George Gervin vs. Jermaine O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jermaine O'Neal and George Gervin, 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.

George Gervin played 10 years in the NBA, 8 less than Jermaine O'Neal, who played 18. George Gervin had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Jermaine O'Neal had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1976-77	1996-97
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
George Gervin	82	33.0	23.1	1.6	3.9	5.5	2.9	1.3	1.3	-	3.5	8.9	16.3	.544	-	-	-	5.4	6.5	.833
difference:	+37	+22.8	+19.0	+0.7	+2.0	+2.7	+2.7	+1.3	+0.7		-2.5	+7.4	+12.9	+.093				+4.4	+4.8	+.230
Jermaine O'Neal	45	10.2	4.1	0.9	1.9	2.8	0.2	0.0	0.6	0.6	1.0	1.5	3.4	.451	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.7	.603
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	2	31.0	25.0	2.5	3.0	5.5	1.5	0.5	1.0	-	4.5	9.5	22.0	.432	-	-	-	6.0	7.5	.800
difference:		+29.0	+25.0	+2.5	+2.5	+5.0	+1.5	+0.5	+0.5		-4.5	+9.5	+21.0	+.432				+6.0	+6.5	+.800
Jermaine O'Neal	2	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	1.0	.000

Season 2
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1977-78	1997-98
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost East Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	82	34.8	27.2	1.4	3.7	5.1	3.7	1.7	1.3	3.7	3.1	10.5	19.6	.536	-	-	-	6.1	7.4	.830
difference:	+22	+21.3	+22.7	+0.1	+1.7	+1.7	+3.4	+1.4	+0.3	-2.8	-1.4	+8.6	+15.7	+.051				+5.3	+5.9	+.324
Jermaine O'Neal	60	13.5	4.5	1.3	2.0	3.4	0.3	0.3	1.0	0.9	1.7	1.9	3.9	.485	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.5	.506
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	6	37.8	33.2	1.8	3.8	5.7	3.2	1.0	2.7	3.2	3.8	13.0	23.7	.549	-	-	-	7.2	9.3	.768
difference:	+5	+34.8	+33.2	+0.8	+3.8	+4.7	+3.2	+1.0	+0.7	-3.2	-2.8	+13.0	+20.7	+.549				+7.2	+9.3
Jermaine O'Neal	1	3.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	3.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Season 3
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1978-79	1998-99
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost East Conf Finals	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 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		%
George Gervin	80	36.1	29.6	1.8	3.2	5.0	2.7	1.7	1.1	3.6	3.4	11.8	21.9	.541	-	-	-	5.9	7.1	.826
difference:	+44	+27.5	+27.1	+0.6	+1.7	+2.3	+2.3	+1.6	+0.7	-3.2	-2.3	+10.8	+19.6	+.107				+5.4	+6.1	+.312
Jermaine O'Neal	36	8.6	2.5	1.2	1.5	2.7	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.4	1.1	1.0	2.3	.434	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.0	.514
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	14	36.6	28.6	2.4	3.5	5.9	2.5	1.9	1.0	2.9	3.6	11.3	21.1	.536	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.808
difference:	+5	+30.6	+27.0	+1.5	+2.5	+4.0	+2.4	+1.9	+0.7	-2.7	-2.4	+10.9	+20.0	+.136				+5.3	+6.1	+.308
Jermaine O'Neal	9	6.0	1.6	0.9	1.0	1.9	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.2	1.2	0.4	1.1	.400	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.3	.500

Season 4
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1979-80	1999-00
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
George Gervin	78	37.6	33.1	2.0	3.2	5.2	2.6	1.4	1.0	3.3	2.7	13.1	24.9	.528	0.4	1.3	.314	6.5	7.6	.852
difference:	+8	+25.3	+29.2	+0.6	+1.3	+1.9	+2.3	+1.2	+0.2	-2.6	-0.9	+11.6	+21.7	+.042	+0.4	+1.3		+5.7	+6.2	+.270
Jermaine O'Neal	70	12.3	3.9	1.4	1.9	3.3	0.3	0.2	0.8	0.7	1.8	1.5	3.2	.486	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.4	.582
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	3	40.7	33.3	3.0	3.7	6.7	4.0	1.7	1.0	3.0	2.7	12.3	24.7	.500	0.0	0.7	.000	8.7	10.0	.867
difference:	+5	+35.8	+31.8	+2.7	+3.1	+5.8	+3.9	+1.7	+0.6	-3.0	-1.6	+11.9	+23.3	+.227		+0.7		+7.9	+8.9	+.200
Jermaine O'Neal	8	4.9	1.5	0.3	0.6	0.9	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.0	1.1	0.4	1.4	.273	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.1	.667

