Jeff Ruland vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson and Jeff Ruland, 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.

Jeff Ruland played 8 years in the NBA, 4 more than Zion Williamson, who played 4. Jeff Ruland had the first of his seasons in 1981-82, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
	Jeff Ruland	Zion Williamson
Season	1981-82	2019-20
Team	Washington Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 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		%
Jeff Ruland	82	27.0	14.4	3.1	6.2	9.3	1.6	0.5	0.7	2.9	3.9	5.1	9.1	.561	0.0	0.0	.333	4.2	5.5	.752
Zion Williamson	24	27.8	22.5	2.7	3.6	6.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	1.8	8.8	15.0	.583	0.3	0.6	.429	4.8	7.4	.640
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeff Ruland	7	33.9	17.0	4.1	5.3	9.4	0.7	0.4	0.6	3.3	3.4	5.4	11.3	.481	0.0	0.1	.000	6.1	8.0	.768
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Jeff Ruland	Zion Williamson
Season	1982-83	2020-21
Team	Washington Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
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		%
Jeff Ruland	79	36.2	19.4	3.7	7.3	11.0	3.0	0.9	1.0	3.8	3.9	7.3	13.3	.552	0.0	0.0	.333	4.7	6.9	.689
Zion Williamson	61	33.2	27.0	2.7	4.5	7.2	3.7	0.9	0.6	2.7	2.2	10.4	17.0	.611	0.2	0.6	.294	6.0	8.7	.698
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
	Jeff Ruland	Zion Williamson
Season	1983-84	2022-23
Team	Washington Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Jeff Ruland	75	41.1	22.2	3.5	8.8	12.3	3.9	0.9	1.0	4.6	3.8	8.0	13.8	.579	0.0	0.1	.143	6.2	8.5	.733
Zion Williamson	29	33.0	26.0	2.0	5.0	7.0	4.6	1.1	0.6	3.4	2.2	9.8	16.2	.608	0.2	0.7	.368	6.1	8.6	.714
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeff Ruland	4	46.8	24.0	4.0	8.8	12.8	7.8	0.5	0.8	4.8	3.8	9.3	17.8	.521	0.0	0.3	.000	5.5	6.8	.815
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Jeff Ruland	Zion Williamson
Season	1984-85	2023-24
Team	Washington Bullets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Jeff Ruland	37	38.8	18.9	3.4	7.6	11.1	4.4	0.8	0.7	4.8	3.5	6.8	11.9	.569	0.0	0.1	.000	5.4	7.9	.685
Zion Williamson	70	31.5	22.9	1.7	4.1	5.8	5.0	1.1	0.7	2.8	2.3	8.9	15.6	.570	0.1	0.3	.333	5.0	7.1	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeff Ruland	4	40.5	17.5	3.0	5.5	8.5	5.3	2.3	1.0	5.8	3.8	7.0	11.8	.596	0.0	0.5	.000	3.5	5.0	.700
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Jeff Ruland didn't play in 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91.