Joel Embiid vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith and Joel Embiid, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Games against each other

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.

Joel Embiid played 8 years in the NBA, 5 less than Josh Smith, who played 13. Joel Embiid had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, while Josh Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Joel Embiid	8	7	2016-17 to 2023-24
Josh Smith	13	8	2004-05 to 2017-18

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13


Rookie Season
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2016-17	2004-05
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
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		%
Joel Embiid	31	25.4	20.2	2.0	5.9	7.8	2.1	0.9	2.5	3.8	3.6	6.5	13.8	.466	1.2	3.2	.367	6.2	7.9	.783
Josh Smith	74	27.7	9.7	2.0	4.2	6.2	1.7	0.8	1.9	1.8	2.1	3.7	8.1	.455	0.1	0.3	.174	2.2	3.2	.688

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2017-18	2005-06
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers 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		%
Joel Embiid	63	30.3	22.9	2.3	8.7	11.0	3.2	0.6	1.8	3.7	3.3	8.1	16.8	.483	1.0	3.4	.308	5.7	7.4	.769
Josh Smith	80	32.0	11.3	2.2	4.4	6.6	2.4	0.8	2.6	2.0	3.3	4.1	9.7	.425	0.4	1.4	.309	2.6	3.7	.719

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	8	34.8	21.4	2.9	9.8	12.6	3.0	0.9	1.8	3.6	3.9	7.5	17.3	.435	1.0	3.6	.276	5.4	7.6	.705
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2018-19	2006-07
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers 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		%
Joel Embiid	64	33.7	27.5	2.5	11.1	13.6	3.7	0.7	1.9	3.5	3.3	9.1	18.7	.484	1.2	4.1	.300	8.2	10.1	.804
Josh Smith	72	36.8	16.4	2.3	6.3	8.6	3.3	1.4	2.9	3.2	3.3	6.1	13.8	.439	0.5	2.1	.250	3.7	5.4	.693

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	11	30.4	20.2	1.9	8.5	10.5	3.4	0.7	2.3	3.6	3.1	6.2	14.5	.428	1.1	3.5	.308	6.7	8.2	.822
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2019-20	2007-08
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Hawks 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		%
Joel Embiid	51	29.5	23.0	2.8	8.9	11.6	3.0	0.9	1.3	3.1	3.4	7.5	15.7	.477	1.1	3.4	.331	6.9	8.5	.807
Josh Smith	81	35.5	17.2	2.0	6.2	8.2	3.4	1.5	2.8	3.0	3.3	6.4	14.0	.457	0.3	1.2	.253	4.1	5.8	.710

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	4	36.3	30.0	2.8	9.5	12.3	1.3	1.5	1.3	3.8	4.5	8.5	18.5	.459	1.0	4.0	.250	12.0	14.8	.814
Josh Smith	7	33.9	15.7	1.0	5.4	6.4	2.9	1.7	2.9	3.7	3.7	5.0	12.6	.398	0.4	2.6	.167	5.3	6.3	.841


Season 5
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2020-21	2008-09
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	51	31.1	28.5	2.2	8.4	10.6	2.8	1.0	1.4	3.1	2.4	9.0	17.6	.513	1.1	3.0	.377	9.2	10.7	.859
Josh Smith	69	35.1	15.6	1.9	5.3	7.2	2.4	1.4	1.6	2.3	2.7	6.1	12.3	.492	0.4	1.3	.299	3.1	5.2	.588

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	11	32.5	28.1	1.5	9.1	10.5	3.4	1.0	1.5	3.8	3.0	9.2	17.9	.513	1.5	3.7	.390	8.3	9.9	.835
Josh Smith	11	37.3	17.1	2.2	5.3	7.5	2.2	1.1	1.5	1.9	3.3	6.1	14.5	.421	0.2	1.4	.133	4.7	6.5	.732