Season 5
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1980-81	2000-01
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
George Gervin	82	33.7	27.1	1.5	3.6	5.1	3.2	1.1	0.7	3.1	2.6	10.4	21.1	.492	0.1	0.4	.257	6.2	7.6	.826
difference:	+1	+1.1	+14.2	+1.6	+3.1	+4.7	+2.0	+0.5	+2.1	-1.1	-0.9	+5.4	+10.4	+.027	+0.1	+0.3	+.257	+3.3	+2.8	+.225
Jermaine O'Neal	81	32.6	12.9	3.1	6.7	9.8	1.2	0.6	2.8	2.0	3.5	5.0	10.7	.465	0.0	0.1	.000	2.9	4.8	.601
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	7	39.1	27.1	1.3	3.7	5.0	3.4	0.7	0.7	2.9	2.7	11.0	22.0	.500	0.0	0.4	.000	5.1	6.4	.800
difference:	+3	+0.2	+17.3	+1.7	+5.8	+7.5	+1.6	+0.7	+1.8	-1.1	-0.6	+6.7	+12.2	+.064		+0.1		+3.8	+3.9	+.300
Jermaine O'Neal	4	39.3	9.8	3.0	9.5	12.5	1.8	0.0	2.5	1.8	3.3	4.3	9.8	.436	0.0	0.3	.000	1.3	2.5	.500

Season 6
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1981-82	2001-02
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Most Improved Player
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
George Gervin	79	35.7	32.3	1.7	3.2	5.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	2.7	2.7	12.6	25.2	.500	0.1	0.5	.278	7.0	8.1	.864
difference:	+7	+1.9	+13.3	+0.9	+4.7	+5.5	+0.8	+0.4	+1.7	-0.3	-1.0	+5.1	+9.5	+.021	+0.1	+0.3	+.207	+3.1	+2.4	+.176
Jermaine O'Neal	72	37.6	19.0	2.6	7.9	10.5	1.6	0.6	2.3	2.4	3.7	7.5	15.7	.479	0.0	0.2	.071	3.9	5.7	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	9	41.4	29.4	2.1	5.2	7.3	4.6	1.1	0.4	3.4	4.0	11.4	25.3	.452	0.0	0.3	.000	6.6	7.9	.831
difference:	+4	+3.4	+12.2	+0.9	+1.2	+0.3	+3.6	+0.3	+1.2	-0.6	-0.8	+4.6	+10.1	+.005		+0.1		+3.0	+3.1	+.081
Jermaine O'Neal	5	38.0	17.2	1.2	6.4	7.6	1.0	0.8	1.6	2.8	4.8	6.8	15.2	.447	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.8	.750

Season 7
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1982-83	2002-03
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
George Gervin	78	36.3	26.2	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.4	1.1	0.9	3.2	3.1	9.7	19.9	.487	0.2	0.4	.364	6.6	7.8	.853
difference:	+1	+0.9	+5.4	+1.2	+4.5	+5.7	+1.4	+0.2	+1.4	-0.9	-0.5	+1.8	+3.5	+.003	+0.1	+0.1	+.031	+1.8	+1.2	+.122
Jermaine O'Neal	77	37.2	20.8	2.6	7.7	10.3	2.0	0.9	2.3	2.3	3.6	7.9	16.4	.484	0.1	0.3	.333	4.8	6.6	.731
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	11	39.7	25.2	1.9	4.8	6.7	3.4	1.1	0.4	4.2	3.5	9.8	18.9	.519	0.0	0.2	.000	5.5	6.3	.884
difference:	+5	+5.8	+2.4	+2.1	+8.7	+10.8	+2.7	+0.6	+2.6	-1.2	-0.2	+2.6	+3.6	+.052		+0.3		+3.0	+4.5	+.099
Jermaine O'Neal	6	45.5	22.8	4.0	13.5	17.5	0.7	0.5	3.0	3.0	3.7	7.2	15.3	.467	0.0	0.5	.000	8.5	10.8	.785

