Sam Cassell vs. Billy Cunningham Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Billy Cunningham and Sam Cassell, 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.

Sam Cassell played 15 years in the NBA, 6 more than Billy Cunningham, who played 9. Sam Cassell had the first of his seasons in 1993-94, while Billy Cunningham had his rookie season in 1965-66. 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
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1993-94	1965-66
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	76ers Lost East Div Finals

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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		%
Sam Cassell	66	17.0	6.7	0.4	1.7	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.1	1.4	2.1	2.5	5.9	.418	0.4	1.3	.295	1.4	1.6	.841
difference:	+14	+9.7	+7.6			+5.5	+0.3				-1.7	+2.9	+6.7	+.008				+2.1	+3.9	+.207
Billy Cunningham	80	26.7	14.3	-	-	7.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	12.6	.426	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	.634
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	22	21.7	9.4	0.9	1.8	2.7	4.2	1.0	0.2	2.1	2.8	2.9	7.3	.394	0.8	2.0	.378	2.9	3.4	.865
difference:	+18	+4.4	+4.1			+1.8	+1.7					+1.6	+0.5	+.233				+0.1	+0.1	+.019
Billy Cunningham	4	17.3	5.3	-	-	4.5	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	1.3	7.8	.161	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.846

Season 2
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1994-95	1966-67
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Cassell	82	23.0	9.5	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.9	1.1	0.2	2.0	2.5	3.1	7.2	.427	0.8	2.3	.330	2.6	3.1	.843
difference:	+1	+3.8	+9.0			+4.7	+2.4				-0.7	+3.8	+7.8	+.032				+2.1	+3.8	+.157
Billy Cunningham	81	26.8	18.5	-	-	7.3	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	6.9	15.0	.459	-	-	-	4.7	6.9	.686
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	22	22.0	11.0	0.4	1.5	1.9	4.0	1.0	0.1	1.5	3.0	3.4	7.7	.438	1.1	2.7	.400	3.2	3.9	.835
difference:	+7	+0.6	+4.0			+4.3	+1.8				-0.5	+2.1	+7.0	+.062				+0.7	+2.1	+.179
Billy Cunningham	15	22.6	15.0	-	-	6.2	2.2	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	14.7	.376	-	-	-	3.9	6.0	.656

Season 4
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1996-97	1968-69
Team	Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers Lost East Div 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		%
Sam Cassell	61	28.1	15.9	0.8	2.2	3.0	5.0	1.3	0.3	2.8	3.3	5.5	12.8	.430	1.3	3.8	.351	3.5	4.1	.845
difference:	+21	+12.7	+8.9			+9.8	+1.5				-0.7	+3.5	+8.4	+.004				+3.3	+5.1	+.108
Billy Cunningham	82	40.8	24.8	-	-	12.8	3.5	-	-	-	4.0	9.0	21.2	.426	-	-	-	6.8	9.2	.737
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Billy Cunningham	5	43.4	24.4	-	-	12.6	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	9.8	23.4	.419	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	.632

Season 5
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1997-98	1969-70
Team	New Jersey Nets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	76ers Lost East Div Semis

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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		%
Sam Cassell	75	34.7	19.6	1.0	2.1	3.0	8.0	1.6	0.3	3.6	3.5	6.8	15.4	.441	0.2	1.1	.188	5.8	6.8	.860
difference:	+6	+4.7	+6.5			+10.6	+3.7				-0.6	+3.1	+5.7	+.028				+0.5	+1.8	+.131
Billy Cunningham	81	39.4	26.1	-	-	13.6	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	9.9	21.1	.469	-	-	-	6.3	8.6	.729
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	3	9.0	2.0	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.0	0.3	0.7	2.3	1.0	3.0	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+2	+32.0	+27.2			+9.4	+2.3				-1.5	+11.2	+21.6	+.163				+4.8	+7.2
Billy Cunningham	5	41.0	29.2	-	-	10.4	4.0	-	-	-	3.8	12.2	24.6	.496	-	-	-	4.8	7.2	.667

Season 6
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1998-99	1970-71
Team	New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Sam Cassell	8	24.9	15.9	0.6	1.3	1.9	4.5	1.1	0.0	2.5	2.8	4.9	11.6	.419	0.3	1.3	.200	5.9	6.3	.940
difference:	+73	+13.2	+7.1			+9.8	+0.4				-1.2	+3.8	+7.2	+.043				+0.3	+1.4	+.206
Billy Cunningham	81	38.1	23.0	-	-	11.7	4.9	-	-	-	4.0	8.7	18.8	.462	-	-	-	5.6	7.7	.734
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	3	34.3	15.3	0.0	2.0	2.0	8.7	1.0	0.0	2.3	4.7	5.3	10.7	.500	0.0	0.3	.000	4.7	5.3	.875
difference:	+4	+8.7	+10.6			+13.4	+3.0				-0.7	+4.3	+9.6	+.028				+2.0	+4.3	+.174
Billy Cunningham	7	43.0	25.9	-	-	15.4	5.7	-	-	-	4.0	9.6	20.3	.472	-	-	-	6.7	9.6	.701

Season 7
	Sam Cassell	Billy Cunningham
Season	1999-00	1971-72
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Sam Cassell	81	35.8	18.6	0.9	2.9	3.7	9.0	1.3	0.1	3.3	3.1	6.7	14.4	.466	0.3	1.1	.289	4.8	5.5	.876
difference:	+6	+2.9	+4.7			+8.5	+3.1				-0.8	+2.1	+4.6	+.005				+0.9	+2.5	+.164
Billy Cunningham	75	38.7	23.3	-	-	12.2	5.9	-	-	-	3.9	8.8	19.0	.461	-	-	-	5.7	8.0	.712
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	5	35.6	15.8	0.0	3.4	3.4	9.0	0.8	0.0	1.8	3.8	6.0	14.4	.417	0.2	1.0	.200	3.6	4.2	.857
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Billy Cunningham didn't play in 1972-73 and 1973-74.

Additional Years
* Sam Cassell played 6 seasons more than Billy Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 15, from 2003 to 2008—Sam Cassell played in 4 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 6 extra years over Billy Cunningham, Sam Cassell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game