Hal Greer vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Hal Greer, 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.

Hal Greer played 15 years in the NBA, 6 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Hal Greer had the first of his seasons in 1958-59, 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.

Season 3
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1960-61	2000-01
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Hal Greer	79	35.0	19.6	-	-	5.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.1	7.9	17.5	.451	-	-	-	3.9	5.0	.774
difference:	+3	+3.1	+2.2			+3.4	+1.7				-0.1	+0.7	+2.3	+.023				+1.6	+1.6	+.064
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		%
Hal Greer	8	29.0	14.4	-	-	4.1	2.4	-	-	-	4.0	5.1	13.3	.387	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.825
difference:	+2	+10.9	+9.0			+4.0	+1.0				-0.3	+1.8	+3.0	+.036				+4.2	+4.4	+.058
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1961-62	2001-02
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div 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		%
Hal Greer	71	38.1	22.8	-	-	7.4	4.4	-	-	-	3.5	9.1	20.3	.447	-	-	-	4.7	5.7	.819
difference:	+5	+0.1	+0.6			+2.5	+2.0				-0.6	+1.2	+3.7	+.030				+1.1	+1.1	+.034
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		%
Hal Greer	1	5.0	0.0	-	-	0	0.0	-	-	-	1.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+7	+39.6	+28.4			+13.1	+2.3				-2.4	+9.1	+20.5					+8.1	+9.3
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1962-63	2002-03
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Hal Greer	80	32.9	19.5	-	-	5.7	3.4	-	-	-	3.6	7.5	16.2	.464	-	-	-	4.5	5.4	.834
difference:		+6.1	+5.6			+4.2	+0.4				-1.0	+1.1	+2.4	+.001				+1.5	+1.5	+.047
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		%
Hal Greer	5	42.8	23.4	-	-	5.4	4.2	-	-	-	4.2	8.8	17.4	.506	-	-	-	5.8	7.0	.829
difference:	+12	+0.3	+1.9			+6.1	+2.0				-1.1		+1.0	+.027				+0.3	+0.4	+.083
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1963-64	2003-04
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Hal Greer	80	39.5	23.3	-	-	6.1	4.7	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	20.1	.444	-	-	-	5.4	6.6	.829
difference:	+3	+1.6	+1.5			+2.6	+2.0				-0.8	+1.0	+3.1	+.018				+0.6	+1.1	+.048
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		%
Hal Greer	5	42.2	21.4	-	-	5.6	6.0	-	-	-	3.8	7.4	19.0	.389	-	-	-	6.6	7.8	.846
difference:			+5.2			+6.2	+4.6				-0.6	+1.6	+1.0	+.061				+0.6	+0.6	+.011
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1964-65	2004-05
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Hal Greer	70	37.1	20.2	-	-	5.1	4.5	-	-	-	3.6	7.7	17.8	.433	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.811
difference:	+8	+1.6	+5.9			+4.6	+1.4				-0.8	+0.8	+0.7	+.026				+3.1	+3.2	+.058
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		%
Hal Greer	11	45.9	24.6	-	-	7.4	5.0	-	-	-	4.1	9.2	20.2	.455	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.793
difference:	+2	+3.4	+0.9			+2.7	+1.7				-0.9	+1.3	+0.5	+.053				+0.8	+0.6	+.036
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1965-66	2005-06
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Hal Greer	80	41.6	22.7	-	-	5.9	4.8	-	-	-	3.9	8.8	19.8	.445	-	-	-	5.2	6.4	.804
difference:	+1	+3.5	+3.9			+3.1	+2.0				-1.9	+0.5	+0.5	+.035				+1.5	+1.0	+.097
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		%
Hal Greer	5	45.2	16.4	-	-	7.2	4.2	-	-	-	4.2	6.4	18.2	.352	-	-	-	3.6	4.6	.783
difference:	+18	+2.5	+10.6			+4.5	+1.3				-1.4	+2.1		+.116				+5.3	+5.4	+.112
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
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1966-67	2006-07
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Hal Greer	80	38.6	22.1	-	-	5.3	3.8	-	-	-	3.8	8.7	19.1	.459	-	-	-	4.6	5.8	.788
difference:	+2	+2.4	+2.5			+3.6	+0.4				-1.6	+0.1	+1.9	+.043				+1.8	+1.3	+.116
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		%
Hal Greer	15	45.9	27.7	-	-	5.9	5.3	-	-	-	3.7	10.7	25.0	.429	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.797
difference:	+9	+6.1	+8.0			+5.4	+3.0				-0.4	+4.7	+9.3	+.046				+0.7	+0.4	+.043
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

