Dwight Howard vs. Lauri Markkanen Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Lauri Markkanen and Dwight Howard, 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.

Dwight Howard played 18 years in the NBA, 10 more than Lauri Markkanen, who played 8. Dwight Howard had the first of his seasons in 2004-05, while Lauri Markkanen had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2004-05	2017-18
Team	Orlando Magic	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dwight Howard	82	32.6	12.0	3.5	6.5	10.0	0.9	0.9	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.3	8.3	.520	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	5.0	.671
difference:	+14	+2.9	+3.2	+2.3	+0.2	+2.5	+0.3	+0.3	+1.1	-0.8	-1.3	+1.2	+4.4	+.086	+2.1	+5.9		+1.3	+2.6	+.172
Lauri Markkanen	68	29.7	15.2	1.2	6.3	7.5	1.2	0.6	0.6	1.2	1.5	5.5	12.7	.434	2.1	5.9	.362	2.1	2.4	.843
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor Lauri Markkanen played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2006-07	2019-20
Team	Orlando Magic	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Dwight Howard	82	36.9	17.6	3.5	8.8	12.3	1.9	0.9	1.9	3.9	3.0	6.4	10.6	.603	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	8.1	.586
difference:	+32	+7.1	+2.9	+2.3	+3.7	+6.0	+0.4	+0.1	+1.4	-2.3	-1.1	+1.4	+1.2	+.178	+2.2	+6.3		+2.3	+5.0	+.238
Lauri Markkanen	50	29.8	14.7	1.2	5.1	6.3	1.5	0.8	0.5	1.6	1.9	5.0	11.8	.425	2.2	6.3	.344	2.5	3.1	.824
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	4	41.8	15.3	4.0	10.8	14.8	1.8	0.5	1.0	4.3	3.3	5.8	10.5	.548	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	8.3	.455
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2007-08	2020-21
Team	Orlando Magic	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East 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		%
Dwight Howard	82	37.7	20.7	3.4	10.8	14.2	1.3	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.3	7.1	11.9	.599	0.0	0.0	-	6.5	10.9	.590
difference:	+31	+11.9	+7.1	+2.7	+6.2	+8.9	+0.4	+0.4	+1.8	-2.2	-1.8	+2.2	+1.7	+.119	+2.3	+5.8		+5.0	+9.1	+.236
Lauri Markkanen	51	25.8	13.6	0.7	4.6	5.3	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.0	1.5	4.9	10.2	.480	2.3	5.8	.402	1.5	1.8	.826
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	10	42.1	18.9	6.0	9.8	15.8	0.9	0.8	3.4	3.2	3.8	7.2	12.4	.581	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	8.3	.542
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2008-09	2021-22
Team	Orlando Magic	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA 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		%
Dwight Howard	79	35.7	20.6	4.3	9.6	13.8	1.4	1.0	2.9	3.0	3.4	7.1	12.4	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.4	10.7	.594
difference:	+18	+4.9	+5.8	+3.3	+4.9	+8.1	+0.1	+0.3	+2.4	-2.1	-1.3	+2.0	+0.9	+.127	+2.2	+6.2		+4.1	+8.1	+.274
Lauri Markkanen	61	30.8	14.8	1.0	4.7	5.7	1.3	0.7	0.5	0.9	2.1	5.1	11.5	.445	2.2	6.2	.358	2.3	2.6	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	23	39.3	20.3	4.3	11.0	15.3	1.9	0.9	2.6	2.9	4.4	7.0	11.7	.601	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	9.9	.636
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2009-10	2022-23
Team	Orlando Magic	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	-	Most Improved Player
	Rebounds Leader	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Dwight Howard	82	34.7	18.3	3.5	9.7	13.2	1.8	0.9	2.8	3.3	3.5	6.2	10.2	.612	0.0	0.1	.000	5.9	10.0	.592
difference:	+16	+0.3	+7.3	+1.5	+3.0	+4.6	+0.1	+0.3	+2.2	-1.4	-1.4	+2.5	+7.1	+.113	+3.0	+7.6	+.391	+0.6	+4.0	+.283
Lauri Markkanen	66	34.4	25.6	2.0	6.7	8.6	1.9	0.6	0.6	1.9	2.1	8.7	17.3	.499	3.0	7.7	.391	5.3	6.0	.875
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	14	35.5	18.1	2.7	8.4	11.1	1.4	0.8	3.5	3.6	4.2	6.1	10.0	.614	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	11.3	.519
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2010-11	2023-24
Team	Orlando Magic	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Dwight Howard	78	37.6	22.9	4.0	10.1	14.1	1.4	1.4	2.4	3.6	3.3	7.9	13.4	.593	0.0	0.1	.000	7.0	11.7	.596
difference:	+23	+4.5	+0.3	+1.8	+4.2	+5.9	+0.6	+0.5	+1.9	-2.2	-1.5	+0.1	+2.8	+.113	+3.2	+7.9	+.399	+2.5	+6.7	+.303
Lauri Markkanen	55	33.1	23.2	2.2	5.9	8.2	2.0	0.9	0.5	1.4	1.8	7.8	16.2	.480	3.2	8.0	.399	4.5	5.0	.899
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	6	43.0	27.0	4.5	11.0	15.5	0.5	0.7	1.8	5.5	4.2	8.5	13.5	.630	0.0	0.2	.000	10.0	14.7	.682
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Dwight Howard	Lauri Markkanen
Season	2011-12	2024-25
Team	Orlando Magic	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dwight Howard	54	38.3	20.6	3.7	10.8	14.5	1.9	1.5	2.1	3.2	2.9	7.7	13.4	.573	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	10.6	.491
difference:	+7	+6.9	+1.6	+2.2	+6.4	+8.6	+0.4	+0.8	+1.7	-1.8	-1.2	+1.4	+1.5	+.150	+2.9	+8.4	+.346	+1.8	+6.7	+.385
Lauri Markkanen	47	31.4	19.0	1.5	4.4	5.9	1.5	0.7	0.4	1.4	1.7	6.3	14.9	.423	2.9	8.5	.346	3.4	3.9	.876
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor Lauri Markkanen played in the postseason in their season 8

Additional Years
* Dwight Howard played 10 seasons more than Lauri Markkanen in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 18, from 2013 to 2022—Dwight Howard played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 10 extra years over Lauri Markkanen, Dwight Howard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 1 Rebounds Leader 2 All-Star Game