Deandre Ayton vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Deandre Ayton, 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.

Deandre Ayton played 8 years in the NBA, 13 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Deandre Ayton had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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.

Rookie Season
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2018-19	1998-99
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did not play	Did not play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	71	30.7	16.3	3.1	7.1	10.3	1.8	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.9	7.2	12.3	.585	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	2.7	.746
difference:	+24	+10.3	+8.1	+2.2	+4.5	+6.9	+0.8	+0.3	+0.3	-0.2	-0.7	+4.3	+5.2	+.180	+0.3	+1.3	+.206	+0.1		+.027
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
* Neiher Deandre Ayton nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2000-01
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Suns Lost NBA Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	69	30.7	14.4	3.3	7.2	10.5	1.4	0.6	1.2	1.5	2.8	6.2	10.0	.626	0.1	0.3	.200	1.9	2.5	.769
difference:	+13	+7.4	+7.4	+1.8	+0.5	+1.3	+0.7	+0.4		-0.4	-0.2	+1.0	+5.2	+.152	+1.7	+4.5	+.187	+3.6	+4.1	+.069
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		%
Deandre Ayton	22	36.4	15.8	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.1	0.8	1.1	1.3	2.9	7.0	10.6	.658	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.4	.736
difference:	+12	+3.5	+7.6	+1.6	+2.1	+3.7	+0.3	+0.3	+0.3	-0.1	-0.8	+0.1	+5.7	+.235	+1.3	+4.6		+6.5	+7.0	+.147
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
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2001-02
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	58	29.5	17.2	2.6	7.7	10.2	1.4	0.7	0.7	1.6	2.4	7.6	12.0	.634	0.1	0.3	.368	1.8	2.4	.746
difference:	+18	+8.5	+6.2	+1.0	+0.7	+0.3	+1.0	+0.4	+0.3	-0.3	-0.5	+0.3	+4.6	+.157	+1.7	+4.3	+.029	+4.0	+4.4	+.107
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		%
Deandre Ayton	13	30.5	17.9	2.5	6.4	8.9	1.7	0.4	0.8	1.5	2.6	8.1	12.6	.640	0.2	0.3	.500	1.6	2.5	.636
difference:	+5	+14.1	+10.5	+0.4	+4.6	+4.2	+0.6	+1.6		-1.3	-0.8	+1.0	+7.9	+.195	+1.8	+3.2	+.071	+6.5	+6.8	+.242
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
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2002-03
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	67	30.4	18.0	2.6	7.4	10.0	1.7	0.6	0.8	1.8	2.8	7.8	13.2	.589	0.1	0.4	.292	2.3	3.0	.760
difference:	+13	+8.6	+7.1	+1.6	+1.5	+0.1	+1.3	+0.8	+0.2	-0.1	-0.2	+0.8	+5.4	+.126	+1.8	+4.5	+.087	+3.7	+3.9	+.121
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		%
Deandre Ayton	10	31.9	13.4	2.9	6.8	9.7	1.0	0.6	0.7	1.7	3.5	6.1	11.1	.550	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.3	.522
difference:	+7	+10.6	+11.9	+2.0	+3.8	+1.8	+1.2	+0.6	+0.2	-0.7	-0.4	+2.7	+7.3	+.071	+1.6	+3.6		+4.9	+4.3	+.390
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
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2003-04
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	55	32.4	16.7	3.2	7.9	11.1	1.6	1.0	0.8	1.8	2.0	7.8	13.6	.570	0.0	0.2	.100	1.2	1.4	.823
difference:	+22	+5.5	+5.1	+2.0	+0.4	+2.4	+1.1	+0.2	+0.6		-0.8	+0.1	+3.4	+.108	+1.3	+3.6	+.241	+3.6	+4.1	+.054
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		%
Deandre Ayton	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

Season 7
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2004-05
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	40	30.2	14.4	3.1	7.1	10.2	1.6	0.8	1.0	1.7	2.2	6.6	11.7	.566	0.2	0.8	.188	1.0	1.5	.667
difference:	+38	+8.5	+11.7	+1.9	+1.4	+0.5	+1.5	+0.4	+0.5	-0.6	-0.6	+1.9	+6.8	+.107	+1.0	+2.1	+.211	+6.9	+7.6	+.202
Dirk Nowitzki	78	38.7	26.1	1.2	8.5	9.7	3.1	1.2	1.5	2.3	2.8	8.5	18.5	.459	1.2	2.9	.399	7.9	9.1	.869
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	13	42.5	23.7	1.9	8.2	10.1	3.3	1.4	1.6	2.5	3.2	7.9	19.7	.402	0.8	2.3	.333	7.1	8.5	.829

Season 8
	Deandre Ayton	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2025-26	2005-06
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play (season in progress)	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	26	29.6	14.8	2.8	6.0	8.8	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.8	2.6	6.9	9.8	.709	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.6	.610
difference:	+55	+8.5	+11.8	+1.4	+1.6	+0.2	+1.9	+0.1		-0.1	-0.6	+2.4	+9.5	+.229	+1.4	+3.3		+5.7	+5.8	+.291
Dirk Nowitzki	81	38.1	26.6	1.4	7.6	9.0	2.8	0.7	1.0	1.9	2.0	9.3	19.3	.480	1.4	3.3	.406	6.7	7.4	.901
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	23	42.7	27.0	2.0	9.6	11.7	2.9	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.8	8.5	18.2	.468	1.0	2.9	.343	8.9	10.0	.895

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 13 seasons more than Deandre Ayton in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 21, from 2007 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 9 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 13 extra years over Deandre Ayton, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 9 All-Star Game