Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Elvin Hayes Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Elvin Hayes and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 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.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played 7 years in the NBA, 9 less than Elvin Hayes, who played 16. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while Elvin Hayes had his rookie season in 1968-69. 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
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2018-19	1968-69
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Div 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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	82	26.5	10.8	0.7	2.1	2.8	3.3	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.1	4.2	8.7	.476	0.6	1.7	.367	1.9	2.4	.800
difference:		+18.6	+17.6			+14.3	+1.9				-1.1	+7.1	+16.7	+.029				+3.8	+6.7	+.174
Elvin Hayes	82	45.1	28.4	-	-	17.1	1.4	-	-	-	3.2	11.3	25.4	.447	-	-	-	5.7	9.1	.626
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	6	28.8	13.7	0.7	2.0	2.7	3.2	1.0	0.8	0.8	2.8	4.7	10.0	.467	1.5	3.0	.500	2.8	3.3	.850
difference:		+17.5	+12.1			+11.1	+2.4				-0.7	+5.3	+9.0	+.059				+3.0	+5.5	+.190
Elvin Hayes	6	46.3	25.8	-	-	13.8	0.8	-	-	-	3.5	10.0	19.0	.526	-	-	-	5.8	8.8	.660

Season 2
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2019-20	1969-70
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	70	34.7	19.0	0.7	5.2	5.9	3.3	1.1	0.7	1.9	1.7	6.8	14.5	.471	1.2	3.6	.347	4.1	5.1	.807
difference:	+12	+10.0	+8.5			+11.0	+1.3				-1.6	+4.3	+10.1	+.019				+1.1	+2.5	+.119
Elvin Hayes	82	44.7	27.5	-	-	16.9	2.0	-	-	-	3.3	11.1	24.6	.452	-	-	-	5.2	7.6	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	7	39.9	16.3	0.4	4.9	5.3	4.1	1.0	0.4	2.1	2.4	5.6	12.9	.433	2.0	5.0	.400	3.1	3.3	.957
Elvin Hayes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2020-21	1970-71
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	35	33.7	23.7	0.5	4.2	4.7	5.9	0.8	0.7	3.0	2.0	8.2	16.1	.508	2.0	4.9	.418	5.3	6.5	.808
difference:	+47	+10.6	+5.0			+11.9	+3.6				-0.7	+3.4	+10.9	+.080				+0.2	+1.7	+.136
Elvin Hayes	82	44.3	28.7	-	-	16.6	2.3	-	-	-	2.7	11.6	27.0	.428	-	-	-	5.5	8.2	.672
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nor Elvin Hayes played in the postseason in their season 3

Season 4
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2021-22	1971-72
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	56	34.7	24.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	5.9	1.3	0.8	2.8	2.5	8.5	18.8	.453	1.6	5.3	.300	5.9	7.2	.810
difference:	+26	+7.5	+0.7			+9.6	+2.6				-0.3	+1.6	+4.6	+.019				+1.0	+0.3	+.161
Elvin Hayes	82	42.2	25.2	-	-	14.6	3.3	-	-	-	2.8	10.1	23.4	.434	-	-	-	4.9	7.5	.649
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nor Elvin Hayes played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2022-23	1972-73
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bullets Lost East Conf 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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	68	35.5	31.4	0.9	4.0	4.8	5.5	1.6	1.0	2.8	2.8	10.4	20.3	.510	0.9	2.5	.345	9.8	10.9	.905
difference:	+13	+5.8	+10.2			+9.7	+3.9				-0.1	+1.6	+0.5	+.066				+6.2	+5.5	+.234
Elvin Hayes	81	41.3	21.2	-	-	14.5	1.6	-	-	-	2.9	8.8	19.8	.444	-	-	-	3.6	5.4	.671
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Elvin Hayes	5	45.6	25.8	-	-	11.4	1.0	-	-	-	3.2	10.6	21.0	.505	-	-	-	4.6	6.6	.697

Season 6
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2023-24	1973-74
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Capital Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets 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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	75	34.0	30.1	0.9	4.7	5.5	6.2	2.0	0.9	2.2	2.5	10.6	19.8	.535	1.3	3.6	.353	7.6	8.7	.874
difference:	+6	+10.5	+8.7	+3.5	+9.0	+12.6	+4.2	+0.9	+2.1		-0.6	+2.1	+0.3	+.112				+3.2	+2.6	+.153
Elvin Hayes	81	44.5	21.4	4.4	13.7	18.1	2.0	1.1	3.0	-	3.1	8.5	20.1	.423	-	-	-	4.4	6.1	.721
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	10	39.9	30.2	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.4	1.3	1.7	2.2	3.1	11.1	22.4	.496	1.6	3.7	.432	6.4	8.1	.790
difference:	+3	+6.2	+4.3	+3.6	+5.0	+8.7	+3.4	+0.6	+0.4		-0.2	+0.2	+2.0	+.035				+2.3	+2.2	+.083
Elvin Hayes	7	46.1	25.9	4.4	11.4	15.9	3.0	0.7	2.1	-	3.3	10.9	20.4	.531	-	-	-	4.1	5.9	.707

Season 7
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Elvin Hayes
Season	2024-25	1974-75
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	Cup All-Tournament Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	76	34.2	32.7	0.9	4.1	5.0	6.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.2	11.3	21.8	.519	2.1	5.7	.375	7.9	8.8	.898
difference:	+6	+8.1	+9.7	+1.8	+5.4	+7.2	+3.9	+0.2	+1.3		-0.7	+2.3	+1.5	+.076				+2.9	+2.3	+.132
Elvin Hayes	82	42.3	23.0	2.7	9.5	12.2	2.5	1.9	2.3	-	2.9	9.0	20.3	.443	-	-	-	5.0	6.5	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	23	37.0	29.9	1.0	4.3	5.3	6.5	1.7	0.9	2.6	2.8	10.1	21.9	.462	1.4	4.9	.283	8.3	9.4	.876
difference:	+6	+7.2	+4.4	+1.7	+3.9	+5.6	+4.3	+0.2	+1.4		-1.3	+0.1		+.006				+3.2	+1.9	+.199
Elvin Hayes	17	44.2	25.5	2.7	8.2	10.9	2.2	1.5	2.3	-	4.1	10.2	21.9	.468	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.677

Additional Years
* Elvin Hayes played 9 seasons more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 16, from 1976 to 1984—Elvin Hayes played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Elvin Hayes got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 5 All-Star Game