George Mikan vs. Bill Willoughby Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Willoughby and George Mikan, 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 Mikan played 7 years in the NBA, 1 less than Bill Willoughby, who played 8. George Mikan had the first of his seasons in 1948-49, while Bill Willoughby had his rookie season in 1975-76. 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
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1948-49	1975-76
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 Mikan	60	-	28.3	-	-	-	3.6	-	-	-	4.3	9.7	23.4	.416	-	-	-	8.9	11.5	.772
Bill Willoughby	62	14.0	4.7	1.7	3.0	4.6	0.5	0.6	0.5	-	1.4	1.8	4.6	.398	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.660
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	10	-	30.3	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	10.3	22.7	.454	-	-	-	9.7	12.1	.802
Bill Willoughby	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1949-50	1976-77
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 Mikan	68	-	27.4	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-	4.4	9.5	23.5	.407	-	-	-	8.3	10.7	.779
Bill Willoughby	39	14.1	4.9	1.7	2.7	4.4	0.3	0.5	0.6	-	1.6	1.9	4.3	.444	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.683
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	-	31.3	-	-	-	3.0	-	-	-	3.9	10.1	26.3	.383	-	-	-	11.2	14.2	.788
Bill Willoughby	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1950-51	1977-78
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Buffalo Braves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	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		%
George Mikan	68	-	28.4	-	-	14.1	3.1	-	-	-	4.5	10.0	23.3	.428	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.803
Bill Willoughby	56	19.3	6.7	1.4	2.6	3.9	0.7	0.4	0.8	1.0	2.3	2.8	6.5	.430	-	-	-	1.1	1.4	.800
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	7	-	24.0	-	-	10.6	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	21.7	.408	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.800
Bill Willoughby	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Bill Willoughby didn't play in 1978-79.

Season 4
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1951-52	1979-80
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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 Mikan	64	40.2	23.8	-	-	13.5	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	8.5	22.1	.385	-	-	-	6.8	8.7	.780
Bill Willoughby	78	18.6	6.9	1.6	2.7	4.2	0.9	0.4	0.8	0.9	2.4	2.8	5.9	.479	0.0	0.1	.111	1.2	1.6	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	42.5	23.6	-	-	15.9	2.8	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	20.1	.379	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.790
Bill Willoughby	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1952-53	1980-81
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Rockets 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		%
George Mikan	70	37.9	20.6	-	-	14.4	2.9	-	-	-	4.1	7.1	17.9	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.780
Bill Willoughby	55	20.8	6.3	1.3	2.8	4.1	1.2	0.3	0.6	1.3	1.9	2.7	5.2	.523	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.2	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	38.6	19.8	-	-	15.4	1.9	-	-	-	4.7	6.5	17.8	.366	-	-	-	6.8	9.3	.732
Bill Willoughby	19	21.9	6.0	1.5	3.0	4.5	1.2	0.7	1.0	1.2	2.2	2.2	6.1	.362	0.0	0.1	.000	1.6	2.1	.750

Season 6
	George Mikan	Bill Willoughby
Season	1953-54	1981-82
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	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 Mikan	72	32.8	18.1	-	-	14.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	16.1	.380	-	-	-	5.9	7.6	.777
Bill Willoughby	69	21.4	7.8	1.6	2.3	3.8	1.1	0.4	0.9	1.1	2.1	3.5	6.7	.517	0.0	0.1	.429	0.8	1.1	.727
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	32.6	19.4	-	-	13.2	1.9	-	-	-	4.3	6.7	14.6	.458	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.813
Bill Willoughby	2	8.5	2.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.0	1.000

Note: George Mikan didn't play in 1954-55.