Paul Pierce vs. Ben Simmons Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Simmons and Paul Pierce, 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.

Paul Pierce played 19 years in the NBA, 12 more than Ben Simmons, who played 7. Paul Pierce had the first of his seasons in 1998-99, while Ben Simmons had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	1998-99	2017-18
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Paul Pierce	48	34.0	16.5	2.4	4.0	6.4	2.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.9	5.9	13.5	.439	1.8	4.3	.412	2.9	4.1	.713
difference:	+33	+0.3	+0.7	+0.6	+2.3	+1.7	+5.8		+0.1	-1.0	-0.3	+0.8	+1.2	+.106	+1.8	+4.2	+.412	+0.5	+0.1	+.153
Ben Simmons	81	33.7	15.8	1.8	6.3	8.1	8.2	1.7	0.9	3.4	2.6	6.7	12.3	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	4.2	.560
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	10	36.9	16.3	1.6	7.8	9.4	7.7	1.7	0.8	4.4	3.4	6.1	12.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 2
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	1999-00	2018-19
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Paul Pierce	73	35.4	19.5	1.1	4.3	5.4	3.0	2.1	0.8	2.4	3.2	6.7	15.1	.442	1.3	3.8	.343	4.9	6.2	.798
difference:	+6	+1.2	+2.6	+1.1	+2.3	+3.4	+4.7	+0.7		-1.1	-0.6	+0.1	+2.9	+.121	+1.3	+3.7	+.343	+1.6	+0.8	+.198
Ben Simmons	79	34.2	16.9	2.2	6.6	8.8	7.7	1.4	0.8	3.5	2.6	6.8	12.2	.563	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.600
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Simmons	12	35.1	13.9	1.9	5.1	7.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	2.7	3.8	6.0	9.7	.621	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.575

Season 3
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	2000-01	2019-20
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Paul Pierce	82	38.0	25.3	1.1	5.2	6.4	3.1	1.7	0.8	3.2	3.1	8.4	18.5	.454	1.8	4.7	.383	6.7	9.0	.745
difference:	+25	+2.6	+8.9	+0.9	+0.6	+1.4	+4.9	+0.4	+0.2	-0.3	-0.2	+1.8	+7.1	+.126	+1.8	+4.6	+.097	+3.5	+3.8	+.124
Ben Simmons	57	35.4	16.4	2.0	5.8	7.8	8.0	2.1	0.6	3.5	3.3	6.6	11.4	.580	0.0	0.1	.286	3.2	5.2	.621
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Paul Pierce nor Ben Simmons played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 4
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	2001-02	2020-21
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Paul Pierce	82	40.3	26.1	1.0	5.9	6.9	3.2	1.9	1.0	2.9	2.9	8.6	19.5	.442	2.6	6.3	.404	6.3	7.8	.809
difference:	+24	+7.9	+11.8	+0.6	+0.3	+0.3	+3.7	+0.3	+0.4	-0.1		+3.0	+9.4	+.115	+2.5	+6.1	+.104	+3.3	+2.9	+.196
Ben Simmons	58	32.4	14.3	1.6	5.6	7.2	6.9	1.6	0.6	3.0	2.9	5.6	10.1	.557	0.1	0.2	.300	3.0	4.9	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	16	42.0	24.6	1.7	6.9	8.6	4.1	1.7	1.3	3.8	3.3	7.6	18.9	.403	1.9	6.5	.288	7.5	9.8	.764
difference:	+4	+8.5	+12.7	+0.4	+1.1	+0.7	+4.7	+0.4	+0.5	-1.5		+2.7	+11.0	+.218	+1.9	+6.4	+.288	+5.4	+3.7	+.422
Ben Simmons	12	33.5	11.9	2.1	5.8	7.9	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.3	4.9	7.9	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	6.1	.342

Note: Ben Simmons didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 5
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	2002-03	2022-23
Team	Boston Celtics	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Paul Pierce	79	39.2	25.9	1.3	6.0	7.3	4.4	1.8	0.8	3.6	2.9	8.4	20.2	.416	1.5	4.9	.302	7.6	9.5	.802
difference:	+37	+12.9	+19.0	+0.3	+0.7	+1.0	+1.7	+0.5	+0.2	-1.3	-0.4	+5.2	+14.6	+.150	+1.5	+4.9		+7.0	+8.1	+.363
Ben Simmons	42	26.3	6.9	1.0	5.3	6.3	6.1	1.3	0.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	5.6	.566	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.4	.439
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	10	44.5	27.1	1.1	7.9	9.0	6.7	2.1	0.8	4.4	3.8	7.7	19.3	.399	1.6	4.5	.356	10.1	11.7	.863
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	2003-04	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Paul Pierce	80	38.7	23.0	0.9	5.7	6.5	5.1	1.6	0.7	3.8	2.9	7.5	18.7	.402	1.4	4.8	.299	6.5	7.9	.819
difference:	+65	+14.8	+16.9	+1.2	+0.2	+1.4	+0.6	+0.8	+0.1	-2.0	-0.5	+4.6	+13.8	+.179	+1.4	+4.8		+6.1	+6.9	+.419
Ben Simmons	15	23.9	6.1	2.1	5.9	7.9	5.7	0.8	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.9	4.9	.581	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	1.0	.400
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	4	40.8	20.8	1.5	7.3	8.8	2.5	1.3	1.0	6.3	3.0	6.5	19.0	.342	1.3	4.3	.294	6.5	7.8	.839
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Paul Pierce	Ben Simmons
Season	2004-05	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Clippers Lost West 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		%
Paul Pierce	82	36.1	21.6	1.0	5.6	6.6	4.2	1.6	0.5	2.8	3.1	6.8	14.9	.455	1.3	3.6	.370	6.7	8.1	.822
difference:	+31	+14.1	+16.6	+0.1	+1.8	+1.9	+1.4	+0.9		-0.8	-1.0	+4.5	+10.5	+.065	+1.3	+3.6		+6.2	+7.5	+.095
Ben Simmons	51	22.0	5.0	0.9	3.8	4.7	5.6	0.7	0.5	2.0	2.1	2.3	4.4	.520	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.6	.727
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Pierce	7	39.7	22.9	1.0	6.7	7.7	4.6	1.9	1.4	2.7	2.6	6.7	13.3	.505	1.0	3.9	.259	8.4	9.7	.868
difference:	+2	+31.3	+22.1	+0.4	+5.9	+6.3	+3.8	+1.7	+0.6	-2.3	-0.4	+6.3	+12.1	+.172	+1.0	+3.9		+8.4	+9.7
Ben Simmons	5	8.4	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.2	0.4	1.2	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Additional Years
* Paul Pierce played 12 seasons more than Ben Simmons in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 19, from 2006 to 2017—Paul Pierce played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 12 extra years over Ben Simmons, Paul Pierce got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 6 All-Star Game