Steve Francis vs. Dwight Howard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dwight Howard and Steve Francis, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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.

Steve Francis played 9 years in the NBA, 9 less than Dwight Howard, who played 18. Steve Francis had the first of his seasons in 1999-00, while Dwight Howard had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Steve Francis	9	1	1999-00 to 2007-08
Dwight Howard	18	12	2004-05 to 2021-22

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9


Rookie Season
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	1999-00	2004-05
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Steve Francis	77	36.1	18.0	2.0	3.3	5.3	6.6	1.5	0.4	4.0	3.0	6.5	14.5	.445	1.4	4.0	.345	3.7	4.7	.786
difference:	+5	+3.5	+6.0	+1.5	+3.2	+4.7	+5.7	+0.6	+1.3	-2.0	-0.2	+2.2	+6.2	+.075	+1.4	+4.0		+0.3	+0.3	+.115
Dwight Howard	82	32.6	12.0	3.5	6.5	10.0	0.9	0.9	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.3	8.3	.520	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	5.0	.671

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Dwight Howard played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2000-01	2005-06
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Steve Francis	80	39.9	19.9	2.4	4.5	6.9	6.5	1.8	0.4	3.3	3.4	6.9	15.2	.451	1.7	4.2	.396	4.5	5.5	.817
difference:	+2	+3.1	+4.1	+1.1	+4.5	+5.6	+5.0	+1.0	+1.0	-0.7		+1.2	+4.5	+.080	+1.7	+4.2		+0.2	+1.8	+.222
Dwight Howard	82	36.8	15.8	3.5	9.0	12.5	1.5	0.8	1.4	2.6	3.4	5.7	10.7	.531	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	7.3	.595

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Dwight Howard played in the postseason in their season 2


Season 3
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2001-02	2006-07
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Steve Francis	57	41.1	21.6	1.8	5.2	7.0	6.4	1.2	0.4	3.9	3.0	7.4	17.7	.417	1.2	3.7	.324	5.7	7.4	.773
difference:	+25	+4.2	+4.0	+1.7	+3.6	+5.3	+4.5	+0.3	+1.5			+1.0	+7.1	+.186	+1.2	+3.7		+0.9	+0.7	+.187
Dwight Howard	82	36.9	17.6	3.5	8.8	12.3	1.9	0.9	1.9	3.9	3.0	6.4	10.6	.603	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	8.1	.586

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	4	41.8	15.3	4.0	10.8	14.8	1.8	0.5	1.0	4.3	3.3	5.8	10.5	.548	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	8.3	.455


Season 4
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2002-03	2007-08
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf 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		%
Steve Francis	81	41.0	21.0	2.0	4.2	6.2	6.2	1.7	0.5	3.7	3.1	7.0	16.2	.435	1.0	3.0	.354	5.9	7.3	.800
difference:	+1	+3.3	+0.3	+1.4	+6.6	+8.0	+4.9	+0.8	+1.6	-0.5	-0.2	+0.1	+4.3	+.164	+1.0	+3.0		+0.6	+3.6	+.210
Dwight Howard	82	37.7	20.7	3.4	10.8	14.2	1.3	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.3	7.1	11.9	.599	0.0	0.0	-	6.5	10.9	.590

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	10	42.1	18.9	6.0	9.8	15.8	0.9	0.8	3.4	3.2	3.8	7.2	12.4	.581	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	8.3	.542


Season 5
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2003-04	2008-09
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Magic Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Steve Francis	79	40.4	16.6	1.5	4.0	5.5	6.2	1.8	0.4	3.7	3.3	5.7	14.1	.403	0.9	3.2	.292	4.3	5.5	.775
difference:		+4.7	+4.0	+2.8	+5.6	+8.3	+4.8	+0.8	+2.5	-0.7	-0.1	+1.4	+1.7	+.169	+0.9	+3.2		+2.1	+5.2	+.181
Dwight Howard	79	35.7	20.6	4.3	9.6	13.8	1.4	1.0	2.9	3.0	3.4	7.1	12.4	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.4	10.7	.594

