Walt Bellamy vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Walt Bellamy, 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.

Walt Bellamy played 14 years in the NBA, 5 more than Nikola Jokic, who played 9. Walt Bellamy had the first of his seasons in 1961-62, while Nikola Jokic had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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
Rookie Season
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1961-62	2015-16
Team	Chicago Packers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	-	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		%
Walt Bellamy	79	42.3	31.6	-	-	19.0	2.7	-	-	-	3.6	12.3	23.7	.519	-	-	-	6.9	10.8	.644
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1962-63	2016-17
Team	Chicago Zephyrs	Denver Nuggets
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		%
Walt Bellamy	80	41.3	27.9	-	-	16.4	2.9	-	-	-	3.5	10.5	19.9	.527	-	-	-	6.9	10.3	.674
Nikola Jokic	73	27.9	16.7	2.9	6.9	9.8	4.9	0.8	0.8	2.3	2.9	6.8	11.7	.578	0.6	1.9	.324	2.6	3.1	.825
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1963-64	2017-18
Team	Baltimore Bullets	Denver Nuggets
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		%
Walt Bellamy	80	42.4	27.0	-	-	17.0	1.6	-	-	-	3.8	10.1	19.8	.513	-	-	-	6.7	10.3	.651
Nikola Jokic	75	32.6	18.5	2.6	8.1	10.7	6.1	1.2	0.8	2.8	2.8	6.7	13.5	.499	1.5	3.7	.396	3.5	4.2	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1964-65	2018-19
Team	Baltimore Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost West Div Finals	Nuggets 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		%
Walt Bellamy	80	41.3	24.8	-	-	14.6	2.4	-	-	-	3.3	9.2	18.0	.509	-	-	-	6.4	9.4	.685
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	10	42.7	20.9	-	-	15.1	3.4	-	-	-	3.8	7.4	15.8	.468	-	-	-	6.1	9.2	.663
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846

Season 5
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1965-66	2019-20
Team	Baltimore Bullets, New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets 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		%
Walt Bellamy	80	41.9	22.8	-	-	15.7	2.9	-	-	-	3.7	8.7	17.2	.506	-	-	-	5.4	8.6	.624
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835

Season 6
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1966-67	2020-21
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Semis	Nuggets 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		%
Walt Bellamy	79	38.1	19.0	-	-	13.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.5	7.2	13.7	.521	-	-	-	4.7	7.3	.636
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	4	39.3	18.3	-	-	16.5	3.0	-	-	-	3.8	7.0	13.5	.519	-	-	-	4.3	7.3	.586
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836

Season 7
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1967-68	2021-22
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Semis	Nuggets 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		%
Walt Bellamy	82	32.9	16.7	-	-	11.7	2.0	-	-	-	3.2	6.2	11.5	.541	-	-	-	4.3	6.5	.662
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	6	46.2	20.0	-	-	16.0	3.5	-	-	-	3.7	7.5	17.8	.421	-	-	-	5.0	8.0	.625
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848

Season 8
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1968-69	2022-23
Team	New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Walt Bellamy	88	35.9	17.4	-	-	12.5	2.0	-	-	-	3.6	6.4	12.5	.510	-	-	-	4.6	7.0	.649
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799

Season 9
	Walt Bellamy	Nikola Jokic
Season	1969-70	2023-24
Team	Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost West Div Finals	Nuggets TBD

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	79	25.7	11.6	-	-	8.9	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	8.5	.523	-	-	-	2.7	4.7	.576
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Walt Bellamy	9	40.9	16.8	-	-	15.6	3.9	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	14.0	.468	-	-	-	3.7	5.1	.717
Nikola Jokic	6	40.5	28.8	3.3	11.5	14.8	9.7	1.5	0.2	3.8	3.0	11.0	19.7	.559	1.3	4.5	.296	5.5	5.8	.943