Yao Ming vs. Bob Thornton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Thornton 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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 and Bob Thornton both played 8 years in the NBA. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Bob Thornton had his rookie season in 1985-86. 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 achivements, 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
Yao Ming 8 4 2002-03 to 2010-11
Bob Thornton 8 2 1985-86 to 1995-96

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Rookie Season
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2002-031985-86
Team Houston RocketsNew York Knicks
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Rookie First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
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 .500 3.7 4.5 .811
Bob Thornton 71 18.6 4.7 1.6 2.5 4.1 0.6 0.4 0.1 1.2 2.9 1.8 3.9 .456 0.0 0.0 - 1.2 2.3 .531
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------

Season 2
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2003-041986-87
Team Houston RocketsNew York Knicks
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
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 .000 4.4 5.4 .809
Bob Thornton 33 8.5 2.2 0.5 1.2 1.7 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.7 1.5 0.9 2.0 .433 0.0 0.0 .000 0.4 0.6 .650
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
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------

Season 3
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2004-051987-88
Team Houston RocketsNew York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
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
Bob Thornton 48 12.4 3.4 1.0 1.4 2.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.7 2.1 1.4 2.7 .500 0.0 0.0 .000 0.7 1.1 .618
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
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------

Season 4
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2005-061988-89
Team Houston RocketsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
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 .000 5.9 6.9 .853
Bob Thornton 54 8.3 2.4 0.7 1.0 1.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.4 1.6 0.9 2.1 .423 0.0 0.1 .333 0.6 1.1 .533
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------

Season 5
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2006-071989-90
Team Houston RocketsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
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 .000 7.4 8.6 .862
Bob Thornton 56 10.6 2.2 0.8 1.6 2.4 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.6 1.9 0.9 2.0 .429 0.0 0.1 .333 0.5 0.9 .510
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
Bob Thornton 9 9.9 2.1 1.2 0.4 1.7 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 2.4 0.8 2.0 .389 0.0 0.0 - 0.6 1.1 .500

Season 6
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2007-081990-91
Team Houston RocketsMinnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
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 .000 6.3 7.4 .850
Bob Thornton 12 9.2 1.3 0.1 1.2 1.3 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.8 1.5 0.3 1.1 .308 0.0 0.0 - 0.7 0.8 .800
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------

Season 7
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2008-091991-92
Team Houston RocketsUtah Jazz
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf SemisJazz Lost West Conf Finals
more >>
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 1.000 4.9 5.7 .866
Bob Thornton 2 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 3.5 .143 0.0 0.0 - 1.0 1.0 1.000
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
Bob Thornton 7 4.6 1.0 0.6 0.7 1.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.7 .400 0.0 0.0 - 0.4 0.6 .750

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

Note: Bob Thornton didn't play in 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95.

Season 8
Yao Ming Bob Thornton
Season 2010-111995-96
Team Houston RocketsWashington Bullets
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
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
Bob Thornton 7 4.4 0.4 0.9 0.9 1.7 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 1.0 0.1 0.9 .167 0.0 0.0 - 0.1 0.3 .500
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Bob Thornton ------- --- ----------
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