Gilbert Arenas vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Gilbert Arenas, 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.

Gilbert Arenas played 11 years in the NBA, 8 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Gilbert Arenas had the first of his seasons in 2001-02, while Shaquille O'Neal had his rookie season in 1992-93. 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
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2001-02	1992-93
Team	Golden State Warriors	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	47	24.6	10.9	0.9	1.9	2.8	3.7	1.5	0.2	2.1	2.4	3.7	8.2	.453	0.8	2.4	.345	2.6	3.4	.775
difference:	+34	+13.3	+12.5	+3.3	+7.7	+11.1	+1.8	+0.8	+3.3	-1.7	-1.6	+5.3	+7.9	+.109	+0.8	+2.4		+2.7	+5.5	+.183
Shaquille O'Neal	81	37.9	23.4	4.2	9.6	13.9	1.9	0.7	3.5	3.8	4.0	9.0	16.1	.562	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	8.9	.592
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Gilbert Arenas nor Shaquille O'Neal played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2002-03	1993-94
Team	Golden State Warriors	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Most Improved Player	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost East 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		%
Gilbert Arenas	82	35.0	18.3	1.2	3.5	4.7	6.3	1.5	0.2	3.5	3.2	6.2	14.4	.431	1.3	3.8	.348	4.5	5.7	.791
difference:	+1	+4.8	+11.0	+3.5	+5.0	+8.5	+3.9	+0.6	+2.7	-0.8	-0.3	+5.6	+5.2	+.168	+1.3	+3.8		+1.3	+4.8	+.237
Shaquille O'Neal	81	39.8	29.3	4.7	8.5	13.2	2.4	0.9	2.9	2.7	3.5	11.8	19.6	.599	0.0	0.0	-	5.8	10.5	.554
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	3	42.0	20.7	5.7	7.7	13.3	2.3	0.7	3.0	3.3	4.3	7.7	15.0	.511	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	11.3	.471

Season 3
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2003-04	1994-95
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost NBA 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		%
Gilbert Arenas	55	37.6	19.6	1.0	3.6	4.6	5.0	1.9	0.2	4.1	3.2	6.5	16.6	.392	2.3	6.1	.375	4.3	5.8	.748
difference:	+24	+0.6	+9.7	+3.2	+3.7	+6.8	+2.3	+1.0	+2.2	-1.5	-0.1	+5.3	+3.6	+.191	+2.3	+6.0	+.375	+1.5	+5.0	+.215
Shaquille O'Neal	79	37.0	29.3	4.2	7.3	11.4	2.7	0.9	2.4	2.6	3.3	11.8	20.2	.583	0.0	0.1	.000	5.8	10.8	.533
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	21	38.3	25.7	4.5	7.4	11.9	3.3	0.9	1.9	3.5	4.0	9.3	16.1	.577	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	12.4	.571

Season 4
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2004-05	1995-96
Team	Washington Wizards	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf Semis	Magic Lost East 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		%
Gilbert Arenas	80	40.9	25.5	1.0	3.7	4.7	5.1	1.7	0.3	3.0	3.1	8.2	19.0	.431	2.6	7.0	.365	6.5	8.0	.814
difference:	+26	+4.9	+1.1	+2.4	+4.0	+6.3	+2.2	+1.1	+1.8	-0.1	-0.5	+2.8	+0.1	+.142	+2.6	+7.0		+1.9	+1.5	+.327
Shaquille O'Neal	54	36.0	26.6	3.4	7.7	11.0	2.9	0.6	2.1	2.9	3.6	11.0	19.1	.573	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	9.5	.487
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	10	45.1	23.6	0.8	4.4	5.2	6.2	2.1	0.6	3.9	3.4	7.3	19.4	.376	1.8	7.7	.234	7.2	9.4	.766
difference:	+2	+6.8	+2.2	+3.3	+1.5	+4.8	+1.6	+1.3	+0.7	-0.2	-0.1	+3.6	+1.4	+.230	+1.8	+7.7		+3.2	+0.8	+.373
Shaquille O'Neal	12	38.3	25.8	4.1	5.9	10.0	4.6	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.3	10.9	18.0	.606	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	10.2	.393

Season 5
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2005-06	1996-97
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf 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		%
Gilbert Arenas	80	42.3	29.3	0.7	2.8	3.5	6.1	2.0	0.3	3.7	3.6	9.3	20.9	.447	2.5	6.8	.369	8.2	10.0	.820
difference:	+29	+4.2	+3.1	+3.1	+5.9	+9.0	+3.0	+1.1	+2.6	-0.8	-0.1	+1.5	+1.5	+.110	+2.5	+6.7	+.369	+3.7	+0.6	+.336
Shaquille O'Neal	51	38.1	26.2	3.8	8.7	12.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	2.9	3.5	10.8	19.4	.557	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	9.4	.484
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	6	47.3	34.0	1.2	4.3	5.5	5.3	2.2	0.7	3.3	3.5	10.8	23.3	.464	3.3	7.7	.435	9.0	11.7	.771
difference:	+3	+11.1	+7.1	+3.0	+2.0	+5.1	+2.1	+1.6	+1.2	-0.9	-0.6	+0.9	+4.1	+.050	+3.3	+7.7		+1.9		+.161
Shaquille O'Neal	9	36.2	26.9	4.2	6.3	10.6	3.2	0.6	1.9	2.4	4.1	9.9	19.2	.514	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	11.7	.610

Season 6
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2006-07	1997-98
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Gilbert Arenas	74	39.8	28.4	0.8	3.7	4.6	6.0	1.9	0.2	3.2	3.4	8.7	20.9	.418	2.8	7.9	.351	8.2	9.7	.844
difference:	+14	+3.5	+0.1	+2.7	+4.2	+6.8	+3.6	+1.2	+2.2	-0.3	-0.2	+2.5	+1.8	+.166	+2.8	+7.9		+2.2	+1.7	+.317
Shaquille O'Neal	60	36.3	28.3	3.5	7.9	11.4	2.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	3.2	11.2	19.1	.584	0.0	0.0	-	6.0	11.4	.527
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	13	38.5	30.5	3.7	6.5	10.2	2.9	0.5	2.6	3.3	3.2	12.2	19.8	.612	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	12.2	.503

Season 7
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2007-08	1998-99
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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		%
Gilbert Arenas	13	32.7	19.4	0.5	3.5	3.9	5.1	1.8	0.1	3.8	2.3	6.0	15.1	.398	1.7	6.0	.282	5.7	7.4	.771
difference:	+36	+2.1	+6.9	+3.3	+3.4	+6.8	+2.8	+1.1	+1.6	-1.3	-0.9	+4.4	+3.0	+.178	+1.7	+6.0		+0.2	+2.8	+.231
Shaquille O'Neal	49	34.8	26.3	3.8	6.9	10.7	2.3	0.7	1.7	2.5	3.2	10.4	18.1	.576	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.2	.540
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	4	23.5	10.8	0.0	1.8	1.8	2.8	0.5	0.0	2.0	3.3	3.5	9.0	.389	1.3	3.0	.417	2.5	3.0	.833
difference:	+4	+15.9	+15.8	+5.5	+4.3	+9.8	+0.5	+0.4	+2.9	-0.3	-0.3	+6.4	+10.4	+.121	+1.3	+3.0		+4.4	+11.8	+.367
Shaquille O'Neal	8	39.4	26.6	5.5	6.1	11.6	2.3	0.9	2.9	2.3	3.6	9.9	19.4	.510	0.0	0.0	-	6.9	14.8	.466

