Jimmy Butler vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Jimmy Butler, 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.

Jimmy Butler played 14 years in the NBA, 7 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Jimmy Butler had the first of his seasons in 2011-12, while Arvydas Sabonis had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2011-12	1995-96
Team	Chicago Bulls	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bulls 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		%
Jimmy Butler	42	8.5	2.6	0.5	0.8	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.5	0.8	1.9	.405	0.0	0.3	.182	1.0	1.3	.768
difference:	+31	+15.3	+11.9	+1.5	+5.2	+6.8	+1.5	+0.6	+1.0	-1.8	-2.4	+4.6	+8.0	+.140	+0.5	+1.1	+.193	+2.2	+2.9	+.011
Arvydas Sabonis	73	23.8	14.5	2.0	6.0	8.1	1.8	0.9	1.1	2.1	2.9	5.4	9.9	.545	0.5	1.4	.375	3.2	4.2	.757
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+2	+34.1	+23.6	+2.4	+7.8	+10.2	+1.8	+0.8	+0.6	-2.0	-3.1	+7.0	+16.2		+1.0	+1.8		+8.6	+12.0
Arvydas Sabonis	5	35.4	23.6	2.4	7.8	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.4	7.0	16.2	.432	1.0	1.8	.556	8.6	12.0	.717

Season 3
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2013-14	1997-98
Team	Chicago Bulls	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Jimmy Butler	67	38.7	13.1	1.3	3.6	4.9	2.6	1.9	0.5	1.5	1.6	4.1	10.3	.397	1.0	3.6	.283	3.9	5.0	.769
difference:	+6	+6.7	+2.9	+0.7	+4.3	+5.1	+0.4	+1.0	+0.6	-1.1	-2.1	+1.5	+1.0	+.096	+0.6	+2.0	+.022	+0.5	+0.5	+.029
Arvydas Sabonis	73	32.0	16.0	2.0	7.9	10.0	3.0	0.9	1.1	2.6	3.7	5.6	11.3	.493	0.4	1.6	.261	4.4	5.5	.798
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	5	43.6	13.6	1.2	4.0	5.2	2.2	1.2	0.0	0.6	2.6	4.4	11.4	.386	1.2	4.0	.300	3.6	4.6	.783
difference:	+1	+16.8	+1.3	+0.6	+2.0	+2.6	+0.7	+0.6	+0.8	-1.9	-2.2	+0.1	+1.4	+.064	+0.9	+3.5	+.200	+0.6	+1.1	+.074
Arvydas Sabonis	4	26.8	12.3	1.8	6.0	7.8	1.5	1.8	0.8	2.5	4.8	4.5	10.0	.450	0.3	0.5	.500	3.0	3.5	.857

Season 4
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2014-15	1998-99
Team	Chicago Bulls	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Most Improved Player	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Jimmy Butler	65	38.7	20.0	1.8	4.1	5.8	3.3	1.8	0.6	1.4	1.7	6.5	14.0	.462	1.1	3.0	.378	5.9	7.1	.834
difference:	+15	+11.7	+7.9		+2.0	+2.1	+0.9	+1.1	+0.7	-0.3	-1.2	+1.9	+4.4	+.023	+1.0	+2.5	+.086	+3.2	+3.6	+.063
Arvydas Sabonis	50	27.0	12.1	1.8	6.1	7.9	2.4	0.7	1.3	1.7	2.9	4.6	9.6	.485	0.1	0.5	.292	2.7	3.5	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	12	42.2	22.9	1.5	4.1	5.6	3.2	2.4	0.8	1.8	2.3	7.8	17.8	.441	2.3	6.0	.389	4.9	6.0	.819
difference:	+1	+12.1	+12.9	+0.6	+3.7	+3.2	+1.0	+1.2	+0.4	-0.3	-0.4	+4.3	+9.1	+.043	+2.2	+5.6	+.189	+1.9	+2.7	+.088
Arvydas Sabonis	13	30.1	10.0	0.9	7.8	8.8	2.2	1.2	1.2	1.5	2.7	3.5	8.7	.398	0.1	0.4	.200	3.0	3.3	.907

