Donovan Mitchell vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Donovan Mitchell, 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.

Donovan Mitchell played 9 years in the NBA, 12 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Donovan Mitchell had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Dirk Nowitzki had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2017-18	1998-99
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Did not play

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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		%
Donovan Mitchell	79	33.4	20.5	0.7	3.1	3.7	3.7	1.5	0.3	2.7	2.7	7.5	17.2	.437	2.4	7.0	.340	3.0	3.8	.805
difference:	+32	+13.0	+12.3	+0.2	+0.5	+0.3	+2.7	+0.9	+0.3	-1.1	-0.5	+4.6	+10.1	+.032	+2.1	+5.6	+.134	+0.9	+1.1	+.032
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	11	37.4	24.4	0.8	5.1	5.9	4.2	1.5	0.4	2.9	3.2	9.3	22.1	.420	2.3	7.3	.313	3.5	3.9	.907
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2019-20	2000-01
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Donovan Mitchell	69	34.3	24.0	0.8	3.6	4.4	4.3	1.0	0.2	2.7	2.5	8.7	19.4	.449	2.5	6.9	.366	4.0	4.7	.863
difference:	+13	+3.8	+2.2	+0.7	+4.1	+4.8	+2.2		+1.0	-0.8	-0.5	+1.5	+4.2	+.025	+0.7	+2.1	+.021	+1.5	+1.9	+.025
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	7	37.7	36.3	0.9	4.1	5.0	4.9	1.0	0.3	4.1	1.6	11.9	22.4	.529	4.7	9.1	.516	7.9	8.3	.948
difference:	+3	+2.2	+12.9	+0.5	+2.6	+3.1	+3.5	+0.1	+0.5	-2.7	-2.1	+5.0	+6.1	+.106	+3.4	+4.5	+.233	+0.4	+1.1	+.065
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

Season 4
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2001-02
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost West 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		%
Donovan Mitchell	53	33.4	26.4	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.2	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.2	9.0	20.6	.438	3.4	8.7	.386	5.0	6.0	.845
difference:	+23	+4.6	+3.0	+0.7	+4.9	+5.5	+2.8	+0.1	+0.7	-0.9	-0.7	+1.1	+4.0	+.039	+1.6	+4.1	+.011	+0.8	+0.8	+.008
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	10	34.6	32.3	0.3	3.9	4.2	5.5	1.1	0.2	2.8	2.0	10.5	23.5	.447	5.0	11.5	.435	6.3	7.6	.829
difference:	+2	+10.0	+3.9	+1.8	+7.1	+8.9	+3.2	+0.9	+0.6		-1.4	+1.4	+3.0	+.002	+3.0	+8.0	+.136	+1.8	+1.7	+.049
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

Season 5
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2002-03
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks 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		%
Donovan Mitchell	67	33.8	25.9	0.8	3.4	4.2	5.3	1.5	0.2	3.0	2.4	9.2	20.5	.448	3.5	9.8	.355	4.0	4.7	.853
difference:	+13	+5.2	+0.8	+0.2	+5.5	+5.7	+2.3	+0.1	+0.8	-1.1	-0.2	+0.6	+1.9	+.015	+1.6	+4.9	+.024	+2.0	+2.2	+.028
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	6	38.2	25.5	1.0	3.3	4.3	5.7	0.7	0.5	2.7	2.3	8.8	22.2	.398	1.7	8.0	.208	6.2	7.0	.881
difference:	+11	+4.3	+0.2	+0.1	+7.3	+7.2	+3.5	+0.5	+0.4	-0.3	-0.8		+3.8	+.081	+0.1	+4.4	+.235	+0.1	+0.4	+.031
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

Season 6
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2003-04
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks 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		%
Donovan Mitchell	68	35.8	28.3	0.9	3.3	4.3	4.4	1.5	0.4	2.6	2.5	10.0	20.6	.484	3.6	9.3	.386	4.7	5.4	.867
difference:	+9	+2.1	+6.5	+0.3	+4.2	+4.4	+1.7	+0.3	+1.0	-0.8	-0.3	+2.1	+3.6	+.022	+2.3	+5.5	+.045	+0.1	+0.1	+.010
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	5	41.4	23.2	0.6	4.4	5.0	7.2	2.0	0.6	3.8	2.8	9.0	20.8	.433	2.6	9.0	.289	2.6	3.6	.722
difference:		+0.8	+3.4	+2.0	+4.8	+6.8	+5.8	+0.6	+2.0	-2.6	-0.4		+0.8	+.017	+1.2	+6.0	+.178	+4.6	+4.8	+.135
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

Season 7
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2004-05
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Donovan Mitchell	55	35.3	26.6	0.8	4.3	5.1	6.1	1.8	0.5	2.8	2.1	9.1	19.8	.462	3.3	9.0	.368	5.0	5.8	.865
difference:	+23	+3.4	+0.5	+0.4	+4.2	+4.6	+3.0	+0.6	+1.0	-0.5	-0.7	+0.6	+1.3	+.003	+2.1	+6.1	+.031	+2.9	+3.3	+.004
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	10	38.2	29.6	0.6	4.8	5.4	4.7	1.3	0.3	2.8	2.9	10.7	22.5	.476	2.9	8.2	.354	5.3	6.5	.815
difference:	+3	+4.3	+5.9	+1.3	+3.4	+4.7	+1.4	+0.1	+1.3	-0.3	-0.3	+2.8	+2.8	+.074	+2.1	+5.9	+.021	+1.8	+2.0	+.014
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

Season 8
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2005-06
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Donovan Mitchell	71	31.4	24.0	0.8	3.7	4.5	5.0	1.3	0.2	2.1	2.0	8.2	18.6	.443	3.3	8.9	.368	4.2	5.1	.823
difference:	+10	+6.7	+2.6	+0.6	+3.9	+4.5	+2.2	+0.6	+0.8	-0.2		+1.1	+0.7	+.037	+1.9	+5.6	+.038	+2.5	+2.3	+.078
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	9	32.0	29.6	1.2	3.4	4.7	3.9	1.9	0.3	1.9	2.0	9.6	21.6	.443	3.1	9.3	.333	7.3	9.9	.742
difference:	+14	+10.7	+2.6	+0.8	+6.2	+7.0	+1.0	+0.8	+0.3	-0.2	-0.8	+1.1	+3.4	+.025	+2.1	+6.4	+.010	+1.6	+0.1	+.153
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

Season 9
	Donovan Mitchell	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2025-26	2006-07
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play (season in progress)	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Donovan Mitchell	31	33.9	29.5	0.8	3.6	4.5	5.5	1.5	0.3	3.1	2.5	10.4	21.0	.492	3.9	10.1	.385	4.9	5.8	.850
difference:	+47	+2.3	+4.9	+0.8	+3.7	+4.4	+2.1	+0.8	+0.5	-1.0	-0.3	+1.8	+3.8	+.010	+3.0	+7.9	+.031	+1.5	+1.3	+.054
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Donovan Mitchell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 12 seasons more than Donovan Mitchell 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 Donovan Mitchell, 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