Chris Paul vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Chris Paul, 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.

Chris Paul played 20 years in the NBA, 13 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Chris Paul had the first of his seasons in 2005-06, while Arvydas Sabonis had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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.

Rookie Season
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2005-06	1995-96
Team	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Chris Paul	78	36.0	16.1	0.8	4.3	5.1	7.8	2.2	0.1	2.3	2.8	5.2	12.1	.430	0.6	2.3	.282	5.1	6.0	.847
difference:	+5	+12.2	+1.6	+1.2	+1.7	+3.0	+6.0	+1.3	+1.0	-0.2	-0.1	+0.2	+2.2	+.115	+0.1	+0.9	+.093	+1.9	+1.8	+.090
Arvydas Sabonis	73	23.8	14.5	2.0	6.0	8.1	1.8	0.9	1.1	2.1	2.9	5.4	9.9	.545	0.5	1.4	.375	3.2	4.2	.757
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	5	35.4	23.6	2.4	7.8	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.4	7.0	16.2	.432	1.0	1.8	.556	8.6	12.0	.717

Season 3
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2007-08	1997-98
Team	New Orleans Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hornets Lost West Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Chris Paul	80	37.6	21.1	0.8	3.2	4.0	11.6	2.7	0.1	2.5	2.3	7.9	16.1	.488	1.2	3.1	.369	4.2	4.9	.851
difference:	+7	+5.6	+5.1	+1.2	+4.7	+6.0	+8.6	+1.8	+1.0	-0.1	-1.4	+2.3	+4.8	+.005	+0.8	+1.5	+.108	+0.2	+0.6	+.053
Arvydas Sabonis	73	32.0	16.0	2.0	7.9	10.0	3.0	0.9	1.1	2.6	3.7	5.6	11.3	.493	0.4	1.6	.261	4.4	5.5	.798
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	12	40.5	24.1	1.3	3.6	4.9	11.3	2.3	0.2	1.8	3.6	9.3	18.4	.502	0.4	1.8	.238	5.2	6.6	.785
difference:	+8	+13.7	+11.8	+0.5	+2.4	+2.9	+9.8	+0.5	+0.6	-0.7	-1.2	+4.8	+8.4	+.052	+0.1	+1.3	+.262	+2.2	+3.1	+.072
Arvydas Sabonis	4	26.8	12.3	1.8	6.0	7.8	1.5	1.8	0.8	2.5	4.8	4.5	10.0	.450	0.3	0.5	.500	3.0	3.5	.857

Season 4
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2008-09	1998-99
Team	New Orleans Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hornets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Chris Paul	78	38.5	22.8	0.9	4.7	5.5	11.0	2.8	0.1	3.0	2.7	8.1	16.1	.503	0.8	2.3	.364	5.8	6.7	.868
difference:	+28	+11.5	+10.7	+0.9	+1.4	+2.4	+8.6	+2.1	+1.2	-1.3	-0.2	+3.5	+6.5	+.018	+0.7	+1.8	+.072	+3.1	+3.2	+.097
Arvydas Sabonis	50	27.0	12.1	1.8	6.1	7.9	2.4	0.7	1.3	1.7	2.9	4.6	9.6	.485	0.1	0.5	.292	2.7	3.5	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	5	40.2	16.6	0.8	3.6	4.4	10.4	1.6	0.0	4.8	1.6	6.0	14.6	.411	1.0	3.2	.313	3.6	4.2	.857
difference:	+8	+10.1	+6.6	+0.1	+4.2	+4.4	+8.2	+0.4	+1.2	-3.3	-1.1	+2.5	+5.9	+.013	+0.9	+2.8	+.113	+0.6	+0.9	+.050
Arvydas Sabonis	13	30.1	10.0	0.9	7.8	8.8	2.2	1.2	1.2	1.5	2.7	3.5	8.7	.398	0.1	0.4	.200	3.0	3.3	.907

