Joel Embiid vs. Jermaine O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jermaine O'Neal and Joel Embiid, 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.

Joel Embiid played 10 years in the NBA, 8 less than Jermaine O'Neal, who played 18. Joel Embiid had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, while Jermaine O'Neal had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2016-17	1996-97
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Joel Embiid	31	25.4	20.2	2.0	5.9	7.8	2.1	0.9	2.5	3.8	3.6	6.5	13.8	.466	1.2	3.2	.367	6.2	7.9	.783
difference:	+14	+15.2	+16.1	+1.1	+4.0	+5.0	+1.9	+0.9	+1.9	-3.2	-2.6	+5.0	+10.4	+.015	+1.2	+3.2		+5.2	+6.2	+.180
Jermaine O'Neal	45	10.2	4.1	0.9	1.9	2.8	0.2	0.0	0.6	0.6	1.0	1.5	3.4	.451	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.7	.603
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	2	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	1.0	.000

Season 2
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2017-18	1997-98
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West 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		%
Joel Embiid	63	30.3	22.9	2.3	8.7	11.0	3.2	0.6	1.8	3.7	3.3	8.1	16.8	.483	1.0	3.4	.308	5.7	7.4	.769
difference:	+3	+16.8	+18.4	+1.0	+6.7	+7.6	+2.9	+0.3	+0.8	-2.8	-1.6	+6.2	+12.9	+.002	+1.0	+3.4		+4.9	+5.9	+.263
Jermaine O'Neal	60	13.5	4.5	1.3	2.0	3.4	0.3	0.3	1.0	0.9	1.7	1.9	3.9	.485	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.5	.506
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	8	34.8	21.4	2.9	9.8	12.6	3.0	0.9	1.8	3.6	3.9	7.5	17.3	.435	1.0	3.6	.276	5.4	7.6	.705
difference:	+7	+31.8	+21.4	+1.9	+9.8	+11.6	+3.0	+0.9	+0.2	-3.6	-2.9	+7.5	+14.3	+.435	+1.0	+2.6	+.276	+5.4	+7.6
Jermaine O'Neal	1	3.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	3.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Season 3
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2018-19	1998-99
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 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		%
Joel Embiid	64	33.7	27.5	2.5	11.1	13.6	3.7	0.7	1.9	3.5	3.3	9.1	18.7	.484	1.2	4.1	.300	8.2	10.1	.804
difference:	+28	+25.1	+25.0	+1.3	+9.6	+10.9	+3.3	+0.6	+1.5	-3.1	-2.2	+8.1	+16.4	+.050	+1.2	+4.1		+7.7	+9.1	+.290
Jermaine O'Neal	36	8.6	2.5	1.2	1.5	2.7	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.4	1.1	1.0	2.3	.434	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.0	.514
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	11	30.4	20.2	1.9	8.5	10.5	3.4	0.7	2.3	3.6	3.1	6.2	14.5	.428	1.1	3.5	.308	6.7	8.2	.822
difference:	+2	+24.4	+18.6	+1.0	+7.5	+8.6	+3.3	+0.7	+2.0	-3.4	-1.9	+5.8	+13.4	+.028	+1.1	+3.5		+6.0	+6.9	+.322
Jermaine O'Neal	9	6.0	1.6	0.9	1.0	1.9	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.2	1.2	0.4	1.1	.400	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.3	.500

Season 4
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2019-20	1999-00
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Joel Embiid	51	29.5	23.0	2.8	8.9	11.6	3.0	0.9	1.3	3.1	3.4	7.5	15.7	.477	1.1	3.4	.331	6.9	8.5	.807
difference:	+19	+17.2	+19.1	+1.4	+7.0	+8.3	+2.7	+0.7	+0.5	-2.4	-1.6	+6.0	+12.5	+.009	+1.1	+3.4		+6.1	+7.1	+.225
Jermaine O'Neal	70	12.3	3.9	1.4	1.9	3.3	0.3	0.2	0.8	0.7	1.8	1.5	3.2	.486	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.4	.582
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	4	36.3	30.0	2.8	9.5	12.3	1.3	1.5	1.3	3.8	4.5	8.5	18.5	.459	1.0	4.0	.250	12.0	14.8	.814
difference:	+4	+31.4	+28.5	+2.5	+8.9	+11.4	+1.2	+1.5	+0.9	-3.8	-3.4	+8.1	+17.1	+.186	+1.0	+4.0		+11.2	+13.7	+.147
Jermaine O'Neal	8	4.9	1.5	0.3	0.6	0.9	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.0	1.1	0.4	1.4	.273	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.1	.667

Season 5
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2020-21	2000-01
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Joel Embiid	51	31.1	28.5	2.2	8.4	10.6	2.8	1.0	1.4	3.1	2.4	9.0	17.6	.513	1.1	3.0	.377	9.2	10.7	.859
difference:	+30	+1.5	+15.6	+0.9	+1.7	+0.8	+1.6	+0.4	+1.4	-1.1	-1.1	+4.0	+6.9	+.048	+1.1	+2.9	+.377	+6.3	+5.9	+.258
Jermaine O'Neal	81	32.6	12.9	3.1	6.7	9.8	1.2	0.6	2.8	2.0	3.5	5.0	10.7	.465	0.0	0.1	.000	2.9	4.8	.601
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	11	32.5	28.1	1.5	9.1	10.5	3.4	1.0	1.5	3.8	3.0	9.2	17.9	.513	1.5	3.7	.390	8.3	9.9	.835
difference:	+7	+6.8	+18.3	+1.5	+0.4	+2.0	+1.6	+1.0	+1.0	-2.0	-0.3	+4.9	+8.1	+.077	+1.5	+3.4	+.390	+7.0	+7.4	+.335
Jermaine O'Neal	4	39.3	9.8	3.0	9.5	12.5	1.8	0.0	2.5	1.8	3.3	4.3	9.8	.436	0.0	0.3	.000	1.3	2.5	.500

