Elgin Baylor vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith and Elgin Baylor, 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.

Elgin Baylor played 14 years in the NBA, 1 more than Josh Smith, who played 13. Elgin Baylor had the first of his seasons in 1958-59, while Josh Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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
Elgin Baylor	14	12	1958-59 to 1971-72
Josh Smith	13	8	2004-05 to 2017-18

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1958-59	2004-05
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	70	40.8	24.9	-	-	15.0	4.1	-	-	-	3.9	8.6	21.2	.408	-	-	-	7.6	9.8	.777
Josh Smith	74	27.7	9.7	2.0	4.2	6.2	1.7	0.8	1.9	1.8	2.1	3.7	8.1	.455	0.1	0.3	.174	2.2	3.2	.688

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	42.8	25.5	-	-	12.0	3.3	-	-	-	4.0	9.4	23.3	.403	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.770
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1959-60	2005-06
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	70	41.0	29.6	-	-	16.4	3.5	-	-	-	3.3	10.8	25.4	.424	-	-	-	8.1	11.0	.732
Josh Smith	80	32.0	11.3	2.2	4.4	6.6	2.4	0.8	2.6	2.0	3.3	4.1	9.7	.425	0.4	1.4	.309	2.6	3.7	.719

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	9	45.3	33.4	-	-	14.1	3.4	-	-	-	4.2	12.3	26.0	.474	-	-	-	8.8	10.4	.840
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1960-61	2006-07
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	73	42.9	34.8	-	-	19.8	5.1	-	-	-	3.8	12.8	29.7	.430	-	-	-	9.3	11.8	.783
Josh Smith	72	36.8	16.4	2.3	6.3	8.6	3.3	1.4	2.9	3.2	3.3	6.1	13.8	.439	0.5	2.1	.250	3.7	5.4	.693

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	12	45.0	38.1	-	-	15.3	4.6	-	-	-	3.7	14.2	30.2	.470	-	-	-	9.8	11.8	.824
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1961-62	2007-08
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	48	44.4	38.3	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.2	14.2	33.1	.428	-	-	-	9.9	13.1	.754
Josh Smith	81	35.5	17.2	2.0	6.2	8.2	3.4	1.5	2.8	3.0	3.3	6.4	14.0	.457	0.3	1.2	.253	4.1	5.8	.710

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.9	38.6	-	-	17.7	3.6	-	-	-	3.5	14.3	32.7	.438	-	-	-	10.0	12.9	.774
Josh Smith	7	33.9	15.7	1.0	5.4	6.4	2.9	1.7	2.9	3.7	3.7	5.0	12.6	.398	0.4	2.6	.167	5.3	6.3	.841


Season 5
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1962-63	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 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		%
Elgin Baylor	80	42.1	34.0	-	-	14.3	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	12.9	28.4	.453	-	-	-	8.3	9.9	.837
Josh Smith	69	35.1	15.6	1.9	5.3	7.2	2.4	1.4	1.6	2.3	2.7	6.1	12.3	.492	0.4	1.3	.299	3.1	5.2	.588

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.2	32.6	-	-	13.6	4.5	-	-	-	3.7	12.3	27.8	.442	-	-	-	8.0	9.7	.825
Josh Smith	11	37.3	17.1	2.2	5.3	7.5	2.2	1.1	1.5	1.9	3.3	6.1	14.5	.421	0.2	1.4	.133	4.7	6.5	.732


Season 6
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1963-64	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Hawks Lost East Conf 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		%
Elgin Baylor	78	40.6	25.4	-	-	12.0	4.4	-	-	-	3.0	9.7	22.8	.425	-	-	-	6.0	7.5	.804
Josh Smith	81	35.4	15.7	2.8	6.0	8.7	4.2	1.6	2.1	2.4	3.0	6.2	12.3	.505	0.0	0.1	.000	3.2	5.2	.618

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	5	44.2	24.2	-	-	11.6	5.6	-	-	-	3.4	9.0	23.8	.378	-	-	-	6.2	8.0	.775
Josh Smith	11	35.6	14.1	3.4	5.6	9.0	2.6	1.2	1.7	1.5	2.7	5.6	11.7	.481	0.2	0.5	.333	2.6	4.0	.659


Season 7
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1964-65	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 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		%
Elgin Baylor	74	41.3	27.1	-	-	12.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.2	10.3	25.7	.401	-	-	-	6.5	8.2	.792
Josh Smith	77	34.4	16.5	1.7	6.8	8.5	3.3	1.3	1.6	2.6	2.8	6.5	13.5	.477	0.7	2.0	.331	3.0	4.1	.725

