George Mikan vs. Oscar Robertson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Oscar Robertson and George Mikan, 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 Mikan played 7 years in the NBA, 7 less than Oscar Robertson, who played 14. George Mikan had the first of his seasons in 1948-49, while Oscar Robertson had his rookie season in 1960-61. 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 Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1948-49	1960-61
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	Scoring Leader	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
George Mikan	60	-	28.3	-	-	-	3.6	-	-	-	4.3	9.7	23.4	.416	-	-	-	8.9	11.5	.772
difference:	+11		+2.2				+6.1				-1.2	+0.9	+0.9	+.057				+0.3	+0.3	+.050
Oscar Robertson	71	42.7	30.5	-	-	10.1	9.7	-	-	-	3.1	10.6	22.5	.473	-	-	-	9.2	11.2	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	10	-	30.3	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	10.3	22.7	.454	-	-	-	9.7	12.1	.802
Oscar Robertson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1949-50	1961-62
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Royals Lost West Div Semis

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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 Mikan	68	-	27.4	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-	4.4	9.5	23.5	.407	-	-	-	8.3	10.7	.779
difference:	+11		+3.4				+8.5				-1.1	+1.5	+0.6	+.071				+0.6	+0.3	+.024
Oscar Robertson	79	44.3	30.8	-	-	12.5	11.4	-	-	-	3.3	11.0	22.9	.478	-	-	-	8.9	11.0	.803
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	-	31.3	-	-	-	3.0	-	-	-	3.9	10.1	26.3	.383	-	-	-	11.2	14.2	.788
difference:	+8		+2.5				+8.0				-0.6	+0.4	+6.0	+.136				+3.4	+4.4	+.007
Oscar Robertson	4	46.3	28.8	-	-	11.0	11.0	-	-	-	4.5	10.5	20.3	.519	-	-	-	7.8	9.8	.795

Season 3
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1950-51	1962-63
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Royals Lost East Div 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 Mikan	68	-	28.4	-	-	14.1	3.1	-	-	-	4.5	10.0	23.3	.428	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.803
difference:	+12		+0.1			+3.7	+6.4				-0.8	+0.3	+3.4	+.090				+0.8	+1.0	+.007
Oscar Robertson	80	44.0	28.3	-	-	10.4	9.5	-	-	-	3.7	10.3	19.9	.518	-	-	-	7.7	9.5	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	7	-	24.0	-	-	10.6	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	21.7	.408	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.800
difference:	+5		+7.8			+2.4	+7.7				-0.2	+1.4	+0.3	+.062				+4.8	+4.9	+.064
Oscar Robertson	12	47.5	31.8	-	-	13.0	9.0	-	-	-	3.4	10.3	22.0	.470	-	-	-	11.1	12.8	.864

Season 4
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1951-52	1963-64
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Royals Lost East Div 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 Mikan	64	40.2	23.8	-	-	13.5	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	8.5	22.1	.385	-	-	-	6.8	8.7	.780
difference:	+15	+4.9	+7.6			+3.6	+8.0				-1.0	+2.1	+0.1	+.098				+3.3	+3.2	+.073
Oscar Robertson	79	45.1	31.4	-	-	9.9	11.0	-	-	-	3.5	10.6	22.0	.483	-	-	-	10.1	11.9	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	42.5	23.6	-	-	15.9	2.8	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	20.1	.379	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.790
difference:	+3	+4.6	+5.7			+7.0	+5.6				-1.8	+1.6	+0.1	+.076				+2.5	+2.1	+.068
Oscar Robertson	10	47.1	29.3	-	-	8.9	8.4	-	-	-	3.0	9.2	20.2	.455	-	-	-	10.9	12.7	.858

Season 5
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1952-53	1964-65
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Royals Lost East Div 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		%
George Mikan	70	37.9	20.6	-	-	14.4	2.9	-	-	-	4.1	7.1	17.9	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.780
difference:	+5	+7.7	+9.8			+5.4	+8.6				-1.4	+3.7	+4.5	+.081				+2.6	+2.5	+.059
Oscar Robertson	75	45.6	30.4	-	-	9.0	11.5	-	-	-	2.7	10.8	22.4	.480	-	-	-	8.9	10.6	.839
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	12	38.6	19.8	-	-	15.4	1.9	-	-	-	4.7	6.5	17.8	.366	-	-	-	6.8	9.3	.732
difference:	+8	+10.2	+8.2			+10.6	+10.1				-1.2	+3.0	+4.5	+.061				+2.2	+0.5	+.191
Oscar Robertson	4	48.8	28.0	-	-	4.8	12.0	-	-	-	3.5	9.5	22.3	.427	-	-	-	9.0	9.8	.923

Season 6
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1953-54	1965-66
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Royals Lost East Div 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		%
George Mikan	72	32.8	18.1	-	-	14.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	16.1	.380	-	-	-	5.9	7.6	.777
difference:	+4	+13.2	+13.2			+6.6	+8.7				-0.7	+4.7	+6.6	+.095				+3.9	+4.0	+.065
Oscar Robertson	76	46.0	31.3	-	-	7.7	11.1	-	-	-	3.0	10.8	22.7	.475	-	-	-	9.8	11.6	.842
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	13	32.6	19.4	-	-	13.2	1.9	-	-	-	4.3	6.7	14.6	.458	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.813
difference:	+8	+12.2	+12.4			+5.6	+5.9				-0.3	+3.1	+9.4	+.050				+6.2	+6.2	+.084
Oscar Robertson	5	44.8	31.8	-	-	7.6	7.8	-	-	-	4.0	9.8	24.0	.408	-	-	-	12.2	13.6	.897

Note: George Mikan didn't play in 1954-55.

Season 7
	George Mikan	Oscar Robertson
Season	1955-56	1966-67
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Cincinnati Royals
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Royals Lost East Div 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		%
George Mikan	37	20.7	10.5	-	-	8.3	1.4	-	-	-	4.1	4.0	10.1	.395	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.770
difference:	+42	+23.2	+20.0			+2.1	+9.3				-1.2	+6.6	+11.4	+.098				+6.8	+7.4	+.103
Oscar Robertson	79	43.9	30.5	-	-	6.2	10.7	-	-	-	2.9	10.6	21.5	.493	-	-	-	9.3	10.7	.873
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
George Mikan	3	20.0	12.0	-	-	9.3	1.7	-	-	-	4.7	4.3	11.7	.371	-	-	-	3.3	4.3	.769
difference:	+1	+25.8	+12.8			+5.3	+9.6				-2.4	+4.0	+4.3	+.145				+5.0	+5.0	+.123
Oscar Robertson	4	45.8	24.8	-	-	4.0	11.3	-	-	-	2.3	8.3	16.0	.516	-	-	-	8.3	9.3	.892

Additional Years
* Oscar Robertson played 7 seasons more than George Mikan in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 14, from 1968 to 1974—Oscar Robertson played in 4 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 7 extra years over George Mikan, Oscar Robertson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 Assists Leader 5 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP