Aaron Nesmith vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Aaron Nesmith, 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 / Stats Rankings

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.

Aaron Nesmith played 6 years in the NBA, 15 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Aaron Nesmith had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Dirk Nowitzki had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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 achievements, 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
Aaron Nesmith	6	4	2020-21 to 2025-26
Dirk Nowitzki	21	15	1998-99 to 2018-19

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6


Rookie Season
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did not play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	46	14.5	4.7	0.6	2.2	2.8	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.5	1.9	1.7	3.9	.438	0.9	2.3	.370	0.5	0.6	.786
difference:	+1	+5.9	+3.5	+0.3	+0.4	+0.6	+0.5	+0.3	+0.4	-1.1	-0.3	+1.2	+3.2	+.033	+0.6	+0.9	+.164	+1.6	+2.1	+.013
Dirk Nowitzki	47	20.4	8.2	0.9	2.6	3.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	2.9	7.1	.405	0.3	1.4	.206	2.1	2.7	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	5	15.0	3.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	1.4	1.0	3.6	.278	0.8	2.8	.286	0.4	0.4	1.000
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Did not play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	52	11.0	3.8	0.3	1.4	1.7	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.6	1.3	1.4	3.5	.396	0.6	2.2	.270	0.4	0.5	.808
difference:	+30	+24.8	+13.7	+0.9	+3.8	+4.8	+2.1	+0.4	+0.7	-1.1	-1.8	+4.9	+10.1	+.065	+0.8	+1.5	+.109	+3.1	+3.7	+.022
Dirk Nowitzki	82	35.8	17.5	1.2	5.2	6.5	2.5	0.8	0.8	1.7	3.1	6.3	13.6	.461	1.4	3.7	.379	3.5	4.2	.830

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	15	3.5	0.8	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.3	1.1	.235	0.1	0.7	.091	0.2	0.3	.750
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2000-01
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	73	24.9	10.1	0.8	2.9	3.8	1.3	0.8	0.5	1.0	3.2	3.5	8.1	.427	1.6	4.3	.366	1.6	1.9	.838
difference:	+9	+13.2	+11.7	+0.7	+4.8	+5.4	+0.8	+0.2	+0.7	-0.9	-0.2	+3.7	+7.1	+.047	+0.2	+0.5	+.021	+3.9	+4.7
Dirk Nowitzki	82	38.1	21.8	1.5	7.7	9.2	2.1	1.0	1.2	1.9	3.0	7.2	15.2	.474	1.8	4.8	.387	5.5	6.6	.838

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.9	23.4	1.4	6.7	8.1	1.4	1.1	0.8	1.4	3.7	6.9	16.3	.423	1.3	4.6	.283	8.3	9.4	.883


Season 4
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2001-02
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	72	27.7	12.2	0.9	2.9	3.8	1.5	0.9	0.7	0.9	3.3	4.4	8.8	.496	1.9	4.6	.419	1.5	1.9	.781
difference:	+4	+10.3	+11.2	+0.7	+5.5	+6.1	+0.9	+0.2	+0.3	-1.0	-0.4	+3.5	+7.8	+.019	+0.1		+.022	+4.3	+4.9	+.072
Dirk Nowitzki	76	38.0	23.4	1.6	8.4	9.9	2.4	1.1	1.0	1.9	2.9	7.9	16.6	.477	1.8	4.6	.397	5.8	6.8	.853

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	17	32.9	10.5	1.1	3.8	4.9	2.2	0.6	0.5	1.4	3.9	3.6	8.3	.433	1.3	4.6	.278	2.0	2.2	.919
difference:	+9	+11.7	+17.9	+1.0	+7.2	+8.2	+0.1	+1.4	+0.3	-1.4	-0.5	+5.5	+12.2	+.012	+0.7	+1.1	+.293	+6.1	+7.1	+.041
Dirk Nowitzki	8	44.6	28.4	2.1	11.0	13.1	2.3	2.0	0.8	2.8	3.4	9.1	20.5	.445	2.0	3.5	.571	8.1	9.3	.878


Season 5
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2002-03
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost NBA Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	45	25.0	12.0	0.8	3.1	4.0	1.2	0.8	0.4	0.8	2.5	4.3	8.4	.507	1.9	4.3	.431	1.6	1.8	.913
difference:	+35	+14.0	+13.1	+0.2	+5.8	+5.9	+1.8	+0.6	+0.6	-1.1	-0.1	+4.3	+10.2	+.044		+0.6	+.052	+4.4	+5.1	+.032
Dirk Nowitzki	80	39.0	25.1	1.0	8.9	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.6	8.6	18.6	.463	1.9	4.9	.379	6.0	6.9	.881

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	23	28.3	12.7	1.2	4.5	5.7	1.1	0.9	0.8	1.0	4.1	4.3	9.2	.472	2.6	5.3	.492	1.3	1.6	.861
difference:	+6	+14.2	+12.6	+0.3	+6.1	+5.8	+1.1	+0.3	+0.1	-1.4	-1.0	+4.5	+9.2	+.007	+1.0	+1.7	+.049	+4.8	+5.0	+.051
Dirk Nowitzki	17	42.5	25.3	0.9	10.6	11.5	2.2	1.2	0.9	2.4	3.1	8.8	18.4	.479	1.6	3.6	.443	6.1	6.6	.912


Season 6
	Aaron Nesmith	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2025-26	2003-04
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play (season in progress)	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	13	29.0	14.8	1.5	2.9	4.4	1.6	0.7	0.5	0.8	2.4	4.8	12.6	.378	2.9	7.5	.392	2.4	3.0	.795
difference:	+64	+8.9	+7.0	+0.3	+4.6	+4.3	+1.1	+0.5	+0.9	-1.0	-0.4	+3.1	+4.4	+.084	+1.6	+3.7	+.051	+2.4	+2.5	+.082
Dirk Nowitzki	77	37.9	21.8	1.2	7.5	8.7	2.7	1.2	1.4	1.8	2.8	7.9	17.0	.462	1.3	3.8	.341	4.8	5.5	.877

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.6	2.6	9.2	11.8	1.4	1.4	2.6	1.2	3.2	9.0	20.0	.450	1.4	3.0	.467	7.2	8.4	.857


Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 15 seasons more than Aaron Nesmith in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 21, from 2005 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 11 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 15 extra years over Aaron Nesmith, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 11 All-Star Game

Aaron Nesmith vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Aaron Nesmith, 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

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years