Season 6
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2021-22	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	68	33.8	30.6	2.1	9.6	11.7	4.2	1.1	1.5	3.1	2.7	9.8	19.6	.499	1.4	3.7	.371	9.6	11.8	.814
Josh Smith	81	35.4	15.7	2.8	6.0	8.7	4.2	1.6	2.1	2.4	3.0	6.2	12.3	.505	0.0	0.1	.000	3.2	5.2	.618

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	10	38.5	23.6	2.1	8.6	10.7	2.1	0.4	0.8	3.2	3.4	7.8	16.1	.484	0.7	3.3	.212	7.3	8.9	.820
Josh Smith	11	35.6	14.1	3.4	5.6	9.0	2.6	1.2	1.7	1.5	2.7	5.6	11.7	.481	0.2	0.5	.333	2.6	4.0	.659


Season 7
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2022-23	2010-11
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	66	34.6	33.1	1.7	8.4	10.2	4.2	1.0	1.7	3.4	3.1	11.0	20.1	.548	1.0	3.0	.330	10.0	11.7	.857
Josh Smith	77	34.4	16.5	1.7	6.8	8.5	3.3	1.3	1.6	2.6	2.8	6.5	13.5	.477	0.7	2.0	.331	3.0	4.1	.725

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	9	37.3	23.7	1.8	8.0	9.8	2.7	0.7	2.8	3.9	3.0	7.3	17.0	.431	0.6	3.1	.179	8.4	9.3	.905
Josh Smith	12	36.5	15.1	1.5	7.0	8.5	2.9	1.1	2.1	2.2	3.3	5.8	14.3	.404	0.3	2.0	.125	3.3	5.6	.597


Season 8
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	2023-24	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Hawks 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		%
Joel Embiid	39	33.6	34.7	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.6	1.2	1.7	3.8	2.9	11.5	21.8	.529	1.4	3.6	.388	10.2	11.6	.883
Josh Smith	66	35.3	18.8	2.1	7.5	9.6	3.9	1.4	1.7	2.5	2.6	7.6	16.7	.458	0.4	1.7	.257	3.1	4.9	.630

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	6	41.3	33.0	3.2	7.7	10.8	5.7	1.2	1.5	4.2	3.3	9.8	22.2	.444	2.2	6.5	.333	11.2	13.0	.859
Josh Smith	5	39.2	16.8	2.0	11.6	13.6	4.8	0.6	1.0	3.0	2.8	6.8	17.6	.386	0.0	0.8	.000	3.2	4.2	.762


Season 9
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	-	2012-13
Team	-	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Hawks 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		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	76	35.3	17.5	1.8	6.7	8.4	4.2	1.2	1.8	3.0	2.3	7.2	15.6	.465	0.8	2.6	.303	2.2	4.2	.517

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	6	33.2	17.0	1.7	5.8	7.5	3.5	1.8	0.5	2.7	3.5	6.5	15.0	.433	0.8	3.3	.250	3.2	6.0	.528


Season 10
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	-	2013-14
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	77	35.5	16.4	1.3	5.4	6.8	3.3	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.6	6.7	16.0	.419	0.9	3.4	.264	2.1	3.9	.532

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	-	2014-15
Team	-	Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	83	27.7	12.4	1.8	4.6	6.4	3.3	1.0	1.4	2.5	2.7	5.0	11.9	.419	0.9	2.7	.316	1.5	3.1	.498

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	17	23.3	13.5	1.5	4.1	5.6	2.7	0.5	1.0	2.2	2.4	5.0	11.4	.438	1.6	4.2	.380	1.9	4.4	.432


Season 12
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	-	2015-16
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	55	16.0	6.0	0.9	2.6	3.5	1.6	0.6	0.9	1.4	2.1	2.3	6.3	.364	0.7	2.6	.287	0.7	1.2	.552

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	4	9.5	4.0	0.3	0.3	0.5	1.0	0.3	0.3	1.3	1.8	1.5	3.3	.462	1.0	2.0	.500	0.0	0.5	.000

Note: Josh Smith didn't play in 2016-17.


Season 13
	Joel Embiid	Josh Smith
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	3	4.0	0.7	1.0	0.3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Joel Embiid vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith and Joel Embiid, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13