Don Ford vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum and Don Ford, 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.

Don Ford and Jayson Tatum both played 7 years in the NBA. Don Ford had the first of his seasons in 1975-76, while Jayson Tatum had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
Don Ford 7 3 1975-76 to 1981-82
Jayson Tatum 7 7 2017-18 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season

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

Rookie Season

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1975-762017-18
Team Los Angeles LakersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayCeltics Lost East Conf Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 76 24.2 9.6 1.6 2.8 4.4 1.5 0.7 0.2 - 2.4 4.1 9.3 .438 - - - 1.4 1.8 .748
Jayson Tatum 80 30.5 13.9 0.6 4.4 5.0 1.6 1.0 0.7 1.4 2.1 5.0 10.4 .475 1.3 3.0 .434 2.7 3.2 .826
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford ------- --- ----------
Jayson Tatum 19 35.9 18.5 0.5 3.8 4.4 2.7 1.2 0.5 2.2 2.6 6.5 13.7 .471 1.2 3.7 .324 4.3 5.1 .845

Season 2

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1976-772018-19
Team Los Angeles LakersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Lakers Lost West Conf FinalsCeltics Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 82 21.7 7.3 1.3 3.0 4.3 1.6 0.7 0.3 - 2.1 3.2 7.0 .460 - - - 0.9 1.2 .716
Jayson Tatum 79 31.1 15.7 0.9 5.2 6.0 2.1 1.1 0.7 1.5 2.1 5.9 13.1 .450 1.5 3.9 .373 2.5 2.9 .855
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 11 30.3 10.1 2.0 3.3 5.3 3.4 1.5 0.4 - 2.5 3.8 8.9 .429 - - - 2.5 3.3 .750
Jayson Tatum 9 32.8 15.2 0.8 5.9 6.7 1.9 1.1 0.8 2.0 2.3 5.4 12.4 .438 1.1 3.4 .323 3.2 4.3 .744

Season 3

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1977-782019-20
Team Los Angeles LakersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Third Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Lakers Lost West Conf 1st RdCeltics Lost East Conf Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 79 24.6 7.7 1.3 3.1 4.5 1.8 0.9 0.6 1.1 2.7 3.4 7.3 .472 - - - 0.9 1.1 .756
Jayson Tatum 66 34.3 23.4 1.0 6.0 7.0 3.0 1.4 0.9 2.3 2.1 8.4 18.6 .450 2.9 7.1 .403 3.8 4.7 .812
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 1 10.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 3.0 .000 - - - 0.0 0.0 -
Jayson Tatum 17 40.6 25.7 1.3 8.7 10.0 5.0 1.0 1.2 2.8 2.4 8.5 19.6 .434 2.8 7.4 .373 5.9 7.2 .813

Season 4

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1978-792020-21
Team Los Angeles LakersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Lakers Lost West Conf SemisCeltics Lost East Conf 1st Rd
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 79 19.5 6.7 1.1 2.3 3.4 1.3 0.6 0.3 1.2 2.2 2.9 5.7 .507 - - - 0.9 1.1 .809
Jayson Tatum 64 35.8 26.4 0.8 6.6 7.4 4.3 1.2 0.5 2.7 1.9 9.5 20.6 .459 2.9 7.6 .386 4.6 5.3 .868
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 8 17.3 4.1 0.3 2.5 2.8 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.5 2.5 2.0 3.8 .533 - - - 0.1 0.4 .333
Jayson Tatum 5 37.0 30.6 0.6 5.2 5.8 4.6 1.2 1.6 2.6 3.0 9.4 22.2 .423 2.8 7.2 .389 9.0 9.8 .918

Season 5

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1979-802021-22
Team Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland CavaliersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not PlayCeltics Lost NBA Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 73 13.7 4.2 0.6 1.9 2.5 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.7 1.8 1.8 3.8 .478 0.0 0.0 .333 0.6 0.7 .849
Jayson Tatum 76 35.9 26.9 1.1 6.9 8.0 4.4 1.0 0.6 2.9 2.3 9.3 20.6 .453 3.0 8.6 .353 5.3 6.2 .853
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford ------- --- ----------
Jayson Tatum 24 41.0 25.6 1.0 5.7 6.7 6.2 1.2 0.9 4.2 3.0 8.4 19.7 .426 3.2 8.2 .393 5.7 7.1 .800

Season 6

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1980-812022-23
Team Cleveland CavaliersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
-Achievement All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs Did Not PlayCeltics Lost East Conf Finals
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford 64 15.6 3.5 1.2 1.4 2.6 1.3 0.2 0.2 0.8 1.6 1.6 3.5 .446 0.0 0.0 .000 0.3 0.4 .917
Jayson Tatum 74 36.9 30.1 1.1 7.7 8.8 4.6 1.1 0.7 2.9 2.2 9.8 21.1 .466 3.2 9.3 .350 7.2 8.4 .854
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford ------- --- ----------
Jayson Tatum 20 40.0 27.2 1.3 9.2 10.5 5.3 1.1 1.1 2.8 2.2 9.3 20.2 .458 2.7 8.2 .323 6.0 6.9 .876

Season 7

Don Ford Jayson Tatum
Season 1981-822023-24
Team Cleveland CavaliersBoston Celtics
Honors & Awards -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 %
Don Ford 21 9.6 1.1 0.7 1.0 1.7 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.7 1.4 0.4 1.1 .375 0.0 0.0 .000 0.2 0.3 .833
Jayson Tatum 74 35.7 26.9 0.9 7.2 8.1 4.9 1.0 0.6 2.5 2.0 9.1 19.3 .471 3.1 8.2 .376 5.6 6.7 .833
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Don Ford ------- --- ----------
Jayson Tatum 6 37.5 21.2 0.5 10.0 10.5 5.3 0.3 1.0 1.7 3.0 6.5 16.0 .406 1.5 6.0 .250 6.7 8.2 .816