Sam Cassell vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson 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, 10 more than Zion Williamson, who played 5. Sam Cassell had the first of his seasons in 1993-94, 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
	Sam Cassell	Zion Williamson
Season	1993-94	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
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:	+42	+10.8	+15.8	+2.3	+1.9	+4.3	+0.8	+0.2	+0.3	-1.1	-0.3	+6.3	+9.1	+.165	+0.1	+0.7	+.134	+3.4	+5.8	+.201
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		%
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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Sam Cassell	Zion Williamson
Season	1994-95	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
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:	+21	+10.2	+17.5	+2.2	+2.4	+4.6	+1.2	+0.2	+0.4	-0.7	-0.3	+7.3	+9.8	+.184	+0.6	+1.7	+.036	+3.4	+5.6	+.145
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
	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
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Season 3
	Sam Cassell	Zion Williamson
Season	1995-96	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Sam Cassell	61	27.6	14.5	0.8	2.2	3.1	4.6	0.9	0.1	2.6	2.7	4.7	10.8	.439	1.2	3.4	.348	3.9	4.7	.825
difference:	+32	+5.4	+11.5	+1.2	+2.8	+3.9		+0.2	+0.5	-0.8	-0.5	+5.1	+5.4	+.169	+1.0	+2.7	+.020	+2.2	+3.9	+.111
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		%
Sam Cassell	8	25.8	10.4	0.1	2.0	2.1	4.3	0.8	0.1	2.3	2.5	3.3	10.1	.321	1.0	3.6	.276	2.9	3.6	.793
Zion Williamson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Sam Cassell played 10 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 15, from 1999 to 2008—Sam Cassell played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 10 extra years over Zion Williamson, Sam Cassell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game