Elmore Smith vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum and Elmore Smith, 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.

Elmore Smith played 8 years in the NBA, 1 more than Jayson Tatum, who played 7. Elmore Smith had the first of his seasons in 1971-72, 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
Rookie Season
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1971-72	2017-18
Team	Buffalo Braves	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
Elmore Smith	78	40.8	17.3	-	-	15.2	1.4	-	-	-	3.9	7.4	16.3	.454	-	-	-	2.5	4.7	.534
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		%
Elmore Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 3
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1973-74	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Blocks Leader	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics 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		%
Elmore Smith	81	36.1	12.5	2.5	8.7	11.2	1.9	0.9	4.9	-	3.8	5.4	11.7	.457	-	-	-	1.8	3.1	.590
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		%
Elmore Smith	5	34.2	19.2	3.8	6.8	10.6	1.2	1.4	1.6	-	4.0	8.4	17.6	.477	-	-	-	2.4	3.4	.706
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
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1974-75	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
Elmore Smith	74	31.6	10.9	2.8	8.1	10.9	2.0	1.1	2.9	-	3.4	4.7	9.5	.493	-	-	-	1.5	3.1	.485
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		%
Elmore Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1975-76	2021-22
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA 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		%
Elmore Smith	78	36.0	15.6	2.6	8.9	11.4	1.2	1.0	3.1	-	3.4	6.4	12.3	.518	-	-	-	2.8	4.5	.632
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		%
Elmore Smith	3	34.7	14.7	1.7	5.7	7.3	0.3	0.7	3.7	-	4.7	5.0	9.0	.556	-	-	-	4.7	7.0	.667
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
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1976-77	2022-23
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics 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		%
Elmore Smith	70	20.9	8.6	1.6	4.6	6.3	0.6	0.5	2.1	-	3.0	3.4	7.2	.475	-	-	-	1.7	3.0	.549
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		%
Elmore Smith	3	18.7	13.7	2.0	6.0	8.0	0.3	1.7	1.0	-	3.3	6.0	11.0	.545	-	-	-	1.7	2.7	.625
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
	Elmore Smith	Jayson Tatum
Season	1977-78	2023-24
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics TBD

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elmore Smith	81	24.6	12.5	2.2	6.2	8.4	0.7	0.6	2.2	1.7	3.0	5.0	10.0	.497	-	-	-	2.5	3.8	.663
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		%
Elmore Smith	2	28.0	12.5	3.0	6.5	9.5	0.0	1.5	1.5	2.5	4.5	5.5	12.0	.458	-	-	-	1.5	3.0	.500
Jayson Tatum	8	38.0	23.1	0.5	9.9	10.4	5.5	0.5	0.9	2.0	2.9	7.1	17.3	.413	1.6	6.1	.265	7.3	8.6	.841