.0	+1.2	+0.9	+0.6	-1.9	-2.0	+4.1	+6.6	+.081	+0.4	+1.3	+.056	+1.5	+2.5	+.107
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		%
Obi Toppin	5	13.0	6.4	0.8	1.8	2.6	0.4	0.0	0.2	0.6	1.2	2.4	4.6	.522	0.6	1.8	.333	1.0	1.2	.833
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Obi Toppin	James Worthy
Season	2022-23	1984-85
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Obi Toppin	67	15.7	7.4	0.4	2.4	2.8	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.6	1.0	2.8	6.3	.446	1.3	3.7	.344	0.6	0.7	.809
difference:	+13	+18.0	+10.2	+1.7	+1.9	+3.6	+1.5	+0.8	+0.6	-1.9	-1.5	+4.8	+7.0	+.126	+1.3	+3.6	+.344	+1.8	+2.4	+.033
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		%
Obi Toppin	11	15.9	7.0	0.9	2.6	3.5	0.6	0.7	0.3	0.7	1.1	2.7	6.4	.429	1.2	3.9	.302	0.4	0.5	.800
difference:	+8	+17.0	+14.5	+0.9	+0.6	+1.6	+1.6	+0.2	+0.4	-0.7	-1.7	+6.0	+7.7	+.193	+1.1	+3.8	+.198	+3.5	+5.3	+.124
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
	Obi Toppin	James Worthy
Season	2023-24	1985-86
Team	Indiana Pacers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Obi Toppin	82	21.1	10.3	1.0	2.9	3.9	1.6	0.6	0.5	0.8	1.7	4.0	7.1	.573	1.2	3.1	.403	0.9	1.2	.770
difference:	+7	+11.6	+9.7	+0.8	+0.4	+1.3	+1.1	+0.5	+0.5	-1.2	-0.9	+4.4	+7.4	+.006	+1.2	+2.9	+.403	+2.3	+3.0	+.001
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		%
Obi Toppin	17	20.2	10.9	0.6	3.8	4.4	1.7	0.4	0.4	0.8	1.2	4.3	7.9	.541	1.2	3.3	.357	1.1	1.5	.760
difference:	+3	+18.3	+8.7	+1.0	+0.7	+0.2	+1.5	+0.7	+0.3	-1.8	-1.9	+4.3	+7.6	+.017	+1.2	+3.0	+.357	+1.2	+1.9	+.079
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
	Obi Toppin	James Worthy
Season	2024-25	1986-87
Team	Indiana Pacers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers 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		%
Obi Toppin	79	19.6	10.5	0.7	3.3	4.0	1.6	0.6	0.4	0.9	1.4	4.0	7.6	.529	1.4	3.8	.365	1.1	1.4	.781
difference:	+3	+14.8	+8.9	+1.2	+0.5	+1.7	+1.2	+0.7	+0.6	-1.1	-1.1	+3.9	+7.1	+.010	+1.4	+3.6	+.365	+2.5	+3.3	+.030
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		%
Obi Toppin	23	19.1	9.4	0.6	3.3	3.8	1.3	0.7	0.3	1.0	2.0	3.6	7.4	.485	1.1	3.4	.321	1.1	1.6	.694
difference:	+5	+18.7	+14.2	+1.1	+0.6	+1.8	+2.2	+0.9	+0.9	-1.2	-0.3	+6.2	+9.2	+.106	+1.1	+3.3	+.321	+3.0	+3.8	+.059
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
	Obi Toppin	James Worthy
Season	2025-26	1987-88
Team	Indiana Pacers	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		%
Obi Toppin	3	27.3	14.0	1.0	5.7	6.7	1.7	1.0	0.0	2.0	2.3	5.0	12.0	.417	1.0	5.7	.176	3.0	3.0	1.000
difference:	+72	+8.1	+5.7	+0.7	+2.4	+1.7	+2.2		+0.7	-0.1		+3.2	+3.5	+.114	+1.0	+5.5	+.051	+0.2	+1.1	+.204
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		%
Obi Toppin	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 Obi Toppin 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 Obi Toppin, James Worthy got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game