Rudy Gay vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and Rudy Gay, 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.

Rudy Gay played 17 years in the NBA, 9 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Rudy Gay had the first of his seasons in 2006-07, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2006-07	2002-03
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Rudy Gay	78	27.0	10.8	1.2	3.3	4.5	1.3	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.5	4.1	9.7	.422	0.7	1.8	.364	1.9	2.7	.727
difference:	+4	+2.0	+2.7	+1.2	+2.5	+3.7	+0.4	+0.5	+0.9	-0.3	-0.3	+0.8	+0.1	+.076	+0.7	+1.8		+1.8	+1.8	+.084
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Rudy Gay nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2007-08	2003-04
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Rudy Gay	81	37.0	20.1	1.7	4.4	6.2	2.0	1.4	1.0	2.3	2.8	7.7	16.7	.461	1.7	4.8	.346	3.1	3.9	.785
difference:	+1	+4.2	+2.6	+0.7	+2.2	+2.8	+0.5	+1.1	+0.9	-0.2	-0.5	+1.2	+4.2	+.061	+1.7	+4.8		+1.3	+1.5	+.024
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2008-09	2004-05
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Rudy Gay	79	37.3	18.9	1.4	4.2	5.5	1.7	1.2	0.7	2.6	2.8	7.2	16.0	.453	1.1	3.1	.351	3.3	4.4	.767
difference:	+1	+6.7	+0.6	+1.2	+1.6	+2.9	+0.9	+0.8	+1.3	-0.1	-0.9	+0.5	+3.8	+.099	+1.1	+3.1		+1.6	+1.8	+.016
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2009-10	2005-06
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Rudy Gay	80	39.7	19.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	1.9	1.5	0.8	2.1	2.5	7.5	16.1	.466	0.8	2.5	.327	3.8	5.0	.753
difference:	+23	+5.5	+2.7	+1.2	+3.1	+4.3	+0.4	+1.0	+0.8	-0.5	-0.9	+0.7	+0.3	+.053	+0.8	+2.5		+2.1	+1.9	+.100
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Rudy Gay nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2010-11	2006-07
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Rudy Gay	54	39.9	19.8	1.5	4.7	6.2	2.8	1.7	1.1	2.5	2.4	7.6	16.1	.471	1.1	2.7	.396	3.6	4.5	.805
difference:	+6	+6.1	+5.2	+0.6	+2.6	+3.2	+0.8	+1.3	+0.9	-1.0	-0.9	+1.2	+1.0	+.045	+1.1	+2.7		+3.8	+4.1	+.057
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.4	8.6	.862
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2011-12	2007-08
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West 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		%
Rudy Gay	65	37.3	19.0	2.0	4.4	6.4	2.3	1.5	0.8	2.5	2.1	7.5	16.4	.455	0.8	2.7	.312	3.2	4.0	.791
difference:	+10	+0.1	+3.0	+1.1	+3.3	+4.4		+1.0	+1.2	-0.8	-1.0	+0.4	+0.9	+.052	+0.8	+2.7		+3.1	+3.4	+.059
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	7	39.9	19.0	1.4	5.1	6.6	1.4	1.3	0.3	3.0	2.1	6.9	16.3	.421	0.6	2.7	.211	4.7	5.7	.825
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2012-13	2008-09
Team	Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Rudy Gay	75	35.8	18.2	1.3	4.8	6.1	2.7	1.5	0.7	2.6	2.4	6.9	16.7	.416	1.1	3.5	.323	3.2	3.9	.814
difference:	+2	+2.2	+1.5	+1.3	+2.4	+3.8	+0.9	+1.1	+1.2	-0.4	-0.9	+0.5	+3.3	+.132	+1.1	+3.5		+1.7	+1.8	+.052
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Rudy Gay	Yao Ming
Season	2013-14	2010-11
Team	Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

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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		%
Rudy Gay	73	34.7	20.0	1.5	4.4	6.0	2.9	1.3	0.8	3.1	2.3	7.4	16.2	.455	0.9	2.7	.330	4.4	5.3	.822
difference:	+68	+16.5	+9.8	+0.1	+0.4	+0.6	+2.1	+1.3	+0.8	-1.7	-0.3	+3.8	+8.8	+.031	+0.9	+2.7		+1.4	+2.1	+.116
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Rudy Gay nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 8