Season 5
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2015-16	1999-00
Team	Chicago Bulls	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers 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		%
Jimmy Butler	67	36.9	20.9	1.2	4.2	5.3	4.8	1.6	0.6	2.0	1.9	7.0	15.4	.454	1.0	3.1	.312	5.9	7.1	.832
difference:	+1	+11.3	+9.1	+0.3	+2.1	+2.5	+3.0	+0.9	+0.6	-0.5	-0.9	+2.4	+6.3	+.051	+0.9	+2.8	+.056	+3.4	+4.1	+.011
Arvydas Sabonis	66	25.6	11.8	1.5	6.3	7.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	1.5	2.8	4.6	9.1	.505	0.1	0.3	.368	2.5	3.0	.843
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	16	30.8	11.3	1.2	5.5	6.7	1.9	0.9	0.8	1.6	3.7	4.3	9.4	.453	0.4	1.3	.286	2.4	3.1	.796

Season 6
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2016-17	2000-01
Team	Chicago Bulls	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers 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		%
Jimmy Butler	76	37.0	23.9	1.7	4.5	6.2	5.5	1.9	0.4	2.1	1.5	7.5	16.5	.455	1.2	3.3	.367	7.7	8.9	.865
difference:	+15	+15.7	+13.8	+0.9	+0.1	+0.8	+4.0	+1.2	+0.6	-0.7	-0.7	+3.5	+8.0	+.024	+1.2	+3.1	+.300	+5.7	+6.3	+.089
Arvydas Sabonis	61	21.3	10.1	0.8	4.6	5.4	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.4	2.2	4.0	8.5	.479	0.0	0.2	.067	2.0	2.6	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	6	39.8	22.7	1.5	5.8	7.3	4.3	1.7	0.8	2.5	1.7	7.7	18.0	.426	1.0	3.8	.261	6.3	7.8	.809
difference:	+3	+4.8	+11.4	+1.2	+0.1	+1.0	+1.6	+1.4	+1.5	-1.8	-2.3	+3.0	+8.3	+.057	+1.0	+3.1	+.261	+4.3	+5.1	+.059
Arvydas Sabonis	3	35.0	11.3	2.7	5.7	8.3	2.7	0.3	2.3	0.7	4.0	4.7	9.7	.483	0.0	0.7	.000	2.0	2.7	.750

Note: Arvydas Sabonis didn't play in 2001-02.

Season 7
	Jimmy Butler	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2017-18	2002-03
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West 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		%
Jimmy Butler	59	36.7	22.2	1.3	4.0	5.3	4.9	2.0	0.4	1.8	1.3	7.4	15.6	.474	1.2	3.4	.350	6.2	7.2	.854
difference:	+19	+21.2	+16.1	+0.2	+0.8	+1.0	+3.1	+1.2	+0.2	-0.8	-0.5	+5.2	+11.0	+.002	+1.2	+3.3	+.150	+4.5	+5.1	+.067
Arvydas Sabonis	78	15.5	6.1	1.1	3.2	4.3	1.8	0.8	0.6	1.0	1.8	2.2	4.6	.476	0.0	0.1	.500	1.7	2.1	.787
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jimmy Butler	5	34.0	15.8	0.6	5.4	6.0	4.0	0.8	0.2	1.0	1.8	5.6	12.6	.444	1.6	3.4	.471	3.0	3.6	.833
difference:	+1	+19.5	+5.8	+0.4	+2.4	+2.0	+3.2	+0.1	+0.5		-0.5	+1.6	+6.6	+.223	+1.6	+3.4		+1.0	+1.1	+.033
Arvydas Sabonis	6	14.5	10.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0	2.3	4.0	6.0	.667	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.5	.800

Additional Years
* Jimmy Butler played 7 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 14, from 2019 to 2025—Jimmy Butler played in 6 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Jimmy Butler got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Steals Leader 2 All-Star Game