Dennis Rodman vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Dennis Rodman, 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.

Dennis Rodman played 14 years in the NBA, 7 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Dennis Rodman had the first of his seasons in 1986-87, 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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1986-87	1995-96
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Dennis Rodman	77	15.0	6.5	2.1	2.2	4.3	0.7	0.5	0.6	1.2	2.2	2.8	5.1	.545	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.6	.587
difference:	+4	+8.8	+8.0	+0.1	+3.8	+3.8	+1.1	+0.4	+0.5	-0.9	-0.7	+2.6	+4.8		+0.5	+1.4		+2.2	+2.6	+.170
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		%
Dennis Rodman	15	16.3	6.5	2.1	2.6	4.7	0.2	0.4	1.1	1.1	3.2	2.7	4.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.1	.563
difference:	+10	+19.1	+17.1	+0.3	+5.2	+5.5	+1.6	+0.4	+0.5	-0.9	-0.2	+4.3	+11.3	+.109	+1.0	+1.8		+7.4	+9.9	+.154
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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1988-89	1997-98
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Dennis Rodman	82	26.9	9.0	4.0	5.4	9.4	1.2	0.7	0.9	1.5	3.6	3.9	6.5	.595	0.1	0.3	.231	1.2	1.9	.626
difference:	+9	+5.1	+7.0	+2.0	+2.5	+0.6	+1.8	+0.2	+0.2	-1.1	-0.1	+1.7	+4.8	+.102	+0.3	+1.3	+.030	+3.2	+3.6	+.172
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		%
Dennis Rodman	17	24.1	5.8	3.3	6.7	10.0	0.9	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.4	2.2	4.1	.529	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.1	.686
difference:	+13	+2.7	+6.5	+1.5	+0.7	+2.2	+0.6	+1.4	+0.1	-1.1	-1.4	+2.3	+5.9	+.079	+0.3	+0.3	+.500	+1.6	+1.4	+.171
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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1989-90	1998-99
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Dennis Rodman	82	29.0	8.8	4.1	5.6	9.7	0.9	0.6	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.5	6.0	.581	0.0	0.1	.111	1.7	2.6	.654
difference:	+32	+2.0	+3.3	+2.3	+0.5	+1.8	+1.5	+0.1	+0.6	-0.6	-0.5	+1.1	+3.6	+.096	+0.1	+0.4	+.181	+1.0	+0.9	+.117
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		%
Dennis Rodman	19	29.5	6.6	2.9	5.6	8.5	0.9	0.5	0.7	1.6	3.3	2.8	5.0	.568	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.8	.514
difference:	+6	+0.6	+3.4	+2.0	+2.2	+0.3	+1.3	+0.7	+0.5	-0.1	-0.6	+0.7	+3.7	+.170	+0.1	+0.4		+2.1	+1.5	+.393
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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1990-91	1999-00
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Dennis Rodman	82	33.5	8.2	4.4	8.1	12.5	1.0	0.8	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.4	6.8	.493	0.1	0.4	.200	1.4	2.1	.631
difference:	+16	+7.9	+3.6	+2.9	+1.8	+4.7	+0.8	+0.1	+0.5	-0.4	-0.6	+1.2	+2.3	+.012		+0.1	+.168	+1.1	+0.9	+.212
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		%
Dennis Rodman	15	33.0	6.3	4.5	7.3	11.8	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	3.7	2.7	6.1	.451	0.1	0.6	.222	0.7	1.6	.417
difference:	+1	+2.2	+5.0	+3.3	+1.8	+5.1	+1.0	+0.2	+0.1	-0.7		+1.6	+3.3	+.002	+0.3	+0.7	+.064	+1.7	+1.5	+.379
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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1991-92	2000-01
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East 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		%
Dennis Rodman	82	40.3	9.8	6.4	12.3	18.7	2.3	0.8	0.9	1.7	3.0	4.2	7.7	.539	0.4	1.2	.317	1.0	1.7	.600
difference:	+21	+19.0	+0.3	+5.6	+7.7	+13.3	+0.8	+0.1	+0.1	-0.3	-0.8	+0.2	+0.8	+.060	+0.4	+1.0	+.250	+1.0	+0.9	+.176
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		%
Dennis Rodman	5	31.2	7.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	3.4	3.2	5.4	.593	0.0	0.4	.000	0.8	1.6	.500
difference:	+2	+3.8	+4.1	+0.5	+1.3	+1.9	+0.9	+0.5	+1.9	-0.7	-0.6	+1.5	+4.3	+.110		+0.3		+1.2	+1.1	+.250
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
	Dennis Rodman	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1992-93	2002-03
Team	Detroit Pistons	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dennis Rodman	62	38.9	7.5	5.9	12.3	18.3	1.6	0.8	0.7	1.7	3.2	3.0	6.9	.427	0.2	1.2	.205	1.4	2.6	.534
difference:	+16	+23.4	+1.4	+4.8	+9.1	+14.0	+0.2		+0.1	-0.7	-1.4	+0.8	+2.3	+.049	+0.2	+1.1	+.295	+0.3	+0.5	+.253
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		%
Dennis Rodman	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
* Dennis Rodman played 7 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 14, from 1994 to 2000—Dennis Rodman played in 5 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 7 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Dennis Rodman got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 5 Rebounds Leader