Steve Francis vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming 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.

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, 1 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Steve Francis had the first of his seasons in 1999-00, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	1999-00	2002-03
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
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	+7.1	+4.5	+0.4	+2.5	+2.9	+4.9	+1.1	+1.4	-1.9	-0.2	+1.6	+4.7	+.053	+1.4	+4.0			+0.2	+.025
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2000-01	2003-04
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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	+7.1	+2.4		+2.1	+2.1	+5.0	+1.5	+1.5	-0.8	-0.1	+0.4	+2.7	+.071	+1.7	+4.2		+0.1	+0.1	+.008
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.4	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2001-02	2004-05
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West 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:	+23	+10.5	+3.3	+0.8	+0.6	+1.4	+5.6	+0.8	+1.6	-1.4	-0.7	+0.7	+5.5	+.135	+1.2	+3.7		+0.8	+1.2	+.010
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2002-03	2005-06
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
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:	+24	+6.8	+1.3	+0.6	+3.4	+4.0	+4.7	+1.2	+1.1	-1.1	-0.3	+1.2	+0.4	+.084	+1.0	+3.0			+0.4	+.053
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	6.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2003-04	2006-07
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+31	+6.6	+8.4	+0.6	+3.3	+3.9	+4.2	+1.4	+1.6	-0.2		+3.1	+3.0	+.113	+0.9	+3.2		+3.1	+3.1	+.087
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.4	8.6	.862
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:	+2	+7.5	+5.9	+2.1	+0.2	+1.9	+6.7	+1.3	+0.5	-0.5	-0.3	+1.9	+3.9	+.011	+1.4	+3.4		+3.6	+2.7	+.155
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2004-05	2007-08
Team	Orlando Magic	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

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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:	+23	+1.0	+0.7	+1.5	+3.5	+5.0	+4.7	+0.9	+1.6	-0.8	-0.4	+0.7	+1.6	+.084	+0.5	+1.6		+0.1	+0.4	+.027
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	7.4	.850
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 6

Season 7
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2005-06	2008-09
Team	Orlando Magic, New York Knicks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+7	+0.6	+5.3	+1.5	+4.1	+5.8	+3.1	+0.7	+1.7	-0.1	-0.4	+2.6	+2.5	+.113	+0.4	+1.2		+0.4		+.079
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	5.7	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Steve Francis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Steve Francis	Yao Ming
Season	2006-07	2010-11
Team	New York Knicks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	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:	+39	+9.9	+1.1	+0.6	+1.2	+1.8	+3.1	+0.9	+1.3	-0.9	-0.3	+0.4	+0.4	+.078	+1.0	+2.5		+1.0	+1.6	+.109
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Steve Francis nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 8