LaMelo Ball vs. Elmore Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Elmore Smith 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, 4 less than Elmore Smith, who played 8. LaMelo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Elmore Smith had his rookie season in 1971-72. 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
	LaMelo Ball	Elmore Smith
Season	2020-21	1971-72
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Buffalo Braves
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First 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		%
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
Elmore Smith	78	40.8	17.3	-	-	15.2	1.4	-	-	-	3.9	7.4	16.3	.454	-	-	-	2.5	4.7	.534
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Elmore Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	LaMelo Ball	Elmore Smith
Season	2021-22	1972-73
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Buffalo Braves
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		%
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
Elmore Smith	76	37.2	18.3	-	-	12.4	2.5	-	-	-	3.9	7.9	16.4	.482	-	-	-	2.5	4.4	.558
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Elmore Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	LaMelo Ball	Elmore Smith
Season	2022-23	1973-74
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Blocks Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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	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
Elmore Smith	81	36.1	12.5	2.5	8.7	11.2	1.9	0.9	4.9	-	3.8	5.4	11.7	.457	-	-	-	1.8	3.1	.590
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LaMelo Ball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Elmore Smith	5	34.2	19.2	3.8	6.8	10.6	1.2	1.4	1.6	-	4.0	8.4	17.6	.477	-	-	-	2.4	3.4	.706