Mel Davis vs. Dwight Howard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dwight Howard and Mel Davis, 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.

Mel Davis played 4 years in the NBA, 14 less than Dwight Howard, who played 18. Mel Davis had the first of his seasons in 1973-74, while Dwight Howard 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
Mel Davis	4	2	1973-74 to 1976-77
Dwight Howard	18	12	2004-05 to 2021-22

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18


Rookie Season
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	1973-74	2004-05
Team	New York Knicks	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Mel Davis	30	5.6	2.6	0.6	1.2	1.8	0.3	0.1	0.1	-	1.2	1.1	3.2	.347	-	-	-	0.4	0.5	.750
Dwight Howard	82	32.6	12.0	3.5	6.5	10.0	0.9	0.9	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.3	8.3	.520	0.0	0.0	.000	3.4	5.0	.671

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	4	3.0	3.0	0.5	0.8	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	1.5	3.0	.500	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	1974-75	2005-06
Team	New York Knicks	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Mel Davis	62	14.6	5.7	1.1	4.0	5.2	0.9	0.3	0.1	-	1.7	2.5	6.4	.390	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	.686
Dwight Howard	82	36.8	15.8	3.5	9.0	12.5	1.5	0.8	1.4	2.6	3.4	5.7	10.7	.531	0.0	0.0	.000	4.3	7.3	.595

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	3	9.3	4.0	0.0	1.3	1.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.7	4.0	.417	-	-	-	0.7	0.7	1.000
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	1975-76	2006-07
Team	New York Knicks	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic 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		%
Mel Davis	42	9.7	4.1	1.0	2.5	3.5	0.7	0.4	0.1	-	1.3	1.8	4.6	.394	-	-	-	0.5	0.7	.759
Dwight Howard	82	36.9	17.6	3.5	8.8	12.3	1.9	0.9	1.9	3.9	3.0	6.4	10.6	.603	0.0	0.0	.500	4.8	8.1	.586

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	4	41.8	15.3	4.0	10.8	14.8	1.8	0.5	1.0	4.3	3.3	5.8	10.5	.548	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	8.3	.455


Season 4
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	1976-77	2007-08
Team	New York Knicks, New York Nets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic 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		%
Mel Davis	56	19.5	7.1	1.8	3.5	5.2	1.3	0.6	0.1	-	2.3	3.0	8.3	.362	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.703
Dwight Howard	82	37.7	20.7	3.4	10.8	14.2	1.3	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.3	7.1	11.9	.599	0.0	0.0	.000	6.5	10.9	.590

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	10	42.1	18.9	6.0	9.8	15.8	0.9	0.8	3.4	3.2	3.8	7.2	12.4	.581	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	8.3	.542


Season 5
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2008-09
Team	-	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Magic Lost NBA 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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	79	35.7	20.6	4.3	9.6	13.8	1.4	1.0	2.9	3.0	3.4	7.1	12.4	.572	0.0	0.0	.000	6.4	10.7	.594

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	23	39.3	20.3	4.3	11.0	15.3	1.9	0.9	2.6	2.9	4.4	7.0	11.7	.601	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	9.9	.636


Season 6
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2009-10
Team	-	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Magic Lost East 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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	82	34.7	18.3	3.5	9.7	13.2	1.8	0.9	2.8	3.3	3.5	6.2	10.2	.612	0.0	0.1	.000	5.9	10.0	.592

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	14	35.5	18.1	2.7	8.4	11.1	1.4	0.8	3.5	3.6	4.2	6.1	10.0	.614	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	11.3	.519


Season 7
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2010-11
Team	-	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Magic 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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	78	37.6	22.9	4.0	10.1	14.1	1.4	1.4	2.4	3.6	3.3	7.9	13.4	.593	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	11.7	.596

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	6	43.0	27.0	4.5	11.0	15.5	0.5	0.7	1.8	5.5	4.2	8.5	13.5	.630	0.0	0.2	.000	10.0	14.7	.682


Season 8
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2011-12
Team	-	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	54	38.3	20.6	3.7	10.8	14.5	1.9	1.5	2.1	3.2	2.9	7.7	13.4	.573	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	10.6	.491

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2012-13
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	76	35.8	17.1	3.3	9.1	12.4	1.4	1.1	2.4	3.0	3.8	6.2	10.7	.578	0.0	0.1	.167	4.7	9.5	.492

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	4	31.5	17.0	2.5	8.3	10.8	1.0	0.5	2.0	4.0	4.3	6.5	10.5	.619	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	9.0	.444


Season 10
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2013-14
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	71	33.7	18.3	3.3	8.9	12.2	1.8	0.8	1.8	3.2	3.4	6.7	11.3	.591	0.0	0.1	.286	4.9	9.0	.547

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	6	38.5	26.0	4.5	9.2	13.7	1.8	0.7	2.8	3.2	4.2	9.7	17.7	.547	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	10.7	.625


Season 11
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2014-15
Team	-	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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	41	29.8	15.8	2.7	7.8	10.5	1.2	0.7	1.3	2.8	3.3	6.1	10.3	.593	0.0	0.0	.500	3.5	6.6	.528

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	17	33.8	16.4	3.6	10.4	14.0	1.2	1.4	2.3	2.2	3.5	6.2	10.7	.577	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	9.7	.412


Season 12
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2015-16
Team	-	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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	71	32.1	13.7	3.4	8.4	11.8	1.4	1.0	1.6	2.3	3.1	5.2	8.5	.620	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	6.7	.489

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	5	36.0	13.2	5.2	8.8	14.0	1.6	0.8	1.4	2.4	4.2	5.2	9.6	.542	0.0	0.2	.000	2.8	7.6	.368


Season 13
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2016-17
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	74	29.7	13.5	4.0	8.7	12.7	1.4	0.9	1.2	2.3	2.7	5.2	8.3	.633	0.0	0.0	.000	3.1	5.7	.533

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	6	26.2	8.0	3.0	7.7	10.7	1.3	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.5	3.0	6.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.2	.632


Season 14
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Charlotte Hornets
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	81	30.4	16.6	3.1	9.3	12.5	1.3	0.6	1.6	2.6	3.1	6.2	11.2	.555	0.0	0.1	.143	4.1	7.2	.574

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Washington Wizards
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	9	25.6	12.8	2.7	6.6	9.2	0.4	0.8	0.4	1.8	3.8	4.8	7.7	.623	0.0	0.0	-	3.2	5.3	.604

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	69	18.9	7.5	2.5	4.9	7.3	0.7	0.4	1.1	1.2	3.2	2.9	4.0	.729	0.0	0.1	.600	1.6	3.1	.514

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	18	15.7	5.8	1.8	2.8	4.6	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.9	3.1	2.2	3.2	.684	0.1	0.1	.500	1.4	2.5	.556


Season 17
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	76ers 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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	69	17.3	7.0	2.8	5.7	8.4	0.9	0.4	0.9	1.6	2.9	2.6	4.4	.587	0.1	0.3	.250	1.8	3.0	.576

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	12	12.4	4.7	2.2	4.1	6.3	0.7	0.2	0.5	1.0	2.6	1.3	2.5	.533	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	3.3	.600


Season 18
	Mel Davis	Dwight Howard
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
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		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	60	16.2	6.2	2.0	4.0	5.9	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.8	1.9	2.2	3.7	.612	0.1	0.3	.533	1.6	2.4	.658

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Mel Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dwight Howard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Mel Davis vs. Dwight Howard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dwight Howard and Mel Davis, 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

Season 14

Season 15

Season 16

Season 17

Season 18