Deni Avdija vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Deni Avdija, 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.

Deni Avdija played 6 years in the NBA, 13 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Deni Avdija had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Shaquille O'Neal had his rookie season in 1992-93. 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
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2020-21	1992-93
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Deni Avdija	54	23.3	6.3	0.4	4.4	4.9	1.2	0.6	0.3	0.6	2.6	2.4	5.8	.417	1.0	3.1	.315	0.5	0.8	.644
difference:	+27	+14.6	+17.1	+3.8	+5.2	+9.0	+0.7	+0.1	+3.2	-3.2	-1.4	+6.6	+10.3	+.145	+1.0	+3.1		+4.8	+8.1	+.052
Shaquille O'Neal	81	37.9	23.4	4.2	9.6	13.9	1.9	0.7	3.5	3.8	4.0	9.0	16.1	.562	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	8.9	.592
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Deni Avdija nor Shaquille O'Neal played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2021-22	1993-94
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	82	24.2	8.4	0.6	4.5	5.2	2.0	0.7	0.5	1.1	2.3	3.0	7.1	.432	1.0	3.2	.317	1.3	1.7	.757
difference:	+1	+15.6	+20.9	+4.1	+4.0	+8.0	+0.4	+0.2	+2.4	-1.6	-1.2	+8.8	+12.5	+.167	+1.0	+3.2		+4.5	+8.8	+.203
Shaquille O'Neal	81	39.8	29.3	4.7	8.5	13.2	2.4	0.9	2.9	2.7	3.5	11.8	19.6	.599	0.0	0.0	-	5.8	10.5	.554
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	3	42.0	20.7	5.7	7.7	13.3	2.3	0.7	3.0	3.3	4.3	7.7	15.0	.511	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	11.3	.471

Season 3
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2022-23	1994-95
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost NBA Finals

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		%
Deni Avdija	76	26.6	9.2	1.0	5.4	6.4	2.8	0.9	0.4	1.6	2.8	3.3	7.6	.437	0.9	3.1	.297	1.6	2.2	.739
difference:	+3	+10.4	+20.1	+3.2	+1.9	+5.0	+0.1		+2.0	-1.0	-0.5	+8.5	+12.6	+.146	+0.9	+3.0	+.297	+4.2	+8.6	+.206
Shaquille O'Neal	79	37.0	29.3	4.2	7.3	11.4	2.7	0.9	2.4	2.6	3.3	11.8	20.2	.583	0.0	0.1	.000	5.8	10.8	.533
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	21	38.3	25.7	4.5	7.4	11.9	3.3	0.9	1.9	3.5	4.0	9.3	16.1	.577	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	12.4	.571

Season 4
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2023-24	1995-96
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East Conf Finals

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		%
Deni Avdija	75	30.1	14.7	1.1	6.1	7.2	3.8	0.8	0.5	2.1	2.5	5.4	10.7	.506	1.2	3.1	.374	2.7	3.6	.740
difference:	+21	+5.9	+11.9	+2.3	+1.6	+3.8	+0.9	+0.2	+1.6	-0.8	-1.1	+5.6	+8.4	+.067	+1.2	+3.1		+1.9	+5.9	+.253
Shaquille O'Neal	54	36.0	26.6	3.4	7.7	11.0	2.9	0.6	2.1	2.9	3.6	11.0	19.1	.573	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	9.5	.487
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	12	38.3	25.8	4.1	5.9	10.0	4.6	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.3	10.9	18.0	.606	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	10.2	.393

Season 5
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2024-25	1996-97
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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		%
Deni Avdija	72	30.0	16.9	1.5	5.7	7.3	3.9	1.0	0.5	2.7	2.4	5.6	11.7	.476	1.7	4.8	.365	4.0	5.2	.780
difference:	+21	+8.1	+9.3	+2.3	+3.0	+5.2	+0.8	+0.1	+2.4	-0.2	-1.1	+5.2	+7.7	+.081	+1.7	+4.7	+.365	+0.5	+4.2	+.296
Shaquille O'Neal	51	38.1	26.2	3.8	8.7	12.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	2.9	3.5	10.8	19.4	.557	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	9.4	.484
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	9	36.2	26.9	4.2	6.3	10.6	3.2	0.6	1.9	2.4	4.1	9.9	19.2	.514	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	11.7	.610

Season 6
	Deni Avdija	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2025-26	1997-98
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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		%
Deni Avdija	25	34.2	25.4	1.2	6.0	7.2	6.2	0.7	0.7	3.6	3.2	7.7	16.2	.473	2.4	6.5	.374	7.6	9.5	.806
difference:	+35	+2.1	+2.9	+2.3	+1.9	+4.2	+3.8		+1.7	-0.7		+3.5	+2.9	+.111	+2.4	+6.5		+1.6	+1.9	+.279
Shaquille O'Neal	60	36.3	28.3	3.5	7.9	11.4	2.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	3.2	11.2	19.1	.584	0.0	0.0	-	6.0	11.4	.527
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deni Avdija	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	13	38.5	30.5	3.7	6.5	10.2	2.9	0.5	2.6	3.3	3.2	12.2	19.8	.612	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	12.2	.503

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 13 seasons more than Deni Avdija in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 19, from 1999 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 12 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those 13 extra years over Deni Avdija, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 7 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Scoring Leader 9 All-Star Game 3 All-Star Game MVP