Yao Ming vs. Kevin Willis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kevin Willis 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, 13 less than Kevin Willis, who played 21. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Kevin Willis had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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	Kevin Willis
Season	2002-03	1984-85
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
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:		+7.2	+4.2	+0.2	+1.6	+1.8	+1.3		+1.2	-0.8		+1.0	+1.4	+.031		+0.1		+2.2	+2.3	+.154
Kevin Willis	82	21.8	9.3	2.2	4.2	6.4	0.4	0.4	0.6	1.3	2.8	3.9	8.4	.467	0.0	0.1	.222	1.5	2.2	.657
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Kevin Willis played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2003-04	1985-86
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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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:		+4.8	+5.2	+0.6	+1.0	+0.4	+1.0	+0.5	+1.4	-0.3	-0.3	+1.4	+2.6	+.005		+0.1		+2.3	+2.2	+.155
Kevin Willis	82	28.0	12.3	3.0	5.6	8.6	0.5	0.8	0.5	2.2	3.6	5.1	9.9	.517	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	3.2	.654
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
difference:	+4	+6.5	+1.1	+1.2	+1.4	+0.2	+1.2	+0.4	+0.5	-0.9	-0.2	+0.1	+2.7	+.105				+0.9	+0.8	+.113
Kevin Willis	9	31.1	13.9	3.4	3.8	7.2	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.7	4.2	6.1	10.9	.561	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.6	.652

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2004-05	1986-87
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+1	+1.8	+2.2	+1.4	+0.7	+2.1		+0.4	+1.2	-0.4	-0.2	+0.1	+0.2	+.016				+2.1	+2.2	+.074
Kevin Willis	81	32.4	16.1	4.0	6.5	10.5	0.8	0.8	0.8	2.1	3.9	6.6	12.4	.536	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	4.0	.709
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
difference:	+2	+7.7	+5.7	+0.4	+1.2	+1.5		+0.7	+1.9	-0.8	-0.7	+1.2	+0.8	+.133				+3.4	+4.5	+.050
Kevin Willis	9	39.6	15.7	3.7	5.6	9.2	0.7	1.0	0.8	1.9	3.7	6.7	12.8	.522	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.4	.677

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2005-06	1987-88
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+18	+6.3	+10.7	+0.5	+3.4	+2.9	+1.1	+0.4	+1.1	-0.8	-0.2	+3.5	+6.6	+.001				+3.8	+3.6	+.204
Kevin Willis	75	27.9	11.6	3.1	4.2	7.3	0.4	0.9	0.5	1.8	3.2	4.7	9.2	.518	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	3.3	.649
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Willis	12	38.5	16.2	3.0	6.0	9.0	0.9	0.8	0.8	2.1	4.3	6.7	11.5	.580	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	4.2	.680

Note: Kevin Willis didn't play in 1988-89.

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2006-07	1989-90
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
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:	+33	+5.7	+12.6	+1.0	+2.5	+1.4	+1.3	+0.4	+1.4	-1.7	-0.1	+3.6	+7.2	+.003		+0.1		+5.3	+5.6	+.179
Kevin Willis	81	28.1	12.4	3.1	4.8	8.0	0.7	0.8	0.6	1.8	3.2	5.2	9.9	.519	0.0	0.1	.286	2.1	3.0	.683
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
Kevin Willis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2007-08	1990-91
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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	+7.5	+8.9	+0.1	+2.1	+2.0	+1.1	+0.3	+1.5	-1.4	-0.2	+2.3	+4.5	+.003	+0.1	+0.1		+4.3	+4.4	+.182
Kevin Willis	80	29.7	13.1	3.2	5.6	8.8	1.2	0.8	0.5	1.9	2.9	5.6	11.0	.504	0.1	0.1	.400	2.0	3.0	.668
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Willis	5	31.8	15.4	3.6	5.4	9.0	1.0	0.6	0.2	0.4	4.4	5.4	13.4	.403	0.4	0.6	.667	4.2	6.0	.700

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2008-09	1991-92
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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	+3.0	+1.4	+2.6	+3.2	+5.6	+0.3	+0.5	+1.2	-0.6	-0.5	+0.1	+1.7	+.065	+0.1	+0.5		+1.3	+1.2	+.062
Kevin Willis	81	36.6	18.3	5.2	10.4	15.5	2.1	0.9	0.7	2.4	2.8	7.3	15.1	.483	0.1	0.5	.162	3.6	4.5	.804
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
Kevin Willis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Kevin Willis
Season	2010-11	1992-93
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+75	+17.8	+7.7	+2.8	+4.7	+7.5	+1.3	+0.9	+1.1	-1.3	-0.7	+4.1	+7.8	+.020	+0.1	+0.4		+0.5	+0.6	+.285
Kevin Willis	80	36.0	17.9	4.2	8.7	12.9	2.1	0.9	0.5	2.7	3.3	7.7	15.2	.506	0.1	0.4	.241	2.5	3.8	.653
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Willis	3	34.3	16.7	4.3	4.3	8.7	1.0	0.7	0.0	2.3	4.3	7.0	15.0	.467	0.0	0.3	.000	2.7	4.7	.571