Jalen Brunson vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Jalen Brunson, 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.

Jalen Brunson played 8 years in the NBA, 13 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2000-01
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	25.0	12.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	3.5	0.5	0.0	1.2	1.6	4.8	9.2	.523	1.2	2.9	.405	1.8	2.2	.795
difference:	+14	+13.1	+9.2	+1.1	+4.7	+5.8	+1.4	+0.5	+1.2	-0.7	-1.4	+2.4	+6.0	+.049	+0.6	+1.9	+.018	+3.7	+4.4	+.043
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		%
Jalen Brunson	7	16.3	8.0	0.9	1.7	2.6	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	2.9	6.3	.455	0.9	1.9	.462	1.4	1.9	.769
difference:	+3	+23.6	+15.4	+0.5	+5.0	+5.5		+1.1	+0.8	-0.8	-2.8	+4.0	+10.0	+.032	+0.4	+2.7	+.179	+6.9	+7.5	+.114
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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2001-02
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Jalen Brunson	79	31.9	16.3	0.5	3.4	3.9	4.8	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	6.4	12.8	.502	1.2	3.2	.373	2.3	2.7	.840
difference:	+3	+6.1	+7.1	+1.1	+5.0	+6.0	+2.4	+0.3	+1.0	-0.3	-1.0	+1.5	+3.8	+.025	+0.6	+1.4	+.024	+3.5	+4.1	+.013
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	34.9	21.6	0.8	3.8	4.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	1.1	2.1	8.1	17.3	.466	1.4	4.2	.347	4.0	5.0	.800
difference:	+10	+9.7	+6.8	+1.3	+7.2	+8.5	+1.4	+1.2	+0.7	-1.7	-1.3	+1.0	+3.2	+.021	+0.6	+0.7	+.224	+4.1	+4.3	+.078
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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2002-03
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	35.0	24.0	0.6	3.0	3.5	6.2	0.9	0.2	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.6	.491	2.0	4.7	.416	4.8	5.8	.829
difference:	+12	+4.0	+1.1	+0.4	+5.9	+6.4	+3.2	+0.5	+0.8	-0.2	-0.4		+1.0	+.028	+0.1	+0.2	+.037	+1.2	+1.1	+.052
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		%
Jalen Brunson	11	40.3	27.8	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.6	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.4	9.9	20.9	.474	2.4	7.3	.325	5.6	6.2	.912
difference:	+6	+2.2	+2.5	+0.1	+6.5	+6.6	+3.4	+0.3	+0.8	-0.3	-0.7	+1.1	+2.5	+.005	+0.8	+3.7	+.118	+0.5	+0.4
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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2003-04
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 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		%
Jalen Brunson	77	35.4	28.7	0.6	3.1	3.6	6.7	0.9	0.2	2.4	1.9	10.3	21.4	.479	2.7	6.8	.401	5.5	6.5	.847
difference:		+2.5	+6.9	+0.6	+4.4	+5.1	+4.0	+0.3	+1.2	-0.6	-0.9	+2.4	+4.4	+.017	+1.4	+3.0	+.060	+0.7	+1.0	+.030
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		%
Jalen Brunson	13	39.8	32.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	0.8	0.2	2.7	2.0	11.6	26.2	.444	2.0	6.5	.310	7.2	9.2	.775
difference:	+8	+2.4	+5.8	+2.0	+6.5	+8.5	+6.1	+0.6	+2.4	-1.5	-1.2	+2.6	+6.2	+.006	+0.6	+3.5	+.157		+0.8	+.082
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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2004-05
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Clutch Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 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		%
Jalen Brunson	65	35.4	26.0	0.4	2.5	2.9	7.3	0.9	0.1	2.5	2.1	9.0	18.5	.488	2.3	6.1	.383	5.7	6.9	.821
difference:	+13	+3.3	+0.1	+0.8	+6.0	+6.8	+4.2	+0.3	+1.4	-0.2	-0.7	+0.5		+.029	+1.1	+3.2	+.016	+2.2	+2.2	+.048
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	37.8	29.4	0.7	2.8	3.4	7.0	0.4	0.3	3.1	3.3	10.1	21.8	.461	2.7	7.4	.358	6.7	7.8	.851
difference:	+5	+4.7	+5.7	+1.2	+5.4	+6.7	+3.7	+1.0	+1.3	-0.6	-0.1	+2.2	+2.1	+.059	+1.9	+5.1	+.025	+0.4	+0.7	+.022
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
	Jalen Brunson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2025-26	2005-06
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Jalen Brunson	5	34.8	31.2	0.6	3.0	3.6	5.4	1.0	0.0	2.0	2.8	11.0	22.8	.482	2.6	8.0	.325	6.6	8.0	.825
difference:	+76	+3.3	+4.6	+0.8	+4.6	+5.4	+2.6	+0.3	+1.0	-0.1	-0.8	+1.7	+3.5	+.002	+1.2	+4.7	+.081	+0.1	+0.6	+.076
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		%
Jalen Brunson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 13 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 21, from 2007 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 9 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 13 extra years over Jalen Brunson, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 9 All-Star Game