John Drew vs. Joel Embiid Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joel Embiid and John Drew, 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

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.

John Drew played 11 years in the NBA, 3 more than Joel Embiid, who played 8. John Drew had the first of his seasons in 1974-75, while Joel Embiid had his rookie season in 2016-17. 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
John Drew 11 5 1974-75 to 1984-85
Joel Embiid 8 7 2016-17 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11

Rookie Season

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1974-752016-17
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 78 29.3 18.5 4.6 6.1 10.7 1.8 1.5 0.5 - 3.5 6.8 15.8 .428 - - - 5.0 7.0 .713
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------

Season 2

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1975-762017-18
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Defensive Second Team
Achievement All-Star GameAchievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 77 30.5 21.6 3.7 4.9 8.6 1.9 1.8 0.4 - 3.4 7.6 15.2 .502 - - - 6.3 8.5 .744
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
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

Season 3

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1976-772018-19
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Defensive Second Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 74 36.3 24.2 3.8 5.3 9.1 1.8 1.4 0.4 - 3.7 9.3 19.1 .487 - - - 5.6 7.8 .714
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
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

Season 4

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1977-782019-20
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 70 31.5 23.2 3.0 4.3 7.3 2.0 1.7 0.4 3.0 3.5 8.5 17.7 .480 - - - 6.2 8.2 .760
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 2 39.5 26.0 4.5 3.0 7.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 2.0 4.5 10.5 24.5 .429 - - - 5.0 8.0 .625
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

Season 5

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1978-792020-21
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement All-Defensive Second Team
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Hawks Lost East Conf Semis76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 79 30.5 22.7 2.8 3.8 6.6 1.5 1.6 0.2 2.7 4.2 8.2 17.4 .473 - - - 6.3 8.6 .731
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 9 30.6 16.1 2.2 4.4 6.7 0.8 1.0 0.4 1.8 4.0 6.1 14.6 .420 - - - 3.9 5.1 .761
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

Season 6

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1979-802021-22
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-NBA Second Team
-Achievement Scoring Leader
Achievement All-Star GameAchievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Hawks Lost East Conf Semis76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 80 28.8 19.5 2.5 3.4 5.9 1.3 1.1 0.3 3.0 3.9 6.7 14.8 .453 0.0 0.1 .000 6.1 8.1 .757
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 5 30.0 14.6 2.0 4.0 6.0 0.8 1.4 0.0 2.4 4.2 4.8 12.6 .381 0.0 0.0 - 5.0 7.0 .714
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

Season 7

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1980-812022-23
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement Season MVP
-Achievement All-NBA First Team
-Achievement Scoring Leader
-Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Did Not Play76ers Lost East Conf Semis
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 67 31.0 21.7 2.2 3.6 5.7 1.2 1.5 0.2 2.9 3.9 7.5 16.4 .456 0.0 0.1 .000 6.8 8.6 .787
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
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

Season 8

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1981-822023-24
Team Atlanta HawksPhiladelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 70 29.1 18.5 2.4 2.9 5.4 1.4 0.9 0.0 2.5 3.6 6.6 13.7 .486 0.1 0.2 .333 5.2 7.0 .741
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
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 2 29.5 11.5 3.0 2.0 5.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 2.5 5.5 4.0 11.0 .364 0.0 0.0 - 3.5 6.0 .583
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

Season 9

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1982-83-
Team Utah Jazz-
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 %
John Drew 44 27.4 21.2 2.2 3.1 5.3 2.2 0.8 0.2 3.1 3.5 7.2 15.3 .474 0.0 0.1 .000 6.7 8.9 .755
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------

Season 10

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1983-84-
Team Utah Jazz-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Jazz Lost West Conf Semis-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 81 22.2 17.7 1.8 2.4 4.2 1.7 1.1 0.0 2.4 2.6 6.3 13.2 .479 0.1 0.3 .273 5.0 6.4 .778
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew 11 15.6 10.2 0.9 1.4 2.3 0.8 0.4 0.0 1.0 2.4 3.9 7.7 .506 0.0 0.0 - 2.4 3.0 .788
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------

Season 11

John Drew Joel Embiid
Season 1984-85-
Team Utah Jazz-
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 %
John Drew 19 24.4 16.2 1.9 2.4 4.3 1.8 1.2 0.1 2.2 3.4 5.6 13.7 .412 0.0 0.2 .000 4.9 6.4 .770
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
John Drew ------- --- ----------
Joel Embiid ------- --- ----------