Dirk Nowitzki vs. Domantas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Domantas 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, 12 more than Domantas Sabonis, who played 9. Dirk Nowitzki had the first of his seasons in 1998-99, while Domantas Sabonis had his rookie season in 2016-17. 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.

Season 3
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2000-01	2018-19
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East 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:	+8	+13.3	+7.7	+1.0	+0.9	+0.1	+0.8	+0.4	+0.8	-0.3	-0.2	+1.6	+5.7	+.116	+1.7	+4.6	+.142	+2.7	+2.7	+.123
Domantas Sabonis	74	24.8	14.1	2.5	6.8	9.3	2.9	0.6	0.4	2.2	3.2	5.6	9.5	.590	0.1	0.2	.529	2.8	3.9	.715
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	+15.9	+14.9	+0.4	+1.2	+0.8	+2.6	+0.3	+0.5	-0.1	-0.7	+3.9	+9.0	+.009	+1.0	+3.6	+.033	+6.0	+5.9	+.240
Domantas Sabonis	4	24.0	8.5	1.8	5.5	7.3	4.0	0.8	0.3	1.3	3.0	3.0	7.3	.414	0.3	1.0	.250	2.3	3.5	.643

Season 4
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2001-02	2019-20
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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:	+14	+3.2	+4.9	+1.4	+1.0	+2.5	+2.6	+0.3	+0.5	-0.8	-0.2	+0.5	+2.9	+.063	+1.5	+3.5	+.143	+2.3	+2.0	+.130
Domantas Sabonis	62	34.8	18.5	3.0	9.4	12.4	5.0	0.8	0.5	2.7	3.1	7.4	13.7	.540	0.3	1.1	.254	3.5	4.8	.723
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2002-03	2020-21
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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:	+18	+3.0	+4.8	+1.4	+0.6	+2.1	+3.7	+0.2	+0.5	-1.5	-0.7	+0.8	+4.0	+.072	+1.1	+2.3	+.058	+2.1	+1.6	+.149
Domantas Sabonis	62	36.0	20.3	2.4	9.5	12.0	6.7	1.2	0.5	3.4	3.3	7.8	14.6	.535	0.8	2.6	.321	3.9	5.3	.732
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2003-04	2021-22
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+15	+3.4	+2.9	+2.0	+1.4	+3.4	+2.5	+0.2	+1.0	-1.3	-0.5	+0.8	+4.5	+.111	+0.7	+1.8	+.029	+0.8	+0.1	+.136
Domantas Sabonis	62	34.5	18.9	3.2	8.9	12.1	5.2	1.0	0.4	3.1	3.3	7.1	12.5	.573	0.6	2.0	.312	4.0	5.4	.741
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2004-05	2022-23
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Kings 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:	+1	+4.1	+7.0	+2.0	+0.6	+2.6	+4.2	+0.4	+1.0	-0.6	-0.7	+1.2	+6.6	+.156	+0.8	+1.8	+.026	+3.8	+3.6	+.127
Domantas Sabonis	79	34.6	19.1	3.2	9.1	12.3	7.3	0.8	0.5	2.9	3.5	7.3	11.9	.615	0.4	1.1	.373	4.1	5.5	.742
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:	+6	+7.8	+7.3	+2.5	+1.6	+0.9	+1.4		+0.7	-1.2	-0.8	+0.9	+5.6	+.093	+0.7	+1.6	+.133	+4.8	+4.5	+.258
Domantas Sabonis	7	34.7	16.4	4.4	6.6	11.0	4.7	1.4	0.9	3.7	4.0	7.0	14.1	.495	0.1	0.7	.200	2.3	4.0	.571

Season 8
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2005-06	2023-24
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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8th 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	81	38.1	26.6	1.4	7.6	9.0	2.8	0.7	1.0	1.9	2.0	9.3	19.3	.480	1.4	3.3	.406	6.7	7.4	.901
difference:	+1	+2.4	+7.2	+2.2	+2.5	+4.7	+5.4	+0.2	+0.4	-1.4	-1.0	+1.6	+6.3	+.114	+1.0	+2.2	+.027	+3.1	+2.3	+.197
Domantas Sabonis	82	35.7	19.4	3.6	10.1	13.7	8.2	0.9	0.6	3.3	3.0	7.7	13.0	.594	0.4	1.1	.379	3.6	5.1	.704
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	23	42.7	27.0	2.0	9.6	11.7	2.9	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.8	8.5	18.2	.468	1.0	2.9	.343	8.9	10.0	.895
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Dirk Nowitzki	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2006-07	2024-25
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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9th 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	36.2	24.6	1.6	7.3	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.2	.502	0.9	2.2	.416	6.4	7.1	.904
difference:	+8	+1.5	+5.5	+2.2	+2.8	+5.0	+2.6		+0.4	-0.8	-1.1	+1.1	+4.4	+.088			+.001	+3.3	+3.0	+.150
Domantas Sabonis	70	34.7	19.1	3.8	10.1	13.9	6.0	0.7	0.4	2.9	3.3	7.5	12.8	.590	0.9	2.2	.417	3.1	4.1	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	6	39.8	19.7	4.2	7.2	11.3	2.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	6.0	15.7	.383	0.7	3.2	.211	7.0	8.3	.840
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 12 seasons more than Domantas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 21, from 2008 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 12 extra years over Domantas Sabonis, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 8 All-Star Game