Sam Jones vs. Walker Kessler Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Walker Kessler and Sam Jones, 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 Jones played 12 years in the NBA, 9 more than Walker Kessler, who played 3. Sam Jones had the first of his seasons in 1957-58, while Walker Kessler had his rookie season in 2022-23. 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 Jones	Walker Kessler
Season	1957-58	2022-23
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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 Jones	56	10.6	4.6	-	-	2.9	0.7	-	-	-	0.8	1.8	4.2	.429	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.714
difference:	+18	+12.4	+4.6			+5.5	+0.2				-1.5	+2.2	+1.4	+.291					+0.6	+.198
Walker Kessler	74	23.0	9.2	3.1	5.3	8.4	0.9	0.4	2.3	0.8	2.3	4.0	5.6	.720	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	2.1	.516
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	8	9.4	3.9	-	-	3.0	0.5	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	2.8	.455	-	-	-	1.4	2.0	.688
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Sam Jones	Walker Kessler
Season	1958-59	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards
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 Jones	71	20.6	10.7	-	-	6.0	1.4	-	-	-	1.4	4.3	9.9	.434	-	-	-	2.1	2.8	.770
difference:	+7	+2.7	+2.6			+1.5	+0.5				-0.7	+0.7	+4.4	+.220				+1.2	+1.3	+.168
Walker Kessler	64	23.3	8.1	2.6	4.9	7.5	0.9	0.5	2.4	1.0	2.1	3.6	5.5	.654	0.1	0.3	.211	0.9	1.5	.602
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	11	17.5	10.3	-	-	5.7	1.5	-	-	-	1.3	3.6	9.8	.370	-	-	-	3.0	3.5	.846
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Sam Jones	Walker Kessler
Season	1959-60	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 Jones	74	20.4	11.9	-	-	5.1	1.7	-	-	-	1.4	4.8	10.6	.454	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.764
difference:	+16	+9.6	+0.8			+7.1					-0.8		+3.4	+.209				+0.9	+0.4	+.244
Walker Kessler	58	30.0	11.1	4.6	7.6	12.2	1.7	0.6	2.4	1.5	2.2	4.8	7.2	.663	0.1	0.6	.176	1.4	2.6	.520
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	13	15.2	8.2	-	-	3.2	1.4	-	-	-	1.2	3.5	9.0	.385	-	-	-	1.3	1.6	.810
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Sam Jones played 9 seasons more than Walker Kessler in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 4 to 12, from 1961 to 1969—Sam Jones played in 9 Playoffs and won 8 NBA Championships. In those 9 extra years over Walker Kessler, Sam Jones got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-NBA Second Team 5 All-Star Game