Season 5
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2009-10	1999-00
Team	New Orleans Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers 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		%
Chris Paul	45	38.0	18.7	0.4	3.8	4.2	10.7	2.1	0.2	2.5	2.6	7.0	14.2	.493	1.2	2.8	.409	3.6	4.2	.847
difference:	+21	+12.4	+6.9	+1.1	+2.5	+3.6	+8.9	+1.4	+1.0	-1.0	-0.2	+2.4	+5.1	+.012	+1.1	+2.5	+.041	+1.1	+1.2	+.004
Arvydas Sabonis	66	25.6	11.8	1.5	6.3	7.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	1.5	2.8	4.6	9.1	.505	0.1	0.3	.368	2.5	3.0	.843
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	16	30.8	11.3	1.2	5.5	6.7	1.9	0.9	0.8	1.6	3.7	4.3	9.4	.453	0.4	1.3	.286	2.4	3.1	.796

Season 6
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2010-11	2000-01
Team	New Orleans Hornets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hornets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers 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		%
Chris Paul	80	36.0	15.9	0.5	3.6	4.1	9.8	2.4	0.1	2.2	2.5	5.4	11.6	.463	0.9	2.3	.388	4.2	4.8	.878
difference:	+19	+14.7	+5.8	+0.3	+1.0	+1.3	+8.3	+1.7	+0.9	-0.8	-0.3	+1.4	+3.1	+.016	+0.9	+2.1	+.321	+2.2	+2.2	+.102
Arvydas Sabonis	61	21.3	10.1	0.8	4.6	5.4	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.4	2.2	4.0	8.5	.479	0.0	0.2	.067	2.0	2.6	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	6	41.7	22.0	0.5	6.2	6.7	11.5	1.8	0.0	3.7	1.8	7.0	12.8	.545	1.5	3.2	.474	6.5	8.2	.796
difference:	+3	+6.7	+10.7	+2.2	+0.5	+1.6	+8.8	+1.5	+2.3	-3.0	-2.2	+2.3	+3.1	+.062	+1.5	+2.5	+.474	+4.5	+5.5	+.046
Arvydas Sabonis	3	35.0	11.3	2.7	5.7	8.3	2.7	0.3	2.3	0.7	4.0	4.7	9.7	.483	0.0	0.7	.000	2.0	2.7	.750

Note: Arvydas Sabonis didn't play in 2001-02.

Season 7
	Chris Paul	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2011-12	2002-03
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	60	36.4	19.8	0.7	2.9	3.6	9.1	2.5	0.1	2.1	2.3	7.1	14.8	.478	1.3	3.6	.371	4.3	5.0	.861
difference:	+18	+20.9	+13.7	+0.4	+0.3	+0.7	+7.3	+1.7	+0.5	-1.1	-0.5	+4.9	+10.2	+.002	+1.3	+3.5	+.129	+2.6	+2.9	+.074
Arvydas Sabonis	78	15.5	6.1	1.1	3.2	4.3	1.8	0.8	0.6	1.0	1.8	2.2	4.6	.476	0.0	0.1	.500	1.7	2.1	.787
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Chris Paul	11	38.5	17.6	0.5	4.5	5.1	7.9	2.7	0.1	3.9	2.7	6.4	14.9	.427	1.2	3.5	.333	3.7	4.3	.872
difference:	+5	+24.0	+7.6	+0.5	+1.5	+1.1	+7.1	+2.0	+0.6	-2.9	-0.4	+2.4	+8.9	+.240	+1.2	+3.5		+1.7	+1.8	+.072
Arvydas Sabonis	6	14.5	10.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0	2.3	4.0	6.0	.667	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.5	.800

Additional Years
* Chris Paul played 13 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 20, from 2013 to 2025—Chris Paul played in 11 Playoffs. In those 13 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Chris Paul got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 4 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Defensive First Team 3 Assists Leader 2 Steals Leader 7 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP