Yao Ming vs. Payton Pritchard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Payton Pritchard 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, 2 more than Payton Pritchard, who played 6. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Payton Pritchard had his rookie season in 2020-21. 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	Payton Pritchard
Season	2002-03	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+16	+9.8	+5.8	+1.9	+3.9	+5.8	+0.1	+0.2	+1.7	-1.3	-1.2	+2.1	+3.5	+.058	+1.5	+3.8		+3.1	+3.8	+.078
Payton Pritchard	66	19.2	7.7	0.5	1.9	2.4	1.8	0.6	0.1	0.8	1.6	2.8	6.3	.440	1.5	3.8	.411	0.6	0.7	.889
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Payton Pritchard	5	13.4	3.4	0.4	1.4	1.8	2.4	0.4	0.0	0.6	0.8	1.2	3.4	.353	0.6	2.0	.300	0.4	0.4	1.000

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Payton Pritchard
Season	2003-04	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+11	+18.7	+11.3	+1.9	+5.2	+7.1	+0.5	+0.1	+1.8	-1.9	-2.4	+4.2	+7.2	+.093	+1.4	+3.5		+4.1	+5.1	+.191
Payton Pritchard	71	14.1	6.2	0.5	1.4	1.9	2.0	0.4	0.1	0.6	0.9	2.3	5.3	.429	1.4	3.5	.412	0.3	0.3	1.000
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:	+19	+24.7	+10.2	+1.8	+3.7	+5.5	+0.2	+0.1	+1.3	-2.2	-3.0	+4.4	+9.3	+.034	+1.0	+3.0		+2.4	+3.1	+.098
Payton Pritchard	24	12.9	4.8	0.4	1.5	1.9	1.6	0.3	0.1	0.4	1.0	1.8	4.3	.422	1.0	3.0	.333	0.2	0.3	.667

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Payton Pritchard
Season	2004-05	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+32	+17.2	+12.7	+2.1	+4.5	+6.6	+0.5	+0.1	+2.0	-1.7	-2.9	+4.6	+7.1	+.140	+1.2	+3.2		+4.6	+5.9	+.033
Payton Pritchard	48	13.4	5.6	0.5	1.3	1.8	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.8	0.8	2.1	5.1	.412	1.2	3.2	.364	0.3	0.3	.750
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:	+3	+26.2	+18.2	+3.3	+3.8	+7.1	+0.4	+0.2	+2.7	-2.2	-4.1	+6.7	+9.8	+.110	+0.4	+1.0		+5.3	+7.4	+.073
Payton Pritchard	10	5.7	3.2	0.0	0.6	0.6	1.1	0.1	0.0	0.5	0.3	1.2	2.2	.545	0.4	1.0	.400	0.4	0.5	.800

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Payton Pritchard
Season	2005-06	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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	+11.9	+12.7	+1.7	+5.2	+7.0	+1.9		+1.5	-1.9	-2.1	+4.6	+8.1	+.051	+1.8	+4.7		+5.3	+6.2	+.032
Payton Pritchard	82	22.3	9.6	0.9	2.4	3.2	3.4	0.5	0.1	0.7	1.3	3.6	7.7	.468	1.8	4.7	.385	0.6	0.7	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Payton Pritchard	19	18.7	6.4	0.7	1.2	1.9	2.1	0.2	0.0	0.7	1.2	2.3	5.5	.419	1.2	3.2	.383	0.6	0.6	.917

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Payton Pritchard
Season	2006-07	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	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:	+32	+5.4	+10.7	+0.8	+4.7	+5.6	+1.5	+0.5	+1.8	-2.5	-1.8	+3.7	+6.3	+.044	+3.2	+7.8		+6.5	+7.5	+.017
Payton Pritchard	80	28.4	14.3	1.3	2.6	3.8	3.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	1.5	5.1	10.8	.472	3.2	7.8	.407	0.9	1.1	.845
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:	+4	+9.6	+13.2	+2.5	+5.5	+8.0	+0.6	+0.4	+0.7	-3.9	-2.2	+3.8	+8.9	+.015	+2.5	+6.1		+8.1	+9.2	+.056
Payton Pritchard	11	27.5	11.9	0.8	1.5	2.3	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.8	1.7	4.1	9.0	.455	2.5	6.1	.403	1.3	1.5	.824

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Payton Pritchard
Season	2007-08	2025-26
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+49	+3.4	+7.3	+1.8	+4.4	+6.1	+3.5	+0.8	+2.0	-2.1	-1.3	+2.2	+1.3	+.107	+1.3	+7.7		+4.3	+4.7	+.100
Payton Pritchard	6	33.8	14.7	1.3	3.3	4.7	5.8	1.3	0.0	1.2	1.8	5.7	14.2	.400	1.3	7.7	.174	2.0	2.7	.750
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Payton Pritchard played in the postseason in their season 6

Additional Years
* Yao Ming played 2 seasons more than Payton Pritchard in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 8, from 2009 to 2011—Yao Ming played in one postseason. In those 2 extra years over Payton Pritchard, Yao Ming got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-Star Game