Yao Ming vs. Ben Wallace Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Wallace and Yao Ming, 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.

Yao Ming played 8 years in the NBA, 8 less than Ben Wallace, who played 16. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Ben Wallace had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2002-03	1996-97
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	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		%
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
difference:	+48	+23.2	+12.4	+1.7	+4.8	+6.5	+1.6	+0.2	+1.5	-1.6	-2.0	+4.4	+8.4	+.150				+3.5	+3.9	+.511
Ben Wallace	34	5.8	1.1	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.5	1.4	.348	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.6	.300
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Ben Wallace played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2003-04	1997-98
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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
difference:	+15	+16.0	+14.4	+0.7	+3.4	+4.2	+1.2	+0.6	+0.8	-2.1	-1.6	+5.2	+10.1	+.004				+3.9	+3.9	+.452
Ben Wallace	67	16.8	3.1	1.7	3.2	4.8	0.3	0.9	1.1	0.4	1.7	1.3	2.4	.518	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.5	.357
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Wallace	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2004-05	1998-99
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did not play

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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		%
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
difference:	+34	+3.8	+12.3	+0.4	+0.4	+0.1	+0.4	+0.7		-1.7	-1.3	+4.2	+7.9	+.026				+3.9	+3.3	+.427
Ben Wallace	46	26.8	6.0	3.0	5.4	8.3	0.4	1.1	2.0	0.8	2.4	2.5	4.3	.578	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.9	.356
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Wallace	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2005-06	1999-00
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	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		%
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
difference:	+24	+10.0	+17.5		+2.0	+2.0	+0.7	+0.4		-1.8	-1.4	+6.1	+11.7	+.016				+5.2	+5.5	+.379
Ben Wallace	81	24.2	4.8	2.6	5.6	8.2	0.8	0.9	1.6	0.8	2.0	2.1	4.1	.503	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.4	.474
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Ben Wallace played in the postseason in their season 4

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2006-07	2000-01
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did not play

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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		%
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
difference:	+32	+0.7	+18.6	+1.7	+2.1	+3.8	+0.5	+0.9	+0.3	-2.0	-0.9	+6.1	+11.6	+.026		+0.1		+6.4	+5.6	+.526
Ben Wallace	80	34.5	6.4	3.8	9.4	13.2	1.5	1.3	2.3	1.5	2.4	2.7	5.5	.490	0.0	0.1	.250	1.0	3.0	.336
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Wallace	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2007-08	2001-02
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did not play	Pistons Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+25	+0.7	+14.4	+0.9	+1.3	+2.2	+0.9	+1.2	+1.5	-2.4	-0.9	+4.7	+9.5	+.024				+5.1	+4.5	+.427
Ben Wallace	80	36.5	7.6	4.0	9.0	13.0	1.4	1.7	3.5	0.9	2.2	3.2	6.0	.531	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.9	.423
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	10	40.8	7.3	4.8	11.3	16.1	1.2	1.9	2.6	1.9	2.4	2.8	5.9	.475	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	3.9	.436

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2008-09	2002-03
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+4	+5.8	+12.8	+1.4	+4.2	+5.5	+0.2	+1.0	+1.3	-1.8	-0.8	+4.5	+7.4	+.067		+0.1		+3.7	+3.1	+.416
Ben Wallace	73	39.4	6.9	4.0	11.4	15.4	1.6	1.4	3.2	1.2	2.5	2.9	6.0	.481	0.0	0.1	.167	1.2	2.6	.450
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+8	+6.6	+8.2	+3.0	+2.4	+5.4	+0.6	+2.1	+1.9	-1.0	-0.1	+2.9	+4.6	+.059		+0.1		+2.5	+0.2	+.456
Ben Wallace	17	42.5	8.9	5.1	11.2	16.3	1.6	2.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	3.1	6.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	2.6	5.9	.446

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Ben Wallace
Season	2010-11	2003-04
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
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
difference:	+76	+19.5	+0.7	+2.6	+4.4	+7.0	+0.9	+1.8	+1.4	-0.1	-0.6	+0.3	+1.8	+.065		+0.1		+1.2	+0.4	+.448
Ben Wallace	81	37.7	9.5	4.0	8.4	12.4	1.7	1.8	3.0	1.5	2.0	3.9	9.2	.421	0.0	0.1	.125	1.8	3.6	.490
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	23	40.3	10.3	4.1	10.1	14.3	1.9	1.9	2.4	1.6	2.5	4.0	8.9	.454	0.0	0.1	.000	2.2	5.1	.427

Additional Years
* Ben Wallace played 8 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 16, from 2005 to 2012—Ben Wallace played in 5 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Yao Ming, Ben Wallace got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 2 Defensive Player of the Year 2 All-Star Game