Dirk Nowitzki vs. Wes Unseld Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wes Unseld 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, 8 more than Wes Unseld, who played 13. Dirk Nowitzki had the first of his seasons in 1998-99, while Wes Unseld had his rookie season in 1968-69. 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	Wes Unseld
Season	1998-99	1968-69
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Bullets Lost East Div Semis

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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:	+35	+15.8	+5.6			+14.8	+1.6				-1.2	+2.3	+3.8	+.071				+1.3	+2.9	+.168
Wes Unseld	82	36.2	13.8	-	-	18.2	2.6	-	-	-	3.4	5.2	10.9	.476	-	-	-	3.4	5.6	.605
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wes Unseld	4	41.3	18.8	-	-	18.5	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	7.5	14.3	.526	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.789

Season 3
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2000-01	1970-71
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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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	+1.1	+7.7			+7.7	+1.9				-0.2	+1.5	+3.8	+.027				+2.8	+2.5	+.181
Wes Unseld	74	39.2	14.1	-	-	16.9	4.0	-	-	-	3.2	5.7	11.4	.501	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.657
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:	+8	+2.3	+10.2			+10.7	+2.4				-0.4	+1.6	+4.7	+.039				+5.7	+4.9	+.315
Wes Unseld	18	42.2	13.2	-	-	18.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.3	5.3	11.6	.462	-	-	-	2.6	4.5	.568

Season 4
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2001-02	1971-72
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:		+3.7	+10.4			+7.7	+1.3					+2.5	+5.8	+.021				+3.5	+3.2	+.224
Wes Unseld	76	41.7	13.0	-	-	17.6	3.7	-	-	-	2.9	5.4	10.8	.498	-	-	-	2.3	3.6	.629
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:	+2	+0.3	+16.1			+0.6	+1.9				-0.3	+3.8	+9.7	+.047				+6.4	+6.1	+.352
Wes Unseld	6	44.3	12.3	-	-	12.5	4.2	-	-	-	3.7	5.3	10.8	.492	-	-	-	1.7	3.2	.526

Season 5
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2002-03	1972-73
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+1	+0.1	+12.6			+6.0	+1.4				-0.5	+3.3	+7.8	+.030				+4.1	+4.2	+.178
Wes Unseld	79	39.1	12.5	-	-	15.9	4.4	-	-	-	2.1	5.3	10.8	.493	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.703
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:	+12	+2.3	+15.5			+3.7	+1.2				-0.7	+4.8	+8.8	+.062				+4.3	+2.8	+.438
Wes Unseld	5	40.2	9.8	-	-	15.2	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	4.0	9.6	.417	-	-	-	1.8	3.8	.474

Season 6
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2003-04	1973-74
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Capital Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+21	+7.1	+15.9	+1.5	+1.0	+0.5	+0.1	+0.2	+1.1		-0.6	+5.3	+11.1	+.024				+4.2	+4.5	+.222
Wes Unseld	56	30.8	5.9	2.7	6.5	9.2	2.8	1.0	0.3	-	2.2	2.6	5.9	.438	-	-	-	0.6	1.0	.655
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	+0.2	+16.5	+0.5	+0.2	+0.3	+2.5	+0.8	+2.5		-1.1	+4.6	+11.0	+.042				+5.9	+6.3	+.257
Wes Unseld	7	42.4	10.1	3.1	9.0	12.1	3.9	0.6	0.1	-	2.1	4.4	9.0	.492	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.600

Season 7
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2004-05	1974-75
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+5	+1.1	+16.9	+3.2	+1.9	+5.1	+1.0	+0.4	+0.6		-0.3	+4.8	+11.0	+.043				+6.2	+6.6	+.184
Wes Unseld	73	39.8	9.2	4.4	10.4	14.8	4.1	1.6	0.9	-	2.5	3.7	7.5	.502	-	-	-	1.7	2.5	.685
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:	+4	+0.7	+13.0	+1.9	+4.2	+6.1	+0.5	+0.5	+0.4		-0.9	+3.7	+12.1	+.144				+4.7	+4.9	+.173
Wes Unseld	17	43.2	10.7	3.8	12.4	16.2	3.8	0.9	1.2	-	2.3	4.2	7.6	.546	-	-	-	2.4	3.6	.656

Season 8
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2005-06	1975-76
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+3	+0.6	+17.0	+2.1	+2.2	+4.3	+2.4	+0.4	+0.2		-0.6	+5.2	+12.0	+.081				+5.2	+4.9	+.316
Wes Unseld	78	37.5	9.6	3.5	9.8	13.3	5.2	1.1	0.8	-	2.6	4.1	7.3	.561	-	-	-	1.5	2.5	.585
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
difference:	+16	+1.6	+20.0	+1.7	+1.2	+0.4	+1.1	+0.2			-0.1	+5.9	+12.6	+.006				+7.0	+6.6	+.353
Wes Unseld	7	44.3	7.0	3.7	8.4	12.1	4.0	0.9	0.6	-	2.7	2.6	5.6	.462	-	-	-	1.9	3.4	.542