Season 10
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1967-68	2007-08
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Mavericks Lost West 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		%
Hal Greer	82	39.8	24.1	-	-	5.4	4.5	-	-	-	3.5	9.5	19.8	.478	-	-	-	5.1	6.7	.769
difference:	+5	+3.8	+0.5			+3.2	+1.0				-0.9	+1.3	+2.7	+.001				+1.1	+0.4	+.110
Dirk Nowitzki	77	36.0	23.6	1.2	7.3	8.6	3.5	0.7	0.9	2.1	2.6	8.2	17.1	.479	1.0	2.9	.359	6.2	7.1	.879
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	13	42.5	25.8	-	-	6.1	4.2	-	-	-	3.8	9.2	21.4	.432	-	-	-	7.3	8.5	.856
difference:	+8	+0.3	+1.0			+5.9	+0.2				-1.2	+0.6	+3.2	+.041				+1.1	+1.9	+.048
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.8	2.0	10.0	12.0	4.0	0.2	1.4	2.0	2.6	8.6	18.2	.473	1.2	3.6	.333	8.4	10.4	.808

Season 11
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1968-69	2008-09
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Mavericks 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		%
Hal Greer	82	40.4	23.1	-	-	5.3	5.0	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	19.5	.459	-	-	-	5.3	6.6	.796
difference:	+1	+2.7	+2.8			+3.1	+2.6				-1.4	+0.7	+0.5	+.020				+0.7	+0.1	+.094
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.7	25.9	1.1	7.3	8.4	2.4	0.8	0.8	1.9	2.2	9.6	20.0	.479	0.8	2.1	.359	6.0	6.7	.890
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	5	40.8	16.0	-	-	6.0	4.6	-	-	-	4.6	5.2	16.2	.321	-	-	-	5.6	7.2	.778
difference:	+5	+1.4	+10.8			+4.1	+1.5				-2.5	+3.6	+0.8	+.197				+3.0	+2.1	+.147
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.4	26.8	1.2	8.9	10.1	3.1	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.1	8.8	17.0	.518	0.6	2.1	.286	8.6	9.3	.925

Season 12
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1969-70	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	80	37.8	22.0	-	-	4.7	5.1	-	-	-	3.8	8.8	19.4	.455	-	-	-	4.4	5.4	.815
difference:	+1	+0.3	+3.0			+3.0	+2.4				-1.2	+0.1	+0.9	+.026				+2.2	+1.8	+.100
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.5	25.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	2.7	0.9	1.0	1.8	2.6	8.9	18.5	.481	0.6	1.5	.421	6.6	7.2	.915
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	5	35.6	15.4	-	-	3.4	5.4	-	-	-	3.2	6.6	14.8	.446	-	-	-	2.2	2.6	.846
difference:	+1	+3.2	+11.3			+4.8	+2.4				-0.7	+3.1	+2.9	+.101				+4.5	+4.4	+.106
Dirk Nowitzki	6	38.8	26.7	1.2	7.0	8.2	3.0	0.8	0.7	1.7	2.5	9.7	17.7	.547	0.7	1.2	.571	6.7	7.0	.952

Season 13
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1970-71	2010-11
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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13th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	81	37.8	18.6	-	-	4.5	4.6	-	-	-	3.6	7.3	16.9	.431	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.805
difference:	+8	+3.5	+4.4			+2.5	+2.0				-1.2	+1.1	+0.7	+.086				+1.4	+1.1	+.087
Dirk Nowitzki	73	34.3	23.0	0.7	6.3	7.0	2.6	0.5	0.6	1.9	2.4	8.4	16.2	.517	0.9	2.3	.393	5.4	6.1	.892
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	7	37.9	17.9	-	-	3.6	4.7	-	-	-	5.0	7.0	16.0	.438	-	-	-	3.9	5.1	.750
difference:	+14	+1.4	+9.8			+4.5	+2.2				-2.8	+2.1	+2.9	+.047				+4.4	+3.8	+.191
Dirk Nowitzki	21	39.3	27.7	0.6	7.6	8.1	2.5	0.6	0.6	3.1	2.2	9.1	18.9	.485	1.1	2.4	.460	8.3	8.9	.941

Season 14
	Hal Greer	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1971-72	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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14th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	81	29.8	11.8	-	-	3.3	3.9	-	-	-	3.3	4.8	10.7	.449	-	-	-	2.2	2.9	.774
difference:	+19	+3.7	+9.8			+3.4	+1.7				-1.2	+2.8	+6.0	+.008				+2.9	+2.8	+.122
Dirk Nowitzki	62	33.5	21.6	0.7	6.0	6.7	2.2	0.7	0.5	1.9	2.1	7.6	16.7	.457	1.3	3.4	.368	5.1	5.7	.896
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Hal Greer	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	4	38.5	26.8	0.8	5.5	6.3	1.8	0.8	0.0	2.5	2.3	8.5	19.3	.442	0.3	1.5	.167	9.5	10.5	.905

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 6 seasons more than Hal Greer in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 16 to 21, from 2014 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 3 Playoffs. In those 6 extra years over Hal Greer, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-Star Game