Season 8
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2008-09	1999-00
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Gilbert Arenas	2	31.5	13.0	0.5	4.0	4.5	10.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	2.0	3.0	11.5	.261	1.0	3.5	.286	6.0	8.0	.750
difference:	+77	+8.5	+16.7	+3.8	+5.4	+9.1	+6.2	+0.5	+2.5	-2.3	-1.2	+9.1	+9.6	+.313	+1.0	+3.5		+0.5	+2.4	+.226
Shaquille O'Neal	79	40.0	29.7	4.3	9.4	13.6	3.8	0.5	3.0	2.8	3.2	12.1	21.1	.574	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.4	.524
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	23	43.5	30.7	5.2	10.3	15.4	3.1	0.6	2.4	2.4	2.9	12.4	22.0	.566	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	12.9	.456

Season 9
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2009-10	2000-01
Team	Washington Wizards	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Gilbert Arenas	32	36.5	22.6	0.5	3.6	4.2	7.2	1.3	0.3	3.7	3.0	7.9	19.3	.411	2.0	5.7	.348	4.8	6.5	.739
difference:	+42	+3.0	+6.1	+3.4	+5.2	+8.5	+3.5	+0.7	+2.5	-0.8	-0.5	+3.1	+0.1	+.161	+2.0	+5.7		+1.9	+6.6	+.226
Shaquille O'Neal	74	39.5	28.7	3.9	8.8	12.7	3.7	0.6	2.8	2.9	3.5	11.0	19.2	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	13.1	.513
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	16	42.3	30.4	5.7	9.8	15.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	3.6	3.4	11.9	21.5	.555	0.0	0.0	-	6.6	12.5	.525

Season 10
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2010-11	2001-02
Team	Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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		%
Gilbert Arenas	70	25.7	10.8	0.3	2.4	2.7	3.9	1.1	0.3	2.5	2.7	3.8	10.5	.366	1.4	4.7	.297	1.7	2.2	.784
difference:	+3	+10.4	+16.4	+3.2	+4.8	+8.0	+0.9	+0.5	+1.7	-0.1	-0.3	+6.8	+7.8	+.213	+1.4	+4.7		+4.2	+8.5	+.229
Shaquille O'Neal	67	36.1	27.2	3.5	7.2	10.7	3.0	0.6	2.0	2.6	3.0	10.6	18.3	.579	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	10.7	.555
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	5	16.2	8.6	0.8	2.0	2.8	2.4	0.2	0.2	1.2	2.8	3.6	8.4	.429	0.6	2.4	.250	0.8	1.2	.667
difference:	+14	+24.6	+19.9	+2.7	+7.1	+9.8	+0.4	+0.3	+2.3	-2.1	-0.5	+7.1	+11.8	+.100	+0.6	+2.4		+6.3	+9.7	+.018
Shaquille O'Neal	19	40.8	28.5	3.5	9.1	12.6	2.8	0.5	2.5	3.3	3.3	10.7	20.2	.529	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	10.9	.649

Season 11
	Gilbert Arenas	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2011-12	2002-03
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	17	12.4	4.2	0.1	0.9	1.1	1.1	0.6	0.1	0.7	2.1	1.5	3.8	.406	0.8	2.3	.333	0.4	0.6	.700
difference:	+50	+25.4	+23.3	+3.8	+6.3	+10.0	+2.0		+2.3	-2.2	-1.3	+8.9	+14.3	+.168	+0.8	+2.3		+6.3	+10.2	+.078
Shaquille O'Neal	67	37.8	27.5	3.9	7.2	11.1	3.1	0.6	2.4	2.9	3.4	10.4	18.1	.574	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	10.8	.622
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	6	3.8	0.7	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.2	1.0	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+6	+36.3	+26.3	+5.3	+9.4	+14.6	+3.5	+0.6	+2.8	-2.7	-1.8	+9.8	+17.5	+.285		+0.7		+6.8	+11.0
Shaquille O'Neal	12	40.1	27.0	5.3	9.6	14.8	3.7	0.6	2.8	2.9	2.8	10.1	18.8	.535	0.0	0.0	-	6.8	11.0	.621

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 8 seasons more than Gilbert Arenas in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 19, from 2004 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over Gilbert Arenas, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP