Ralph Sampson vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson and Ralph Sampson, 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.

Ralph Sampson played 9 years in the NBA, 5 more than Zion Williamson, who played 4. Ralph Sampson had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
	Ralph Sampson	Zion Williamson
Season	1983-84	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	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		%
Ralph Sampson	82	32.8	21.0	3.6	7.6	11.1	2.0	0.9	2.4	3.6	4.1	8.7	16.7	.523	0.0	0.0	.250	3.5	5.3	.661
Zion Williamson	24	27.8	22.5	2.7	3.6	6.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	1.8	8.8	15.0	.583	0.3	0.6	.429	4.8	7.4	.640
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ralph Sampson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Ralph Sampson	Zion Williamson
Season	1984-85	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Ralph Sampson	82	37.6	22.1	2.8	7.6	10.4	2.7	1.0	2.0	4.0	3.7	9.2	18.3	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	3.7	5.5	.676
Zion Williamson	61	33.2	27.0	2.7	4.5	7.2	3.7	0.9	0.6	2.7	2.2	10.4	17.0	.611	0.2	0.6	.294	6.0	8.7	.698
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ralph Sampson	5	38.6	21.2	5.0	11.6	16.6	1.4	0.4	1.6	3.4	4.6	8.6	20.0	.430	0.2	0.2	1.000	3.8	7.4	.514
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
	Ralph Sampson	Zion Williamson
Season	1985-86	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost NBA 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		%
Ralph Sampson	79	36.3	18.9	3.3	7.9	11.1	3.6	1.3	1.6	3.6	3.9	7.9	16.2	.488	0.0	0.2	.133	3.1	4.8	.641
Zion Williamson	29	33.0	26.0	2.0	5.0	7.0	4.6	1.1	0.6	3.4	2.2	9.8	16.2	.608	0.2	0.7	.368	6.1	8.6	.714
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ralph Sampson	20	37.1	20.0	3.3	7.5	10.8	4.0	1.5	1.8	3.6	4.0	7.8	15.1	.518	0.1	0.1	1.000	4.3	5.9	.729
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Ralph Sampson	Zion Williamson
Season	1986-87	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Ralph Sampson	43	30.8	15.6	2.0	6.6	8.7	2.8	0.9	1.3	2.9	3.9	6.4	13.2	.489	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	4.4	.624
Zion Williamson	70	31.5	22.9	1.7	4.1	5.8	5.0	1.1	0.7	2.8	2.3	8.9	15.6	.570	0.1	0.3	.333	5.0	7.1	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ralph Sampson	10	33.0	18.6	2.7	6.1	8.8	2.1	0.2	1.2	3.1	4.7	7.5	14.6	.514	0.1	0.2	.500	3.5	4.3	.814
Zion Williamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-