Season 8
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1983-84	2003-04
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
George Gervin	76	34.0	25.9	1.4	2.7	4.1	2.9	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.9	10.1	20.5	.490	0.1	0.3	.417	5.6	6.7	.842
difference:	+2	+1.7	+5.8	+1.1	+4.8	+5.9	+0.8	+0.2	+2.0	-0.6	-0.3	+2.3	+2.6	+.056	+0.1	+0.1	+.306	+1.1	+0.8	+.085
Jermaine O'Neal	78	35.7	20.1	2.5	7.5	10.0	2.1	0.8	2.6	2.3	3.2	7.8	17.9	.434	0.0	0.2	.111	4.5	5.9	.757
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	16	37.6	19.2	1.8	7.3	9.1	1.2	0.5	2.3	1.8	3.3	7.2	17.0	.423	0.0	0.3	.000	4.8	6.9	.700

Season 9
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1984-85	2004-05
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Pacers 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		%
George Gervin	72	29.0	21.2	1.1	2.2	3.3	2.5	0.9	0.7	2.8	2.9	8.3	16.4	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	5.3	.844
difference:	+28	+5.8	+3.1	+0.8	+4.7	+5.5	+0.6	+0.3	+1.3	-0.2	-1.0	+0.5	+3.0	+.056			+.167	+2.2	+3.6	+.090
Jermaine O'Neal	44	34.8	24.3	1.9	6.9	8.8	1.9	0.6	2.0	3.0	3.9	8.8	19.4	.452	0.0	0.1	.167	6.7	8.9	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	5	36.6	22.2	0.6	3.0	3.6	2.8	0.6	0.6	4.0	3.8	8.4	15.8	.532	0.0	0.6	.000	5.4	6.8	.794
difference:	+8	+0.2	+6.2	+1.0	+3.4	+4.4	+0.6	+0.1	+2.0	-1.2	-0.1	+2.5	+0.4	+.167		+0.4		+1.2	+1.3	+.044
Jermaine O'Neal	13	36.8	16.0	1.6	6.4	8.0	2.2	0.5	2.6	2.8	3.7	5.9	16.2	.365	0.0	0.2	.000	4.2	5.5	.750

Season 10
	George Gervin	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	1985-86	2005-06
Team	Chicago Bulls	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
George Gervin	82	25.2	16.2	1.0	1.7	2.6	1.8	0.6	0.3	2.0	2.6	6.3	13.4	.472	0.0	0.2	.211	3.5	3.9	.879
difference:	+31	+10.1	+3.9	+1.0	+5.6	+6.7	+0.8	+0.1	+2.0	-1.0	-0.9	+1.2	+2.4		+0.1		+.089	+1.6	+3.3	+.170
Jermaine O'Neal	51	35.3	20.1	2.0	7.3	9.3	2.6	0.5	2.3	3.0	3.5	7.5	15.8	.472	0.1	0.2	.300	5.1	7.2	.709
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Gervin	2	5.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.5	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+4	+30.5	+21.0	+1.5	+5.5	+7.0	+1.2	+0.5	+2.3	-3.3	-3.2	+7.3	+13.5	+.524		+0.3		+6.3	+8.8
Jermaine O'Neal	6	36.0	21.0	1.5	6.0	7.5	1.7	0.5	2.3	4.3	4.7	7.3	14.0	.524	0.0	0.3	.000	6.3	8.8	.717

Additional Years
* Jermaine O'Neal played 8 seasons more than George Gervin in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 18, from 2007 to 2014—Jermaine O'Neal played in 4 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over George Gervin, Jermaine O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game