Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Paul Pierce Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Pierce 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 8 years in the NBA, 11 less than Paul Pierce, who played 19. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while Paul Pierce had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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	Paul Pierce
Season	2018-19	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

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:	+34	+7.5	+5.7	+1.7	+1.9	+3.6	+0.9	+0.5	+0.5	-0.7	-0.8	+1.7	+4.8	+.037	+1.2	+2.6	+.045	+1.0	+1.7	+.087
Paul Pierce	48	34.0	16.5	2.4	4.0	6.4	2.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.9	5.9	13.5	.439	1.8	4.3	.412	2.9	4.1	.713
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Paul Pierce
Season	2021-22	2001-02
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

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	+5.6	+1.6	+0.3	+1.6	+1.9	+2.7	+0.6	+0.2	-0.1	-0.4	+0.1	+0.7	+.011	+1.0	+1.0	+.104	+0.4	+0.6	+.001
Paul Pierce	82	40.3	26.1	1.0	5.9	6.9	3.2	1.9	1.0	2.9	2.9	8.6	19.5	.442	2.6	6.3	.404	6.3	7.8	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	16	42.0	24.6	1.7	6.9	8.6	4.1	1.7	1.3	3.8	3.3	7.6	18.9	.403	1.9	6.5	.288	7.5	9.8	.764

Season 5
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Paul Pierce
Season	2022-23	2002-03
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+11	+3.7	+5.5	+0.4	+2.0	+2.5	+1.1	+0.2	+0.2	-0.8	-0.1	+2.0	+0.1	+.094	+0.6	+2.4	+.043	+2.2	+1.4	+.103
Paul Pierce	79	39.2	25.9	1.3	6.0	7.3	4.4	1.8	0.8	3.6	2.9	8.4	20.2	.416	1.5	4.9	.302	7.6	9.5	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	10	44.5	27.1	1.1	7.9	9.0	6.7	2.1	0.8	4.4	3.8	7.7	19.3	.399	1.6	4.5	.356	10.1	11.7	.863

Season 6
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Paul Pierce
Season	2023-24	2003-04
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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:	+5	+4.7	+7.1		+1.0	+1.0	+1.1	+0.4	+0.2	-1.6	-0.4	+3.1	+1.1	+.133	+0.1	+1.2	+.054	+1.1	+0.8	+.055
Paul Pierce	80	38.7	23.0	0.9	5.7	6.5	5.1	1.6	0.7	3.8	2.9	7.5	18.7	.402	1.4	4.8	.299	6.5	7.9	.819
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:	+6	+0.9	+9.4	+0.7	+0.9	+1.6	+3.9		+0.7	-4.1	-0.1	+4.6	+3.4	+.154	+0.3	+0.6	+.138	+0.1	+0.3	+.049
Paul Pierce	4	40.8	20.8	1.5	7.3	8.8	2.5	1.3	1.0	6.3	3.0	6.5	19.0	.342	1.3	4.3	.294	6.5	7.8	.839

Season 7
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Paul Pierce
Season	2024-25	2004-05
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	Cup All-Tournament Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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	+1.9	+11.1	+0.1	+1.5	+1.6	+2.2	+0.1	+0.5	-0.4	-0.9	+4.5	+6.9	+.064	+0.8	+2.1	+.005	+1.2	+0.7	+.076
Paul Pierce	82	36.1	21.6	1.0	5.6	6.6	4.2	1.6	0.5	2.8	3.1	6.8	14.9	.455	1.3	3.6	.370	6.7	8.1	.822
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:	+16	+2.7	+7.0		+2.4	+2.4	+1.9	+0.2	+0.5	-0.1	-0.2	+3.4	+8.6	+.043	+0.4	+1.0	+.024	+0.1	+0.3	+.008
Paul Pierce	7	39.7	22.9	1.0	6.7	7.7	4.6	1.9	1.4	2.7	2.6	6.7	13.3	.505	1.0	3.9	.259	8.4	9.7	.868

Season 8
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Paul Pierce
Season	2025-26	2005-06
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

8th 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	14	33.6	32.6	0.4	4.7	5.1	6.6	1.4	0.9	1.6	1.8	11.1	21.0	.531	2.2	5.9	.373	8.1	9.0	.897
difference:	+65	+5.4	+5.8	+0.6	+1.0	+1.6	+1.9		+0.5	-1.9	-1.0	+2.4	+2.5	+.060	+0.8	+1.9	+.019	+0.2	+1.3	+.125
Paul Pierce	79	39.0	26.8	1.0	5.7	6.7	4.7	1.4	0.4	3.5	2.8	8.7	18.5	.471	1.4	4.0	.354	7.9	10.3	.772
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nor Paul Pierce played in the postseason in their season 8

Additional Years
* Paul Pierce played 11 seasons more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 19, from 2007 to 2017—Paul Pierce played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 11 extra years over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paul Pierce got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Star Game