Yao Ming vs. Trae Young Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Trae Young 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 and Trae Young both played 8 years in the NBA. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Trae Young had his rookie season in 2018-19. 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	Trae Young
Season	2002-03	2018-19
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
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:	+1	+1.9	+5.6	+1.6	+2.9	+4.5	+6.4	+0.5	+1.6	-1.7	-1.1	+1.6	+5.7	+.080	+1.9	+6.0		+0.5	+0.6	+.018
Trae Young	81	30.9	19.1	0.8	2.9	3.7	8.1	0.9	0.2	3.8	1.7	6.5	15.5	.418	1.9	6.0	.324	4.2	5.1	.829
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2003-04	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	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:	+22	+2.5	+12.1	+1.9	+2.9	+4.7	+7.8	+0.8	+1.8	-2.3	-1.6	+2.6	+8.3	+.085	+3.4	+9.5		+3.6	+3.9	+.051
Trae Young	60	35.3	29.6	0.5	3.7	4.3	9.3	1.1	0.1	4.8	1.7	9.1	20.8	.437	3.4	9.5	.361	8.0	9.3	.860
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
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2004-05	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks 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:	+17	+3.1	+7.0	+2.0	+2.5	+4.5	+8.6	+0.4	+1.8	-1.6	-1.9	+1.0	+5.5	+.114	+2.2	+6.3		+2.8	+2.5	+.103
Trae Young	63	33.7	25.3	0.6	3.3	3.9	9.4	0.8	0.2	4.1	1.8	7.7	17.7	.438	2.2	6.3	.343	7.7	8.7	.886
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:	+9	+5.8	+7.4	+2.9	+2.0	+4.9	+8.8	+1.0	+2.7	-1.3	-2.2	+1.5	+10.4	+.237	+2.8	+9.0		+1.6	+0.5	+.139
Trae Young	16	37.7	28.8	0.4	2.4	2.8	9.5	1.3	0.0	4.0	2.2	9.4	22.4	.418	2.8	9.0	.313	7.3	8.4	.866

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2005-06	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+19	+0.7	+6.1	+1.9	+4.5	+6.5	+8.2	+0.4	+1.5	-1.4	-1.7	+1.2	+4.5	+.059	+3.1	+8.0		+0.7	+0.4	+.051
Trae Young	76	34.9	28.4	0.7	3.1	3.7	9.7	0.9	0.1	4.0	1.7	9.4	20.3	.460	3.1	8.0	.382	6.6	7.3	.904
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Trae Young	5	37.2	15.4	1.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	0.6	0.0	6.2	2.6	4.4	13.8	.319	1.4	7.6	.184	5.2	6.6	.788

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2006-07	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+25	+1.0	+1.2	+1.3	+5.1	+6.4	+8.2	+0.7	+1.9	-0.6	-1.9	+0.6	+1.9	+.087	+2.1	+6.3		+0.4	+0.2	+.024
Trae Young	73	34.8	26.2	0.8	2.2	3.0	10.2	1.1	0.1	4.1	1.4	8.2	19.0	.429	2.1	6.3	.335	7.8	8.8	.886
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:	+1	+1.2	+4.1	+2.5	+4.2	+6.6	+9.3	+1.6		-0.7	-2.1	+2.1	+6.9	+.037	+3.0	+9.0		+3.2	+3.5	+.020
Trae Young	6	38.3	29.2	0.8	2.8	3.7	10.2	1.7	0.7	4.0	1.8	10.0	24.8	.403	3.0	9.0	.333	6.2	7.2	.860

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2007-08	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	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:	+1	+1.2	+3.7	+2.7	+5.4	+8.0	+8.5	+0.8	+1.8	-1.1	-1.1	+0.1	+3.2	+.077	+3.2	+8.7		+0.1	+0.1	+.005
Trae Young	54	36.0	25.7	0.4	2.3	2.8	10.8	1.3	0.2	4.4	2.0	8.0	18.7	.430	3.2	8.7	.373	6.4	7.5	.855
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 6

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2008-09	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Cup All-Tournament 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:	+1	+2.4	+4.5	+2.1	+4.6	+6.8	+9.8	+0.8	+1.7	-1.7	-1.4		+4.7	+.137	+2.9	+8.4		+1.6	+1.7	+.009
Trae Young	76	36.0	24.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	11.6	1.2	0.2	4.7	1.9	7.4	18.1	.411	2.9	8.4	.340	6.5	7.4	.875
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
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Trae Young
Season	2010-11	2025-26
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	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:		+9.6	+7.6	+1.4	+2.0	+3.4	+7.0	+0.8	+1.4	-0.6	-0.8	+1.6	+6.6	+.115	+1.0	+5.2		+3.4	+4.6	+.117
Trae Young	5	27.8	17.8	0.0	2.0	2.0	7.8	0.8	0.2	2.0	1.8	5.2	14.0	.371	1.0	5.2	.192	6.4	7.8	.821
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Yao Ming nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 8