Yao Ming vs. Willis Reed Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Willis Reed 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 less than Willis Reed, who played 10. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Willis Reed had his rookie season in 1964-65. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Rookie Season
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2002-03	1964-65
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	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
Willis Reed	80	38.0	19.5	-	-	14.7	1.7	-	-	-	4.2	7.9	18.2	.432	-	-	-	3.8	5.1	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2003-04	1965-66
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
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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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
Willis Reed	76	33.4	15.5	-	-	11.6	1.2	-	-	-	4.3	5.8	13.3	.434	-	-	-	4.0	5.3	.757
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
Willis Reed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2004-05	1966-67
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East 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	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
Willis Reed	78	36.2	20.9	-	-	14.6	1.6	-	-	-	3.8	8.1	16.6	.489	-	-	-	4.6	6.2	.735
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
Willis Reed	4	37.0	27.5	-	-	13.8	1.8	-	-	-	4.8	10.8	20.0	.538	-	-	-	6.0	6.3	.960

Season 4
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2005-06	1967-68
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost East 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	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
Willis Reed	81	35.5	20.8	-	-	13.2	2.0	-	-	-	4.2	8.1	16.6	.490	-	-	-	4.5	6.3	.721
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	6	35.0	21.3	-	-	10.3	1.8	-	-	-	4.0	8.8	16.3	.541	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.733

Season 5
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2006-07	1968-69
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East Div 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	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
Willis Reed	82	37.9	21.1	-	-	14.5	2.3	-	-	-	3.8	8.6	16.5	.521	-	-	-	4.0	5.3	.747
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
Willis Reed	10	42.9	25.7	-	-	14.1	1.9	-	-	-	4.0	10.1	19.8	.510	-	-	-	5.5	7.0	.786

Season 6
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2007-08	1969-70
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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	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
Willis Reed	81	38.1	21.7	-	-	13.9	2.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.7	17.1	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	18	40.7	23.7	-	-	13.8	2.8	-	-	-	3.3	9.9	21.0	.471	-	-	-	3.9	5.3	.737

Season 7
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2008-09	1970-71
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East 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	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
Willis Reed	73	39.1	20.9	-	-	13.7	2.0	-	-	-	3.1	8.4	18.2	.462	-	-	-	4.1	5.2	.785
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
Willis Reed	12	42.0	15.7	-	-	12.0	2.3	-	-	-	3.4	6.8	16.3	.413	-	-	-	2.2	3.3	.667

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

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	2010-11	1971-72
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
Willis Reed	11	33.0	13.4	-	-	8.7	2.0	-	-	-	2.7	5.5	12.5	.438	-	-	-	2.5	3.5	.692
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Yao Ming	Willis Reed
Season	-	1972-73
Team	-	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	69	27.2	11.0	-	-	8.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	4.8	10.2	.474	-	-	-	1.3	1.8	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willis Reed	17	28.6	12.5	-	-	7.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.8	5.7	12.2	.466	-	-	-	1.1	1.2	.857