Desmond Bane vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal 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, 14 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Desmond Bane 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
	Desmond Bane	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2020-21	1992-93
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
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:	+13	+15.6	+14.2	+3.7	+7.0	+10.8	+0.2	+0.1	+3.3	-2.9	-2.2	+5.6	+8.8	+.093	+1.7	+4.0		+4.7	+8.2	+.224
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
	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	-
Shaquille O'Neal	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Desmond Bane	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2021-22	1993-94
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Desmond Bane	76	29.8	18.2	0.6	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.4	1.5	2.6	6.7	14.5	.461	3.0	6.9	.436	1.8	2.0	.903
difference:	+5	+10.0	+11.1	+4.1	+4.7	+8.8	+0.3	+0.3	+2.5	-1.2	-0.9	+5.1	+5.1	+.138	+3.0	+6.9		+4.0	+8.5	+.349
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		%
Desmond Bane	12	35.7	18.8	0.4	3.3	3.8	2.2	0.9	0.8	1.3	1.9	6.3	13.3	.478	3.6	7.3	.489	2.5	2.9	.857
difference:	+9	+6.3	+1.9	+5.3	+4.4	+9.5	+0.1	+0.2	+2.2	-2.0	-2.4	+1.4	+1.7	+.033	+3.6	+7.3		+2.8	+8.4	+.386
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
	Desmond Bane	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2022-23	1994-95
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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:	+21	+5.2	+7.8	+3.5	+3.0	+6.4	+1.7	+0.1	+2.0	-0.4	-0.7	+4.0	+4.0	+.104	+2.9	+6.9	+.408	+2.7	+7.3	+.350
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		%
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:	+15	+0.2	+2.2	+3.3	+2.6	+5.9	+0.1	+0.4	+1.9	-0.7	-0.8	+1.1	+3.2	+.155	+2.7	+8.3		+2.6	+7.6	+.360
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
	Desmond Bane	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2023-24	1995-96
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	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		%
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:	+12	+1.6	+2.9	+2.5	+4.2	+6.6	+2.6	+0.4	+1.6	-0.2	-0.7	+2.4	+0.6	+.109	+3.3	+8.6		+1.3	+5.7	+.383
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		%
Desmond Bane	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
	Desmond Bane	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2024-25	1996-97
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
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:	+18	+6.1	+7.0	+2.9	+3.5	+6.4	+2.2	+0.3	+2.5	-0.5	-1.1	+3.7	+4.6	+.073	+2.4	+6.0	+.392	+1.9	+6.5	+.410
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		%
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:	+5	+1.4	+11.6	+2.9	+0.8	+3.8	+0.1	+0.2	+1.4	-1.4	-1.8	+4.9	+3.4	+.197	+1.8	+8.0		+3.6	+7.9	+.323
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

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 14 seasons more than Desmond Bane in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 19, from 1998 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 13 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those 14 extra years over Desmond Bane, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 8 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Scoring Leader 10 All-Star Game 3 All-Star Game MVP