Don Buse vs. Luka Doncic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Luka Doncic and Don Buse, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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.

Don Buse played 9 years in the NBA, 3 more than Luka Doncic, who played 6. Don Buse had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Luka Doncic had his rookie season in 2018-19. 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Don Buse	9	6	1976-77 to 1984-85
Luka Doncic	6	4	2018-19 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9


Rookie Season
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1976-77	2018-19
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	Assists Leader	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	81	36.4	8.0	0.8	2.5	3.3	8.5	3.5	0.2	-	1.6	3.3	7.9	.416	-	-	-	1.4	1.8	.786
Luka Doncic	72	32.2	21.2	1.2	6.6	7.8	6.0	1.1	0.3	3.4	1.9	7.0	16.5	.427	2.3	7.1	.327	4.8	6.7	.713

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1977-78	2019-20
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	82	31.1	8.4	0.7	2.3	3.0	4.8	2.3	0.2	1.5	1.8	3.5	7.6	.458	-	-	-	1.4	1.7	.824
Luka Doncic	61	33.6	28.8	1.3	8.1	9.4	8.8	1.0	0.2	4.3	2.5	9.5	20.6	.463	2.8	8.9	.316	7.0	9.2	.758

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	2	38.0	4.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	2.0	2.0	0.0	0.5	1.5	2.0	5.5	.364	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Luka Doncic	6	35.8	31.0	0.7	9.2	9.8	8.7	1.2	0.5	5.2	2.8	10.7	21.3	.500	2.7	7.3	.364	7.0	10.7	.656


Season 3
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1978-79	2020-21
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	82	31.0	7.8	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.3	1.9	0.2	1.2	1.8	3.5	7.0	.495	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.769
Luka Doncic	66	34.3	27.7	0.8	7.2	8.0	8.6	1.0	0.5	4.3	2.3	9.8	20.5	.479	2.9	8.3	.350	5.2	7.1	.730

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	15	34.1	7.9	1.1	2.5	3.7	3.5	1.5	0.3	1.0	2.1	3.1	7.7	.405	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.727
Luka Doncic	7	40.1	35.7	0.6	7.3	7.9	10.3	1.3	0.4	4.6	2.4	13.7	28.0	.490	4.4	10.9	.408	3.9	7.3	.529


Season 4
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1979-80	2021-22
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	81	30.9	7.7	0.9	2.0	2.9	4.0	1.6	0.1	1.1	1.4	3.2	7.3	.443	0.2	1.0	.241	1.0	1.6	.664
Luka Doncic	65	35.4	28.4	0.9	8.3	9.1	8.7	1.2	0.6	4.5	2.2	9.9	21.6	.457	3.1	8.8	.353	5.6	7.5	.744

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	8	29.5	8.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	5.5	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	3.5	8.0	.438	0.6	1.6	.385	0.9	1.4	.636
Luka Doncic	15	36.8	31.7	0.7	9.1	9.8	6.4	1.8	0.6	3.9	2.9	10.7	23.5	.455	3.4	9.9	.345	6.9	9.0	.770


Season 5
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1980-81	2022-23
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	58	18.9	5.1	0.3	1.1	1.4	2.4	1.3	0.1	0.7	1.1	2.0	4.9	.397	0.3	1.0	.328	0.9	1.1	.769
Luka Doncic	66	36.2	32.4	0.8	7.8	8.6	8.0	1.4	0.5	3.6	2.5	10.9	22.0	.496	2.8	8.2	.342	7.8	10.5	.742

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	2	17.5	2.5	0.0	2.5	2.5	3.5	1.5	0.0	1.0	2.0	0.5	4.0	.125	0.5	2.0	.250	1.0	1.0	1.000
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1981-82	2023-24
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Scoring Leader
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks TBD

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	82	30.8	9.7	0.6	2.2	2.7	5.0	2.0	0.3	1.2	2.1	3.8	8.4	.455	0.9	2.3	.386	1.2	1.5	.813
Luka Doncic	70	37.5	33.9	0.8	8.4	9.2	9.8	1.4	0.5	4.0	2.1	11.5	23.6	.487	4.1	10.6	.382	6.8	8.7	.786

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Luka Doncic	11	41.8	27.1	1.1	8.5	9.6	9.0	1.4	0.5	3.8	2.5	9.5	22.9	.413	2.7	9.7	.280	5.5	7.1	.769


Season 7
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1982-83	-
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Semis	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	41	15.7	4.7	0.5	0.9	1.3	2.8	1.1	0.0	0.6	1.5	1.8	4.4	.396	0.2	0.9	.257	1.0	1.1	.891
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	5	6.2	1.4	0.0	0.4	0.4	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.4	1.6	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.8	.750
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1983-84	-
Team	Kansas City Kings	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	76	17.5	5.0	0.4	1.1	1.5	4.0	1.1	0.0	1.1	0.8	2.0	4.6	.426	0.2	0.8	.305	0.8	1.1	.788
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	3	16.7	7.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	3.7	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.7	2.3	5.3	.438	1.0	2.0	.500	1.3	2.0	.667
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Don Buse	Luka Doncic
Season	1984-85	-
Team	Kansas City Kings	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	65	14.4	3.4	0.3	0.6	0.9	3.1	0.6	0.0	0.7	1.2	1.3	3.1	.404	0.5	1.3	.356	0.4	0.5	.767
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Luka Doncic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Don Buse vs. Luka Doncic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Luka Doncic and Don Buse, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9