Walker Kessler vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Walker Kessler, 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.

Walker Kessler played 3 years in the NBA, 10 less than Bill Russell, who played 13. Walker Kessler had the first of his seasons in 2022-23, while Bill Russell had his rookie season in 1956-57. 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
	Walker Kessler	Bill Russell
Season	2022-23	1956-57
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Walker Kessler	74	23.0	9.2	3.1	5.3	8.4	0.9	0.4	2.3	0.8	2.3	4.0	5.6	.720	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	2.1	.516
difference:	+26	+12.3	+5.5			+11.2	+0.9				-0.7	+1.8	+7.9	+.293				+2.1	+4.3	+.024
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508

Season 2
	Walker Kessler	Bill Russell
Season	2023-24	1957-58
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
Walker Kessler	64	23.3	8.1	2.6	4.9	7.5	0.9	0.5	2.4	1.0	2.1	3.6	5.5	.654	0.1	0.3	.211	0.9	1.5	.602
difference:	+5	+15.0	+8.5			+15.2	+2.0				-0.5	+3.0	+9.5	+.212				+2.4	+4.9	+.083
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606

Season 3
	Walker Kessler	Bill Russell
Season	2024-25	1958-59
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	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		%
Walker Kessler	58	30.0	11.1	4.6	7.6	12.2	1.7	0.6	2.4	1.5	2.2	4.8	7.2	.663	0.1	0.6	.176	1.4	2.6	.520
difference:	+12	+12.6	+5.6			+10.8	+1.5				-0.1	+1.7	+7.0	+.206				+2.3	+3.5	+.078
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 10 seasons more than Walker Kessler in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 4 to 13, from 1960 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 10 Playoffs and won 9 NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Walker Kessler, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 7 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 10 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP