Yao Ming vs. Xavier Tillman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Xavier Tillman 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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, 4 more than Xavier Tillman, who played 4. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while Xavier Tillman 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 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.

Their Careers

Player		 Total Seasons Playoffs Played NBA Years
Yao Ming 8 4 2002-03 to 2010-11
Xavier Tillman 4 4 2020-21 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Rookie Season
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2002-032020-21
Team Houston RocketsMemphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Rookie First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayGrizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman 59 18.4 6.6 1.3 3.1 4.3 1.3 0.7 0.6 0.8 2.0 2.8 5.1 .559 0.4 1.1 .338 0.6 0.9 .642
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Xavier Tillman 3 6.0 0.7 0.3 0.7 1.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.3 1.7 .200 0.0 0.3 .000 0.0 0.0 -

Season 2
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2003-042021-22
Team Houston RocketsMemphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st RdGrizzlies Lost West Conf Semis
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman 53 13.2 4.8 1.2 1.8 3.0 1.2 0.9 0.3 0.6 1.2 1.8 4.1 .454 0.2 0.9 .204 0.9 1.3 .648
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
Xavier Tillman 9 15.4 4.4 1.4 1.9 3.3 0.7 0.7 0.1 1.1 1.8 2.0 2.8 .720 0.1 0.2 .500 0.3 0.7 .500

Season 3
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2004-052022-23
Team Houston RocketsMemphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st RdGrizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman 61 19.3 7.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 1.6 1.0 0.5 0.7 1.6 3.1 5.0 .614 0.1 0.2 .267 0.8 1.5 .551
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
Xavier Tillman 6 30.5 8.7 2.8 5.2 8.0 3.2 0.7 0.7 0.7 2.8 4.0 7.5 .533 0.2 0.7 .250 0.5 0.8 .600

Season 4
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2005-062023-24
Team Houston RocketsMemphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayCeltics TBD
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman 54 18.0 5.3 1.3 2.6 3.9 1.4 0.9 0.8 0.6 1.4 2.2 5.2 .434 0.4 1.5 .247 0.4 0.9 .440
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Xavier Tillman 3 8.3 1.3 0.0 2.0 2.0 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.0 1.0 0.7 0.7 1.000 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 -

Season 5
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2006-07-
Team Houston Rockets-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd-
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------

Season 6
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2007-08-
Team Houston Rockets-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not Play-
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------

Season 7
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2008-09-
Team Houston Rockets-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Rockets Lost West Conf Semis-
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------

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

Season 8
Yao Ming Xavier Tillman
Season 2010-11-
Team Houston Rockets-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not Play-
more >>
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
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Yao Ming ------- --- ----------
Xavier Tillman ------- --- ----------
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