Yao Ming vs. Paul Pierce Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Pierce 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, 11 less than Paul Pierce, who played 19. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Paul Pierce had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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	Paul Pierce
Season	2002-03	1998-99
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	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:	+34	+5.0	+3.0		+1.8	+1.8	+0.7	+1.3	+0.8	-0.3	-0.1	+1.0	+3.7	+.059	+1.8	+4.3		+0.8	+0.4	+.098
Paul Pierce	48	34.0	16.5	2.4	4.0	6.4	2.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.9	5.9	13.5	.439	1.8	4.3	.412	2.9	4.1	.713
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Paul Pierce played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2003-04	1999-00
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+9	+2.6	+2.0	+1.3	+2.3	+3.6	+1.5	+1.8	+1.1	-0.1	-0.1	+0.2	+2.6	+.080	+1.3	+3.8		+0.5	+0.8	+.011
Paul Pierce	73	35.4	19.5	1.1	4.3	5.4	3.0	2.1	0.8	2.4	3.2	6.7	15.1	.442	1.3	3.8	.343	4.9	6.2	.798
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2004-05	2000-01
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+2	+7.4	+7.0	+1.5	+0.6	+2.0	+2.3	+1.3	+1.2	-0.7	-0.6	+1.7	+6.3	+.098	+1.8	+4.7		+1.8	+2.8	+.038
Paul Pierce	82	38.0	25.3	1.1	5.2	6.4	3.1	1.7	0.8	3.2	3.1	8.4	18.5	.454	1.8	4.7	.383	6.7	9.0	.745
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2005-06	2001-02
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+25	+6.1	+3.8	+1.6	+1.7	+3.3	+1.7	+1.4	+0.6	-0.3	-0.5	+0.4	+3.7	+.077	+2.6	+6.3		+0.4	+0.9	+.044
Paul Pierce	82	40.3	26.1	1.0	5.9	6.9	3.2	1.9	1.0	2.9	2.9	8.6	19.5	.442	2.6	6.3	.404	6.3	7.8	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	16	42.0	24.6	1.7	6.9	8.6	4.1	1.7	1.3	3.8	3.3	7.6	18.9	.403	1.9	6.5	.288	7.5	9.8	.764

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2006-07	2002-03
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+31	+5.4	+0.9	+0.8	+1.3	+2.1	+2.4	+1.4	+1.2	-0.1	-0.4	+0.4	+3.1	+.100	+1.5	+4.9		+0.2	+0.9	+.060
Paul Pierce	79	39.2	25.9	1.3	6.0	7.3	4.4	1.8	0.8	3.6	2.9	8.4	20.2	.416	1.5	4.9	.302	7.6	9.5	.802
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
difference:	+3	+7.4	+2.0	+2.2	+0.9	+1.3	+5.8	+2.0	+0.1	-0.3	-0.1	+0.2	+1.4	+.041	+1.6	+4.5		+0.7	+1.0	+.017
Paul Pierce	10	44.5	27.1	1.1	7.9	9.0	6.7	2.1	0.8	4.4	3.8	7.7	19.3	.399	1.6	4.5	.356	10.1	11.7	.863

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2007-08	2003-04
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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	+1.5	+1.0	+2.2	+2.0	+4.3	+2.8	+1.1	+1.3	-0.5	-0.2	+0.4	+3.2	+.105	+1.4	+4.8		+0.2	+0.5	+.031
Paul Pierce	80	38.7	23.0	0.9	5.7	6.5	5.1	1.6	0.7	3.8	2.9	7.5	18.7	.402	1.4	4.8	.299	6.5	7.9	.819
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	4	40.8	20.8	1.5	7.3	8.8	2.5	1.3	1.0	6.3	3.0	6.5	19.0	.342	1.3	4.3	.294	6.5	7.8	.839

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2008-09	2004-05
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+5	+2.5	+1.9	+1.6	+1.6	+3.3	+2.4	+1.2	+1.4	-0.2	-0.2	+0.6	+1.5	+.093	+1.3	+3.6		+1.8	+2.4	+.044
Paul Pierce	82	36.1	21.6	1.0	5.6	6.6	4.2	1.6	0.5	2.8	3.1	6.8	14.9	.455	1.3	3.6	.370	6.7	8.1	.822
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
difference:	+2	+3.8	+5.8	+1.1	+2.1	+3.2	+3.6	+1.5	+0.2	-0.8	-0.4	+0.7	+2.3	+.040	+1.0	+3.9		+3.3	+4.0	+.034
Paul Pierce	7	39.7	22.9	1.0	6.7	7.7	4.6	1.9	1.4	2.7	2.6	6.7	13.3	.505	1.0	3.9	.259	8.4	9.7	.868

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Paul Pierce
Season	2010-11	2005-06
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+74	+20.8	+16.6	+0.4	+1.7	+1.3	+3.9	+1.4	+1.2	-2.1	-0.2	+5.1	+11.1	+.015	+1.4	+4.0		+4.9	+7.1	+.166
Paul Pierce	79	39.0	26.8	1.0	5.7	6.7	4.7	1.4	0.4	3.5	2.8	8.7	18.5	.471	1.4	4.0	.354	7.9	10.3	.772
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Paul Pierce played in the postseason in their season 8

Additional Years
* Paul Pierce played 11 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 19, from 2007 to 2017—Paul Pierce played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 11 extra years over Yao Ming, Paul Pierce got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Star Game