Season 9
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2006-07	1976-77
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+4	+1.3	+16.8	+1.4	+0.4	+1.8	+1.0	+0.4	+0.3		-0.9	+5.3	+10.5	+.012				+5.2	+5.1	+.302
Wes Unseld	82	34.9	7.8	3.0	7.7	10.7	4.4	1.1	0.5	-	3.1	3.3	6.7	.490	-	-	-	1.2	2.0	.602
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
difference:	+3	+1.1	+12.3	+1.5	+1.8	+0.4	+2.6	+0.9	+0.6		-0.3	+2.7	+9.7	+.173				+6.2	+7.0	+.257
Wes Unseld	9	40.9	7.4	2.7	9.0	11.7	4.9	0.9	0.7	-	3.6	3.3	6.0	.556	-	-	-	0.8	1.3	.583

Season 10
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2007-08	1977-78
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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10th 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	36.0	23.6	1.2	7.3	8.6	3.5	0.7	0.9	2.1	2.6	8.2	17.1	.479	1.0	2.9	.359	6.2	7.1	.879
difference:	+3	+2.9	+16.0	+2.4	+1.1	+3.3	+0.6	+0.5	+0.3	-0.1	-0.3	+5.0	+11.0	+.044				+5.0	+4.9	+.341
Wes Unseld	80	33.1	7.6	3.6	8.4	11.9	4.1	1.2	0.6	2.2	2.9	3.2	6.1	.523	-	-	-	1.2	2.2	.538
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.8	2.0	10.0	12.0	4.0	0.2	1.4	2.0	2.6	8.6	18.2	.473	1.2	3.6	.333	8.4	10.4	.808
difference:	+13	+4.6	+17.4	+2.0	+2.0		+0.4	+0.7	+1.0		-0.8	+4.7	+10.8	+.057				+6.9	+7.8	+.221
Wes Unseld	18	37.6	9.4	4.0	8.0	12.0	4.4	0.9	0.4	2.0	3.4	3.9	7.4	.530	-	-	-	1.5	2.6	.587

Season 11
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2008-09	1978-79
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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11th 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	37.7	25.9	1.1	7.3	8.4	2.4	0.8	0.8	1.9	2.2	9.6	20.0	.479	0.8	2.1	.359	6.0	6.7	.890
difference:	+4	+6.5	+15.0	+2.5	+0.1	+2.4	+1.7	+0.1	+0.3	-0.1	-0.4	+5.1	+12.2	+.098				+4.0	+3.6	+.247
Wes Unseld	77	31.2	10.9	3.6	7.2	10.8	4.1	0.9	0.5	2.0	2.6	4.5	7.8	.577	-	-	-	2.0	3.1	.643
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.4	26.8	1.2	8.9	10.1	3.1	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.1	8.8	17.0	.518	0.6	2.1	.286	8.6	9.3	.925
difference:	+9	+0.7	+16.5	+3.5	+0.3	+3.2	+0.3		+0.1	-0.7	-1.4	+4.7	+8.7	+.024				+6.5	+5.9	+.316
Wes Unseld	19	38.7	10.3	4.7	8.6	13.3	3.4	0.9	0.7	1.6	3.5	4.1	8.3	.494	-	-	-	2.1	3.4	.609

Season 12
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2009-10	1979-80
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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12th 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	37.5	25.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	2.7	0.9	1.0	1.8	2.6	8.9	18.5	.481	0.6	1.5	.421	6.6	7.2	.915
difference:	+1	+1.2	+15.3	+3.1	+2.6	+5.6	+1.8	+0.1	+0.3	-0.1	-0.4	+4.9	+10.7	+.032	+0.6	+1.5		+4.9	+4.7	+.250
Wes Unseld	82	36.3	9.7	4.1	9.3	13.3	4.5	0.8	0.7	1.9	3.0	4.0	7.8	.513	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.5	.665
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	6	38.8	26.7	1.2	7.0	8.2	3.0	0.8	0.7	1.7	2.5	9.7	17.7	.547	0.7	1.2	.571	6.7	7.0	.952
difference:	+4	+4.7	+17.7	+2.3	+3.5	+5.8	+0.5	+0.8	+0.8	-0.2		+6.2	+10.7	+.047	+0.7	+0.7	+.571	+4.7	+4.0	+.285
Wes Unseld	2	43.5	9.0	3.5	10.5	14.0	3.5	0.0	1.5	1.5	2.5	3.5	7.0	.500	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	3.0	.667

Season 13
	Dirk Nowitzki	Wes Unseld
Season	2010-11	1980-81
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did not play

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13th 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	73	34.3	23.0	0.7	6.3	7.0	2.6	0.5	0.6	1.9	2.4	8.4	16.2	.517	0.9	2.3	.393	5.4	6.1	.892
difference:	+10	+2.0	+15.0	+2.6	+1.1	+3.7	+0.1	+0.3		-0.4	-0.3	+4.8	+9.4	+.007	+0.9	+2.2	+.107	+4.5	+4.7	+.252
Wes Unseld	63	32.3	8.0	3.3	7.4	10.7	2.7	0.8	0.6	1.5	2.7	3.6	6.8	.524	0.0	0.1	.500	0.9	1.4	.640
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dirk Nowitzki	21	39.3	27.7	0.6	7.6	8.1	2.5	0.6	0.6	3.1	2.2	9.1	18.9	.485	1.1	2.4	.460	8.3	8.9	.941
Wes Unseld	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 8 seasons more than Wes Unseld in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 14 to 21, from 2012 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 4 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Wes Unseld, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game