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	5	44.6	19.2	1.2	7.2	8.4	7.6	1.4	0.2	4.2	3.6	6.0	14.0	.429	1.4	3.4	.412	5.8	8.0	.725
difference:	+18	+5.3	+1.1	+3.1	+3.8	+6.9	+5.7	+0.5	+2.4	-1.3	-0.8	+1.0	+2.3	+.172	+1.4	+3.3	+.412	+0.5	+1.9	+.089
Dwight Howard	23	39.3	20.3	4.3	11.0	15.3	1.9	0.9	2.6	2.9	4.4	7.0	11.7	.601	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	9.9	.636


Season 6
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2004-05	2009-10
Team	Orlando Magic	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
Steve Francis	78	38.2	21.3	1.6	4.2	5.8	7.0	1.4	0.4	4.1	3.5	7.2	17.1	.423	0.5	1.6	.299	6.4	7.8	.823
difference:	+4	+3.5	+3.0	+1.9	+5.5	+7.4	+5.2	+0.5	+2.4	-0.8		+1.0	+6.9	+.189	+0.5	+1.5	+.299	+0.5	+2.2	+.231
Dwight Howard	82	34.7	18.3	3.5	9.7	13.2	1.8	0.9	2.8	3.3	3.5	6.2	10.2	.612	0.0	0.1	.000	5.9	10.0	.592

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	14	35.5	18.1	2.7	8.4	11.1	1.4	0.8	3.5	3.6	4.2	6.1	10.0	.614	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	11.3	.519


Season 7
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2005-06	2010-11
Team	Orlando Magic, New York Knicks	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Steve Francis	70	34.2	14.4	1.1	3.1	4.1	4.9	1.1	0.2	3.1	2.9	4.8	10.9	.435	0.4	1.2	.301	4.5	5.7	.787
difference:	+8	+3.4	+8.5	+2.9	+7.0	+10.0	+3.5	+0.3	+2.2	-0.5	-0.4	+3.1	+2.5	+.158	+0.4	+1.1	+.301	+2.5	+6.0	+.191
Dwight Howard	78	37.6	22.9	4.0	10.1	14.1	1.4	1.4	2.4	3.6	3.3	7.9	13.4	.593	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	11.7	.596

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	6	43.0	27.0	4.5	11.0	15.5	0.5	0.7	1.8	5.5	4.2	8.5	13.5	.630	0.0	0.2	.000	10.0	14.7	.682


Season 8
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2006-07	2011-12
Team	New York Knicks	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	44	28.1	11.3	0.8	2.8	3.6	3.9	0.9	0.3	2.3	2.9	3.2	7.8	.408	1.0	2.5	.378	4.0	4.8	.829
difference:	+10	+10.2	+9.3	+2.9	+8.0	+10.9	+2.0	+0.6	+1.8	-0.9		+4.5	+5.6	+.165	+1.0	+2.4	+.378	+1.2	+5.8	+.338
Dwight Howard	54	38.3	20.6	3.7	10.8	14.5	1.9	1.5	2.1	3.2	2.9	7.7	13.4	.573	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	10.6	.491

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Dwight Howard played in the postseason in their season 8


Season 9
	Steve Francis	Dwight Howard
Season	2007-08	2012-13
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	10	19.9	5.5	0.8	1.5	2.3	3.0	0.9	0.5	1.4	2.5	1.9	5.7	.333	0.4	1.7	.235	1.3	2.3	.565
difference:	+66	+15.9	+11.6	+2.5	+7.6	+10.1	+1.6	+0.2	+1.9	-1.6	-1.3	+4.3	+5.0	+.245	+0.4	+1.6	+.068	+3.4	+7.2	+.073
Dwight Howard	76	35.8	17.1	3.3	9.1	12.4	1.4	1.1	2.4	3.0	3.8	6.2	10.7	.578	0.0	0.1	.167	4.7	9.5	.492

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	4	31.5	17.0	2.5	8.3	10.8	1.0	0.5	2.0	4.0	4.3	6.5	10.5	.619	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	9.0	.444


Additional Years
* Dwight Howard played 9 seasons more than Steve Francis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 18, from 2014 to 2022—Dwight Howard played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Steve Francis, Dwight Howard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game

Steve Francis vs. Dwight Howard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dwight Howard and Steve Francis, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years