Desmond Bane vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Desmond Bane, 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.

Desmond Bane played 5 years in the NBA, 16 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Desmond Bane 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.

Rookie Season
	Desmond Bane	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	1998-99
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Desmond Bane	68	22.3	9.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	1.7	0.6	0.2	0.9	1.8	3.4	7.3	.469	1.7	4.0	.432	0.6	0.7	.816
difference:	+21	+1.9	+1.0	+0.4		+0.3	+0.7		+0.4	-0.7	-0.4	+0.5	+0.2	+.064	+1.4	+2.6	+.226	+1.5	+2.0	+.043
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		%
Desmond Bane	5	19.8	5.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.6	1.2	2.2	3.8	.579	1.2	2.4	.500	0.0	0.0	-
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Desmond Bane	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2000-01
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Desmond Bane	58	31.8	21.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	4.4	1.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	7.8	16.2	.479	2.9	7.0	.408	3.1	3.5	.883
difference:	+24	+6.3	+0.3	+0.8	+3.4	+4.2	+2.3		+0.8	-0.3	-0.4	+0.6	+1.0	+.005	+1.1	+2.2	+.021	+2.4	+3.1	+.045
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		%
Desmond Bane	6	38.5	23.5	1.2	4.8	6.0	3.2	0.5	0.0	2.8	3.2	8.2	19.3	.422	2.7	8.3	.320	4.5	4.8	.931
difference:	+4	+1.4	+0.1	+0.2	+1.9	+2.1	+1.8	+0.6	+0.8	-1.4	-0.5	+1.3	+3.0	+.001	+1.4	+3.7	+.037	+3.8	+4.6	+.048
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
	Desmond Bane	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2001-02
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Desmond Bane	42	34.4	23.7	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.5	1.0	0.5	2.7	2.9	8.6	18.5	.464	3.3	8.6	.381	3.3	3.8	.870
difference:	+34	+3.6	+0.3	+0.7	+4.9	+5.5	+3.1	+0.1	+0.5	-0.8		+0.7	+1.9	+.013	+1.5	+4.0	+.016	+2.5	+3.0	+.017
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		%
Desmond Bane	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Desmond Bane	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2002-03
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Desmond Bane	69	32.0	19.2	0.9	5.2	6.1	5.3	1.2	0.4	2.4	2.4	7.1	14.8	.484	2.4	6.1	.392	2.6	2.9	.894
difference:	+11	+7.0	+5.9	+0.1	+3.7	+3.8	+2.3	+0.2	+0.6	-0.5	-0.2	+1.5	+3.8	+.021	+0.5	+1.2	+.013	+3.4	+4.0	+.013
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		%
Desmond Bane	4	34.8	15.3	1.3	5.5	6.8	3.3	0.8	0.5	3.8	2.3	5.0	15.8	.317	1.8	8.0	.219	3.5	3.8	.933
difference:	+13	+7.7	+10.0	+0.4	+5.1	+4.7	+1.1	+0.4	+0.4	-1.4	-0.8	+3.8	+2.6	+.162	+0.2	+4.4	+.224	+2.6	+2.8	+.021
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

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 16 seasons more than Desmond Bane in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 21, from 2004 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 12 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 16 extra years over Desmond Bane, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 12 All-Star Game