Happy Hairston vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Happy Hairston, 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.

Happy Hairston played 11 years in the NBA, 2 more than Nikola Jokic, who played 9. Happy Hairston had the first of his seasons in 1964-65, while Nikola Jokic had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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
Rookie Season
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1964-65	2015-16
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Royals Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Happy Hairston	61	12.1	6.1	-	-	4.8	0.4	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	5.8	.373	-	-	-	1.8	2.7	.667
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	3	13.0	4.0	-	-	6.7	1.0	-	-	-	0.7	1.7	6.0	.278	-	-	-	0.7	1.0	.667
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1967-68	2018-19
Team	Cincinnati Royals, Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div Semis	Nuggets 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		%
Happy Hairston	74	34.0	17.9	-	-	8.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.7	6.5	13.3	.487	-	-	-	4.9	7.1	.699
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	6	24.8	11.7	-	-	6.2	1.2	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	11.8	.408	-	-	-	2.0	3.3	.600
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846

Season 5
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1968-69	2019-20
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets 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		%
Happy Hairston	81	35.7	18.1	-	-	11.8	1.3	-	-	-	3.1	6.5	14.0	.469	-	-	-	5.0	6.8	.731
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835

Season 6
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1969-70	2020-21
Team	Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets 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		%
Happy Hairston	70	34.7	18.5	-	-	11.1	1.7	-	-	-	3.3	6.9	13.9	.496	-	-	-	4.7	5.9	.789
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	16	18.5	7.4	-	-	4.8	1.3	-	-	-	1.9	2.9	6.8	.435	-	-	-	1.5	2.2	.686
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836

Season 7
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1970-71	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Nuggets 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		%
Happy Hairston	80	36.5	18.6	-	-	10.0	2.1	-	-	-	3.2	7.2	15.4	.466	-	-	-	4.2	5.4	.782
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	12	39.3	17.0	-	-	9.1	2.8	-	-	-	3.4	6.9	13.7	.506	-	-	-	3.2	4.2	.760
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848

Season 8
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1971-72	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	80	34.4	13.1	-	-	13.1	2.4	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	10.0	.461	-	-	-	3.9	5.0	.779
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	15	38.5	13.5	-	-	13.1	2.1	-	-	-	2.9	4.9	11.2	.440	-	-	-	3.6	4.5	.794
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799

Season 9
	Happy Hairston	Nikola Jokic
Season	1972-73	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets 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		%
Happy Hairston	28	33.5	16.3	-	-	13.2	2.4	-	-	-	2.8	5.6	11.7	.482	-	-	-	5.0	6.4	.787
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Happy Hairston	3	8.7	2.7	-	-	1.3	0.3	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	3.0	.111	-	-	-	2.0	2.7	.750
Nikola Jokic	11	39.5	28.2	3.4	9.5	12.9	8.8	1.5	0.6	3.4	2.7	10.9	19.6	.556	1.1	3.9	.279	5.3	5.8	.906