Yao Ming vs. Nerlens Noel Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nerlens Noel 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 less than Nerlens Noel, who played 9. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Nerlens Noel had his rookie season in 2014-15. 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
Nerlens Noel	9	3	2014-15 to 2022-23

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9


Rookie Season
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2002-03	2014-15
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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
Nerlens Noel	75	30.8	9.9	2.5	5.7	8.1	1.7	1.8	1.9	1.9	2.8	4.0	8.7	.462	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.1	.609

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2003-04	2015-16
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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
Nerlens Noel	67	29.3	11.1	2.3	5.8	8.1	1.8	1.8	1.5	2.4	2.9	4.6	8.8	.521	0.0	0.0	.500	2.0	3.4	.590

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
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2004-05	2016-17
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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
Nerlens Noel	51	20.5	8.7	1.8	3.9	5.8	1.0	1.3	1.0	1.0	2.5	3.6	6.1	.595	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.2	.694

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
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2005-06	2017-18
Team	Houston Rockets	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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
Nerlens Noel	30	15.7	4.4	1.6	4.0	5.6	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.9	2.0	1.8	3.5	.524	0.0	0.0	.000	0.7	0.9	.750

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2006-07	2018-19
Team	Houston Rockets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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
Nerlens Noel	77	13.7	4.9	1.6	2.6	4.2	0.6	0.9	1.2	0.6	2.2	2.1	3.6	.587	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.0	.684

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
Nerlens Noel	5	12.0	4.8	2.2	1.6	3.8	0.0	0.4	0.6	0.8	1.8	2.4	4.0	.600	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.4	.000


Season 6
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2007-08	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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
Nerlens Noel	61	18.5	7.4	1.5	3.4	4.9	0.9	1.0	1.5	1.1	2.7	3.0	4.4	.684	0.0	0.0	.333	1.3	1.7	.755

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	7	13.9	3.0	0.7	3.4	4.1	0.4	0.3	0.7	0.3	2.1	1.1	2.4	.471	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.4	.500


Season 7
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2008-09	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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
Nerlens Noel	64	24.2	5.1	2.2	4.2	6.4	0.7	1.1	2.2	1.0	2.8	2.1	3.5	.614	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.1	.714

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
Nerlens Noel	5	18.4	4.6	2.0	2.0	4.0	0.2	0.8	0.6	0.8	3.0	1.0	2.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.2	.813

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


Season 8
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	2010-11	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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
Nerlens Noel	25	22.5	3.4	1.9	3.7	5.6	0.9	1.2	1.2	0.8	2.7	1.3	2.4	.533	0.0	0.1	.000	0.8	1.2	.700

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Yao Ming	Nerlens Noel
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	17	11.5	2.1	0.6	2.1	2.7	0.6	0.9	0.6	0.8	1.9	0.8	2.1	.361	0.1	0.1	.500	0.5	0.7	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nerlens Noel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Yao Ming vs. Nerlens Noel Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nerlens Noel 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9