LaMelo Ball vs. Don Buse Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Don Buse and LaMelo Ball, 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.

LaMelo Ball played 4 years in the NBA, 5 less than Don Buse, who played 9. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Don Buse had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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
Rookie Season
	LaMelo Ball	Don Buse
Season	2020-21	1976-77
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	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		%
LaMelo Ball	51	28.8	15.7	1.2	4.7	5.9	6.1	1.6	0.4	2.8	2.7	5.7	13.2	.436	1.8	5.1	.352	2.5	3.2	.758
Don Buse	81	36.4	8.0	0.8	2.5	3.3	8.5	3.5	0.2	-	1.6	3.3	7.9	.416	-	-	-	1.4	1.8	.786
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Don Buse
Season	2021-22	1977-78
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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		%
LaMelo Ball	75	32.3	20.1	1.4	5.2	6.7	7.6	1.6	0.4	3.3	3.2	7.2	16.7	.429	2.9	7.5	.389	2.8	3.2	.872
Don Buse	82	31.1	8.4	0.7	2.3	3.0	4.8	2.3	0.2	1.5	1.8	3.5	7.6	.458	-	-	-	1.4	1.7	.824
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Buse	2	38.0	4.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	2.0	2.0	0.0	0.5	1.5	2.0	5.5	.364	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Don Buse
Season	2022-23	1978-79
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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		%
LaMelo Ball	36	35.2	23.3	1.2	5.3	6.4	8.4	1.3	0.3	3.6	3.3	8.2	20.0	.411	4.0	10.6	.376	2.8	3.4	.836
Don Buse	82	31.0	7.8	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.3	1.9	0.2	1.2	1.8	3.5	7.0	.495	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.769
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Buse	15	34.1	7.9	1.1	2.5	3.7	3.5	1.5	0.3	1.0	2.1	3.1	7.7	.405	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.727

Season 4
	LaMelo Ball	Don Buse
Season	2023-24	1979-80
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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		%
LaMelo Ball	22	32.3	23.9	1.3	3.8	5.1	8.0	1.8	0.2	3.8	3.6	8.3	19.2	.433	3.2	9.0	.355	4.1	4.7	.865
Don Buse	81	30.9	7.7	0.9	2.0	2.9	4.0	1.6	0.1	1.1	1.4	3.2	7.3	.443	0.2	1.0	.241	1.0	1.6	.664
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Buse	8	29.5	8.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	5.5	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	3.5	8.0	.438	0.6	1.6	.385	0.9	1.4	.636