Dirk Nowitzki vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Dirk Nowitzki, 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.

Dirk Nowitzki played 21 years in the NBA, 14 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Dirk Nowitzki had the first of his seasons in 1998-99, 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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1998-99	1995-96
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
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		%
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
difference:	+26	+3.4	+6.3	+1.1	+3.4	+4.7	+0.8	+0.3	+0.5	-0.5	-0.7	+2.5	+2.8	+.140	+0.2		+.169	+1.1	+1.5	+.016
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		%
Dirk Nowitzki	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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2000-01	1997-98
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Playoffs	Mavericks 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		%
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
difference:	+9	+6.1	+5.8	+0.5	+0.2	+0.8	+0.9	+0.1	+0.1	-0.7	-0.7	+1.6	+3.9	+.019	+1.4	+3.2	+.126	+1.1	+1.1	+.040
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		%
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
difference:	+6	+13.1	+11.1	+0.4	+0.7	+0.3	+0.1	+0.7		-1.1	-1.1	+2.4	+6.3	+.027	+1.0	+4.1	+.217	+5.3	+5.9	+.026
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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2001-02	1998-99
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
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
difference:	+26	+11.0	+11.3	+0.2	+2.3	+2.0		+0.4	+0.3	-0.2		+3.3	+7.0	+.008	+1.7	+4.1	+.105	+3.1	+3.3	+.082
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		%
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
difference:	+5	+14.5	+18.4	+1.2	+3.2	+4.3	+0.1	+0.8	+0.4	-1.3	-0.7	+5.6	+11.8	+.047	+1.9	+3.1	+.371	+5.1	+6.0	+.029
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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2002-03	1999-00
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West 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		%
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
difference:	+14	+13.4	+13.3	+0.5	+2.6	+2.1	+1.2	+0.7	+0.2	-0.4	-0.2	+4.0	+9.5	+.042	+1.8	+4.6	+.011	+3.5	+3.9	+.038
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		%
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
difference:	+1	+11.7	+14.0	+0.3	+5.1	+4.8	+0.3	+0.3	+0.1	-0.8	-0.6	+4.5	+9.0	+.026	+1.2	+2.3	+.157	+3.7	+3.5	+.116
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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2003-04	2000-01
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West 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		%
Dirk Nowitzki	77	37.9	21.8	1.2	7.5	8.7	2.7	1.2	1.4	1.8	2.8	7.9	17.0	.462	1.3	3.8	.341	4.8	5.5	.877
difference:	+16	+16.6	+11.7	+0.4	+2.9	+3.3	+1.2	+0.5	+0.4	-0.4	-0.6	+3.9	+8.5	+.017	+1.3	+3.6	+.274	+2.8	+2.9	+.101
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		%
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.6	2.6	9.2	11.8	1.4	1.4	2.6	1.2	3.2	9.0	20.0	.450	1.4	3.0	.467	7.2	8.4	.857
difference:	+2	+7.2	+15.3	+0.1	+3.5	+3.5	+1.3	+1.1	+0.3	-0.5	-0.8	+4.3	+10.3	+.033	+1.4	+2.3	+.467	+5.2	+5.7	+.107
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
	Dirk Nowitzki	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2004-05	2002-03
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Dirk Nowitzki	78	38.7	26.1	1.2	8.5	9.7	3.1	1.2	1.5	2.3	2.8	8.5	18.5	.459	1.2	2.9	.399	7.9	9.1	.869
difference:		+23.2	+20.0	+0.1	+5.3	+5.4	+1.3	+0.4	+0.9	-1.3	-1.0	+6.3	+13.9	+.017	+1.2	+2.8	+.101	+6.2	+7.0	+.082
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		%
Dirk Nowitzki	13	42.5	23.7	1.9	8.2	10.1	3.3	1.4	1.6	2.5	3.2	7.9	19.7	.402	0.8	2.3	.333	7.1	8.5	.829
difference:	+7	+28.0	+13.7	+0.9	+5.2	+6.1	+2.5	+0.7	+0.9	-1.5	-0.9	+3.9	+13.7	+.265	+0.8	+2.3		+5.1	+6.0	+.029
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
* Dirk Nowitzki played 14 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 21, from 2006 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 14 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 10 All-Star Game