George Johnson vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming and George Johnson, 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.

George Johnson played 13 years in the NBA, 5 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. George Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1972-73, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13
Rookie Season
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1972-73	2002-03
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf 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		%
George Johnson	56	6.2	1.6	-	-	2.5	0.1	-	-	-	0.7	0.7	1.8	.410	-	-	-	0.1	0.3	.412
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	9	5.0	1.4	-	-	1.6	0.3	-	-	-	0.8	0.7	1.7	.400	-	-	-	0.1	0.4	.250
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1973-74	2003-04
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West 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		%
George Johnson	66	19.6	6.1	2.9	5.0	7.9	1.1	0.5	1.9	-	2.7	2.6	5.4	.483	-	-	-	0.9	1.6	.551
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 3
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1974-75	2004-05
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Rockets Lost West 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		%
George Johnson	82	17.5	4.4	2.6	4.4	7.0	0.8	0.4	1.7	-	2.5	1.9	3.9	.476	-	-	-	0.7	1.1	.659
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	17	18.9	5.2	3.2	4.2	7.4	0.9	0.5	2.4	-	2.9	2.1	3.7	.571	-	-	-	0.9	1.6	.593
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

Season 4
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1975-76	2005-06
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf 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		%
George Johnson	82	21.3	4.9	2.4	5.2	7.6	1.0	0.6	2.1	-	3.4	2.0	4.2	.484	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	.673
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	13	20.1	5.8	2.9	3.8	6.7	1.3	1.1	1.8	-	3.5	2.4	4.2	.574	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.737
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1976-77	2006-07
Team	Golden State Warriors, Buffalo Braves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West 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		%
George Johnson	78	21.2	6.0	2.6	5.2	7.8	1.3	0.5	2.3	-	3.2	2.5	5.5	.462	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	.724
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 6
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1977-78	2007-08
Team	New Jersey Nets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Blocks Leader	-
	-	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		%
George Johnson	81	29.8	8.7	3.0	6.6	9.6	1.4	1.0	3.4	2.7	4.2	3.5	8.9	.395	-	-	-	1.6	2.3	.719
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1978-79	2008-09
Team	New Jersey Nets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West 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		%
George Johnson	78	26.4	6.6	2.6	5.3	7.9	1.1	0.9	3.2	2.3	4.0	2.6	6.2	.427	-	-	-	1.3	1.8	.761
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	2	35.0	14.5	4.0	8.5	12.5	1.0	1.0	3.5	2.0	4.0	7.0	10.5	.667	-	-	-	0.5	1.5	.333
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

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

Season 8
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1979-80	2010-11
Team	New Jersey Nets	Houston Rockets
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		%
George Johnson	81	26.2	7.2	2.4	5.1	7.4	2.1	0.7	3.2	2.5	3.9	3.1	6.7	.457	0.0	0.0	.000	1.1	1.6	.706
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1980-81	-
Team	San Antonio Spurs	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Blocks Leader	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West 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		%
George Johnson	82	23.6	5.0	2.6	4.7	7.3	1.1	0.6	3.4	1.3	3.3	2.0	4.2	.473	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.734
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	7	23.6	4.4	3.4	5.6	9.0	0.9	0.4	2.3	1.0	2.9	1.7	3.7	.462	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.700
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	George Johnson	Yao Ming
Season	1981-82	-
Team	San Antonio Spurs	-
Honors & Awards	Blocks Leader	-
Playoffs	Spurs 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		%
George Johnson	75	21.0	3.0	2.0	4.0	6.1	1.1	0.3	3.1	1.2	3.5	1.2	2.6	.467	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.9	.672
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Johnson	9	19.4	1.2	1.3	3.8	5.1	1.3	0.7	1.7	0.4	3.8	0.4	0.9	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.6	.600
Yao Ming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: George Johnson didn't play in 1983-84.