Dikembe Mutombo vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Dikembe Mutombo, 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.

Dikembe Mutombo played 18 years in the NBA, 11 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Dikembe Mutombo had the first of his seasons in 1991-92, 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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1991-92	1995-96
Team	Denver Nuggets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	71	38.3	16.6	4.5	7.8	12.3	2.2	0.6	3.0	3.5	3.8	6.0	12.2	.493	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	7.0	.642
difference:	+2	+14.5	+2.1	+2.5	+1.8	+4.2	+0.4	+0.3	+1.9	-1.4	-0.9	+0.6	+2.3	+.052	+0.5	+1.4		+1.3	+2.8	+.115
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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1993-94	1997-98
Team	Denver Nuggets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	Blocks Leader	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	82	34.8	12.0	3.5	8.4	11.8	1.5	0.7	4.1	2.5	3.2	4.5	7.8	.569	0.0	0.0	-	3.1	5.4	.583
difference:	+9	+2.8	+4.0	+1.5	+0.5	+1.8	+1.5	+0.2	+3.0	-0.1	-0.5	+1.1	+3.5	+.076	+0.4	+1.6		+1.3	+0.1	+.215
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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	12	42.6	13.3	3.3	8.7	12.0	1.8	0.7	5.8	2.5	3.5	4.2	9.0	.463	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	8.2	.602
difference:	+8	+15.8	+1.0	+1.5	+2.7	+4.2	+0.3	+1.1	+5.0		-1.3	+0.3	+1.0	+.013	+0.3	+0.5		+1.9	+4.7	+.255
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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1994-95	1998-99
Team	Denver Nuggets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	82	37.8	11.5	3.9	8.7	12.5	1.4	0.5	3.9	2.3	3.5	4.3	7.7	.556	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.6	.654
difference:	+32	+10.8	+0.6	+2.1	+2.6	+4.6	+1.0	+0.2	+2.6	-0.6	-0.6	+0.3	+1.9	+.071	+0.1	+0.5		+0.3	+1.1	+.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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	3	28.0	6.0	1.3	5.0	6.3	0.3	0.0	2.3	2.3	5.0	2.0	3.3	.600	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.0	.667
difference:	+10	+2.1	+4.0	+0.4	+2.8	+2.5	+1.9	+1.2	+1.1	-0.8	-2.3	+1.5	+5.4	+.202	+0.1	+0.4		+1.0	+0.3	+.240
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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1995-96	1999-00
Team	Denver Nuggets	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	74	36.7	11.0	3.4	8.4	11.8	1.5	0.5	4.5	2.0	3.5	3.8	7.7	.499	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	4.8	.695
difference:	+8	+11.1	+0.8	+1.9	+2.1	+4.0	+0.3	+0.2	+3.3	-0.5	-0.7	+0.8	+1.4	+.006	+0.1	+0.3		+0.8	+1.8	+.148
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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1996-97	2000-01
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	80	37.2	13.3	3.4	8.3	11.6	1.4	0.6	3.3	2.3	3.1	4.8	9.0	.527	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	5.4	.705
difference:	+19	+15.9	+3.2	+2.6	+3.7	+6.2	+0.1	+0.1	+2.3	-0.9	-0.9	+0.8	+0.5	+.048		+0.2		+1.8	+2.8	+.071
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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	10	41.5	15.4	3.7	8.6	12.3	1.3	0.1	2.6	2.0	3.0	5.4	8.6	.628	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	6.4	.719
difference:	+7	+6.5	+4.1	+1.0	+2.9	+4.0	+1.4	+0.2	+0.3	-1.3	-1.0	+0.7	+1.1	+.145		+0.7		+2.6	+3.7	+.031
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
	Dikembe Mutombo	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1997-98	2002-03
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	82	35.6	13.4	3.4	8.0	11.4	1.0	0.4	3.4	2.0	3.1	4.9	9.1	.537	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	5.5	.670
difference:	+4	+20.1	+7.3	+2.3	+4.8	+7.1	+0.8	+0.4	+2.8	-1.0	-1.3	+2.7	+4.5	+.061		+0.1		+2.0	+3.4	+.117
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		%
Dikembe Mutombo	4	34.0	8.0	3.3	9.5	12.8	0.3	0.3	2.3	2.0	2.5	2.8	6.0	.458	0.0	0.0	-	2.5	4.0	.625
difference:	+2	+19.5	+2.0	+2.3	+6.5	+8.8	+0.5	+0.4	+1.6	-1.0	-0.2	+1.2		+.209				+0.5	+1.5	+.175
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
* Dikembe Mutombo played 11 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 18, from 1999 to 2009—Dikembe Mutombo played in 9 Playoffs. In those 11 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Dikembe Mutombo got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Defensive Player of the Year 2 Rebounds Leader 3 All-Star Game