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	1	5.0	0.0	-	-	0	1.0	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Josh Smith	12	36.5	15.1	1.5	7.0	8.5	2.9	1.1	2.1	2.2	3.3	5.8	14.3	.404	0.3	2.0	.125	3.3	5.6	.597


Season 8
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1965-66	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	65	30.4	16.6	-	-	9.6	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	6.4	15.9	.401	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	.739
Josh Smith	66	35.3	18.8	2.1	7.5	9.6	3.9	1.4	1.7	2.5	2.6	7.6	16.7	.458	0.4	1.7	.257	3.1	4.9	.630

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	14	41.9	26.8	-	-	14.1	3.7	-	-	-	2.7	10.4	23.4	.442	-	-	-	6.1	7.5	.810
Josh Smith	5	39.2	16.8	2.0	11.6	13.6	4.8	0.6	1.0	3.0	2.8	6.8	17.6	.386	0.0	0.8	.000	3.2	4.2	.762


Season 9
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1966-67	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Hawks 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		%
Elgin Baylor	70	38.7	26.6	-	-	12.8	3.1	-	-	-	3.0	10.2	23.7	.429	-	-	-	6.3	7.7	.813
Josh Smith	76	35.3	17.5	1.8	6.7	8.4	4.2	1.2	1.8	3.0	2.3	7.2	15.6	.465	0.8	2.6	.303	2.2	4.2	.517

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	3	40.3	23.7	-	-	13.0	3.0	-	-	-	2.0	9.3	25.3	.368	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	.750
Josh Smith	6	33.2	17.0	1.7	5.8	7.5	3.5	1.8	0.5	2.7	3.5	6.5	15.0	.433	0.8	3.3	.250	3.2	6.0	.528


Season 10
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1967-68	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	77	39.3	26.0	-	-	12.2	4.6	-	-	-	3.0	9.8	22.2	.443	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.786
Josh Smith	77	35.5	16.4	1.3	5.4	6.8	3.3	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.6	6.7	16.0	.419	0.9	3.4	.264	2.1	3.9	.532

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	15	42.2	28.5	-	-	14.5	4.0	-	-	-	2.7	11.7	25.1	.468	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.679
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1968-69	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Elgin Baylor	76	40.3	24.8	-	-	10.6	5.4	-	-	-	2.7	9.6	21.5	.447	-	-	-	5.5	7.5	.743
Josh Smith	83	27.7	12.4	1.8	4.6	6.4	3.3	1.0	1.4	2.5	2.7	5.0	11.9	.419	0.9	2.7	.316	1.5	3.1	.498

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	18	35.6	15.4	-	-	9.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.1	5.9	15.4	.385	-	-	-	3.5	5.6	.630
Josh Smith	17	23.3	13.5	1.5	4.1	5.6	2.7	0.5	1.0	2.2	2.4	5.0	11.4	.438	1.6	4.2	.380	1.9	4.4	.432


Season 12
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1969-70	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	54	41.0	24.0	-	-	10.4	5.4	-	-	-	2.4	9.5	19.5	.486	-	-	-	5.1	6.6	.773
Josh Smith	55	16.0	6.0	0.9	2.6	3.5	1.6	0.6	0.9	1.4	2.1	2.3	6.3	.364	0.7	2.6	.287	0.7	1.2	.552

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	18	37.1	18.7	-	-	9.6	4.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.7	16.4	.466	-	-	-	3.3	4.5	.741
Josh Smith	4	9.5	4.0	0.3	0.3	0.5	1.0	0.3	0.3	1.3	1.8	1.5	3.3	.462	1.0	2.0	.500	0.0	0.5	.000

Note: Josh Smith didn't play in 2016-17.


Season 13
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1970-71	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	2	28.5	10.0	-	-	5.5	1.0	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	9.5	.421	-	-	-	2.0	3.0	.667
Josh Smith	3	4.0	0.7	1.0	0.3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Elgin Baylor	Josh Smith
Season	1971-72	-
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	-
Honors & Awards
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		%
Elgin Baylor	9	26.6	11.8	-	-	6.3	2.0	-	-	-	2.2	4.7	10.8	.433	-	-	-	2.4	3.0	.815
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Elgin Baylor vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith and Elgin Baylor, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14