Yao Ming vs. Dario Saric Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dario Saric 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 played 8 years in the NBA, 1 more than Dario Saric, who played 7. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Dario Saric had his rookie season in 2016-17. 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
Dario Saric 7 2 2016-17 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season

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

Rookie Season
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2002-032016-17
Team Houston RocketsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement 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
Dario Saric 81 26.3 12.8 1.4 5.0 6.3 2.2 0.7 0.4 2.3 2.0 4.7 11.4 .411 1.3 4.2 .311 2.1 2.7 .782
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------

Season 2
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2003-042017-18
Team Houston RocketsPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third 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 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
Dario Saric 78 29.6 14.6 2.0 4.7 6.7 2.6 0.7 0.3 1.9 2.1 5.2 11.4 .453 2.0 5.1 .393 2.3 2.7 .860
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
Dario Saric 10 32.9 17.2 3.2 4.1 7.3 3.5 1.0 0.4 1.5 2.8 5.9 14.0 .421 2.0 5.2 .385 3.4 4.0 .850

Season 3
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2004-052018-19
Team Houston RocketsPhiladelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves
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
Dario Saric 81 25.0 10.6 1.6 4.1 5.6 1.6 0.6 0.1 1.2 2.2 3.8 8.6 .437 1.5 4.0 .365 1.6 1.9 .880
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
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------

Season 4
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2005-062019-20
Team Houston RocketsPhoenix Suns
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
Dario Saric 66 24.7 10.7 1.5 4.6 6.2 1.9 0.6 0.2 1.3 2.4 3.9 8.2 .476 1.3 3.6 .357 1.6 1.9 .844
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------

Season 5
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2006-072020-21
Team Houston RocketsPhoenix Suns
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st RdSuns Lost NBA Finals
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
Dario Saric 50 17.4 8.7 0.9 2.9 3.8 1.3 0.6 0.1 1.1 1.9 3.1 6.8 .447 0.9 2.7 .348 1.7 2.0 .848
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
Dario Saric 14 10.5 4.5 0.6 1.9 2.5 1.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 1.5 1.5 3.2 .467 0.6 1.3 .444 0.9 1.0 .929

Note: Dario Saric didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 6
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2007-082022-23
Team Houston RocketsPhoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder
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
Dario Saric 57 14.1 6.4 0.9 2.7 3.6 1.3 0.4 0.1 1.0 1.7 2.2 4.9 .458 0.8 2.0 .391 1.1 1.3 .829
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------

Season 7
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2008-092023-24
Team Houston RocketsGolden State Warriors
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf SemisDid 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 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
Dario Saric 64 17.2 8.0 1.1 3.3 4.4 2.3 0.5 0.2 1.2 1.8 2.8 6.1 .466 1.2 3.1 .376 1.2 1.5 .849
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
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------

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

Season 8
Yao Ming Dario Saric
Season 2010-11-
Team Houston Rockets-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did 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
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Dario Saric ------- --- ----------
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