Steve Francis vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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

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, 5 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 14. Steve Francis had the first of his seasons in 1999-00, while Kawhi Leonard had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Kawhi Leonard	14	12	2011-12 to 2025-26

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


Rookie Season
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1999-00	2011-12
Team	Houston Rockets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+13	+12.1	+10.1	+0.4	+0.2	+0.2	+5.5	+0.2		-3.3	-1.6	+3.4	+8.2	+.048	+0.8	+2.3	+.031	+2.6	+3.3	+.013
Kawhi Leonard	64	24.0	7.9	1.6	3.5	5.1	1.1	1.3	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.1	6.3	.493	0.6	1.7	.376	1.1	1.4	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	14	27.1	8.6	1.3	4.6	5.9	0.6	1.2	0.4	0.9	1.6	3.2	6.4	.500	1.3	2.9	.450	0.9	1.1	.813


Season 2
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2000-01	2012-13
Team	Houston Rockets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+22	+8.7	+8.0	+1.3	+0.4	+0.9	+4.9	+0.1	+0.2	-2.2	-1.7	+2.4	+6.1	+.043	+0.6	+1.2	+.022	+2.7	+3.3	+.008
Kawhi Leonard	58	31.2	11.9	1.1	4.9	6.0	1.6	1.7	0.6	1.1	1.7	4.5	9.1	.494	1.1	3.0	.374	1.8	2.2	.825

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	21	36.9	13.5	2.4	6.7	9.0	1.0	1.8	0.5	1.1	1.9	5.5	10.0	.545	1.1	2.8	.390	1.5	2.3	.633


Season 3
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2001-02	2013-14
Team	Houston Rockets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+9	+12.0	+8.8	+0.6	+0.1	+0.8	+4.4	+0.5	+0.4	-2.7	-1.1	+2.3	+7.9	+.105	+0.2	+0.9	+.055	+4.2	+5.5	+.029
Kawhi Leonard	66	29.1	12.8	1.2	5.1	6.2	2.0	1.7	0.8	1.2	1.9	5.1	9.8	.522	1.0	2.8	.379	1.5	1.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	23	32.0	14.3	1.3	5.4	6.7	1.7	1.7	0.6	1.3	2.9	5.3	10.4	.510	1.3	3.2	.419	2.3	3.1	.736


Season 4
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2002-03	2014-15
Team	Houston Rockets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+17	+9.2	+4.5	+0.7	+1.7	+1.0	+3.7	+0.6	+0.3	-2.2	-1.1	+0.8	+3.4	+.044			+.005	+2.7	+3.4	+.002
Kawhi Leonard	64	31.8	16.5	1.3	5.9	7.2	2.5	2.3	0.8	1.5	2.0	6.2	12.8	.479	1.0	3.0	.349	3.2	3.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	7	35.7	20.3	1.9	5.6	7.4	2.6	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.6	7.4	15.6	.477	1.6	3.7	.423	3.9	5.0	.771


Season 5
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2003-04	2015-16
Team	Houston Rockets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Spurs Lost West 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		%
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:	+7	+7.3	+4.6	+0.2	+1.5	+1.3	+3.6		+0.6	-2.2	-1.5	+2.0	+1.0	+.103	+0.9	+0.8	+.151	+0.2	+0.9	+.099
Kawhi Leonard	72	33.1	21.2	1.3	5.5	6.8	2.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	1.8	7.7	15.1	.506	1.8	4.0	.443	4.1	4.6	.874

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:	+5	+10.7	+3.3	+0.2	+2.3	+2.1	+4.8	+1.2	+1.2	-2.6	-1.5	+2.3	+2.6	+.071	+0.3	+0.5	+.024	+1.6	+2.9	+.099
Kawhi Leonard	10	33.9	22.5	1.4	4.9	6.3	2.8	2.6	1.4	1.6	2.1	8.3	16.6	.500	1.7	3.9	.436	4.2	5.1	.824


Season 6
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2004-05	2016-17
Team	Orlando Magic	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West 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	+4.8	+4.2	+0.5	+0.5		+3.5	+0.4	+0.3	-2.0	-1.9	+1.4	+0.6	+.062	+1.5	+3.6	+.081	+0.1	+0.6	+.057
Kawhi Leonard	74	33.4	25.5	1.1	4.7	5.8	3.5	1.8	0.7	2.1	1.6	8.6	17.7	.485	2.0	5.2	.380	6.3	7.2	.880

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	12	35.8	27.7	1.6	6.2	7.8	4.6	1.7	0.5	2.2	1.8	8.8	16.8	.525	2.1	4.6	.455	7.9	8.5	.931


Season 7
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2005-06	2017-18
Team	Orlando Magic, New York Knicks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+61	+10.9	+1.8	+0.4	+0.9	+0.6	+2.6	+0.9	+0.8	-1.3	-1.9	+1.0	+1.4	+.033	+0.8	+2.7	+.013	+1.1	+1.5	+.029
Kawhi Leonard	9	23.3	16.2	0.7	4.0	4.7	2.3	2.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	5.8	12.3	.468	1.2	3.9	.314	3.4	4.2	.816

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Kawhi Leonard played in the postseason in their season 7


Season 8
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2006-07	2018-19
Team	New York Knicks	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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:	+16	+5.9	+15.3	+0.5	+3.2	+3.7	+0.6	+0.9	+0.1	-0.3	-1.4	+6.1	+11.0	+.088	+0.9	+2.5	+.007	+2.1	+2.3	+.025
Kawhi Leonard	60	34.0	26.6	1.3	6.0	7.3	3.3	1.8	0.4	2.0	1.5	9.3	18.8	.496	1.9	5.0	.371	6.1	7.1	.854

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	24	39.1	30.5	2.3	6.8	9.1	3.9	1.7	0.7	3.1	2.3	10.1	20.7	.490	2.3	6.0	.379	8.0	9.0	.884


Season 9
	Steve Francis	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2007-08	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Clippers Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+47	+12.5	+21.6	+0.1	+4.6	+4.8	+1.9	+0.9	+0.1	-1.2	-0.5	+7.4	+14.2	+.137	+1.8	+4.0	+.143	+4.9	+4.8	+.321
Kawhi Leonard	57	32.4	27.1	0.9	6.1	7.1	4.9	1.8	0.6	2.6	2.0	9.3	19.9	.470	2.2	5.7	.378	6.2	7.1	.886

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	13	39.3	28.2	1.8	7.5	9.3	5.5	2.3	0.8	2.5	2.2	10.1	20.6	.489	1.8	5.6	.329	6.2	7.2	.862


Additional Years
* Kawhi Leonard played 5 seasons more than Steve Francis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 14, from 2021 to 2026—Kawhi Leonard played in 4 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Steve Francis, Kawhi Leonard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 2 All-Star Game

Steve Francis vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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