Yao Ming vs. Pat Riley Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Pat Riley 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, 1 less than Pat Riley, who played 9. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Pat Riley had his rookie season in 1967-68. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Rookie Season
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2002-03	1967-68
Team	Houston Rockets	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
	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
Pat Riley	80	15.8	7.9	-	-	2.2	1.7	-	-	-	2.6	3.1	8.3	.379	-	-	-	1.6	2.5	.634
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2003-04	1968-69
Team	Houston Rockets	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Div Semis

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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
Pat Riley	56	18.3	8.8	-	-	2.0	2.4	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	8.9	.406	-	-	-	1.6	2.4	.672
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
Pat Riley	5	15.2	7.4	-	-	2.2	0.4	-	-	-	2.6	3.2	7.4	.432	-	-	-	1.0	1.2	.833

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2004-05	1969-70
Team	Houston Rockets	San Diego Rockets
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
Pat Riley	36	13.2	5.3	-	-	1.6	2.4	-	-	-	1.9	2.1	5.0	.417	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.727
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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2005-06	1970-71
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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
Pat Riley	54	9.4	4.9	-	-	1.0	1.3	-	-	-	1.6	1.9	4.7	.413	-	-	-	1.0	1.6	.644
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pat Riley	7	19.3	9.4	-	-	2.1	2.0	-	-	-	1.7	4.1	9.9	.420	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.727

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2006-07	1971-72
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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
Pat Riley	67	13.8	6.7	-	-	1.9	1.1	-	-	-	1.6	2.9	6.6	.447	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	.743
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
Pat Riley	15	16.3	5.2	-	-	1.9	0.9	-	-	-	2.5	2.2	6.6	.333	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	.750

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2007-08	1972-73
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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
Pat Riley	55	14.6	7.3	-	-	1.2	1.5	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	7.1	.428	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.793
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pat Riley	7	7.6	2.6	-	-	0.7	1.0	-	-	-	1.4	1.3	3.9	.333	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2008-09	1973-74
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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
Pat Riley	72	18.9	9.5	0.5	1.3	1.8	2.1	0.8	0.0	-	2.4	4.0	9.3	.430	-	-	-	1.5	2.0	.764
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
Pat Riley	5	21.2	7.8	0.6	0.6	1.2	2.0	0.8	0.0	-	2.2	3.6	10.0	.360	-	-	-	0.6	0.8	.750

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Pat Riley
Season	2010-11	1974-75
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
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
Pat Riley	46	22.1	11.0	0.5	1.3	1.8	2.6	0.8	0.1	-	2.8	4.8	11.4	.419	-	-	-	1.5	2.0	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-