Season 6
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2021-22	2001-02
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Most Improved Player
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	68	33.8	30.6	2.1	9.6	11.7	4.2	1.1	1.5	3.1	2.7	9.8	19.6	.499	1.4	3.7	.371	9.6	11.8	.814
difference:	+4	+3.8	+11.6	+0.5	+1.7	+1.2	+2.6	+0.5	+0.8	-0.7	-1.0	+2.3	+3.9	+.020	+1.4	+3.5	+.300	+5.7	+6.1	+.126
Jermaine O'Neal	72	37.6	19.0	2.6	7.9	10.5	1.6	0.6	2.3	2.4	3.7	7.5	15.7	.479	0.0	0.2	.071	3.9	5.7	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	10	38.5	23.6	2.1	8.6	10.7	2.1	0.4	0.8	3.2	3.4	7.8	16.1	.484	0.7	3.3	.212	7.3	8.9	.820
difference:	+5	+0.5	+6.4	+0.9	+2.2	+3.1	+1.1	+0.4	+0.8	-0.4	-1.4	+1.0	+0.9	+.037	+0.7	+3.1	+.212	+3.7	+4.1	+.070
Jermaine O'Neal	5	38.0	17.2	1.2	6.4	7.6	1.0	0.8	1.6	2.8	4.8	6.8	15.2	.447	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.8	.750

Season 7
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2022-23	2002-03
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	66	34.6	33.1	1.7	8.4	10.2	4.2	1.0	1.7	3.4	3.1	11.0	20.1	.548	1.0	3.0	.330	10.0	11.7	.857
difference:	+11	+2.6	+12.3	+0.9	+0.7	+0.1	+2.2	+0.1	+0.6	-1.1	-0.5	+3.1	+3.7	+.064	+0.9	+2.7	+.003	+5.2	+5.1	+.126
Jermaine O'Neal	77	37.2	20.8	2.6	7.7	10.3	2.0	0.9	2.3	2.3	3.6	7.9	16.4	.484	0.1	0.3	.333	4.8	6.6	.731
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	9	37.3	23.7	1.8	8.0	9.8	2.7	0.7	2.8	3.9	3.0	7.3	17.0	.431	0.6	3.1	.179	8.4	9.3	.905
difference:	+3	+8.2	+0.9	+2.2	+5.5	+7.7	+2.0	+0.2	+0.2	-0.9	-0.7	+0.1	+1.7	+.036	+0.6	+2.6	+.179	+0.1	+1.5	+.120
Jermaine O'Neal	6	45.5	22.8	4.0	13.5	17.5	0.7	0.5	3.0	3.0	3.7	7.2	15.3	.467	0.0	0.5	.000	8.5	10.8	.785

Season 8
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2023-24	2003-04
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
Joel Embiid	39	33.6	34.7	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.6	1.2	1.7	3.8	2.9	11.5	21.8	.529	1.4	3.6	.388	10.2	11.6	.883
difference:	+39	+2.1	+14.6	+0.1	+1.1	+1.0	+3.5	+0.4	+0.9	-1.5	-0.3	+3.7	+3.9	+.095	+1.4	+3.4	+.277	+5.7	+5.7	+.126
Jermaine O'Neal	78	35.7	20.1	2.5	7.5	10.0	2.1	0.8	2.6	2.3	3.2	7.8	17.9	.434	0.0	0.2	.111	4.5	5.9	.757
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	6	41.3	33.0	3.2	7.7	10.8	5.7	1.2	1.5	4.2	3.3	9.8	22.2	.444	2.2	6.5	.333	11.2	13.0	.859
difference:	+10	+3.7	+13.8	+1.4	+0.4	+1.7	+4.5	+0.7	+0.8	-2.4		+2.6	+5.2	+.021	+2.2	+6.2	+.333	+6.4	+6.1	+.159
Jermaine O'Neal	16	37.6	19.2	1.8	7.3	9.1	1.2	0.5	2.3	1.8	3.3	7.2	17.0	.423	0.0	0.3	.000	4.8	6.9	.700

Season 9
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2024-25	2004-05
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Joel Embiid	19	30.2	23.8	1.9	6.3	8.2	4.5	0.7	0.9	3.3	2.2	7.4	16.6	.444	1.2	4.1	.299	7.8	8.9	.882
difference:	+25	+4.6	+0.5		+0.6	+0.6	+2.6	+0.1	+1.1	-0.3	-1.7	+1.4	+2.8	+.008	+1.2	+4.0	+.132	+1.1		+.128
Jermaine O'Neal	44	34.8	24.3	1.9	6.9	8.8	1.9	0.6	2.0	3.0	3.9	8.8	19.4	.452	0.0	0.1	.167	6.7	8.9	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	13	36.8	16.0	1.6	6.4	8.0	2.2	0.5	2.6	2.8	3.7	5.9	16.2	.365	0.0	0.2	.000	4.2	5.5	.750

Season 10
	Joel Embiid	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2025-26	2005-06
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Joel Embiid	11	26.2	20.5	1.8	4.8	6.6	2.8	0.8	1.3	2.5	2.0	6.8	16.2	.421	1.1	4.8	.226	5.7	7.0	.818
difference:	+40	+9.1	+0.4	+0.2	+2.5	+2.7	+0.2	+0.3	+1.0	-0.5	-1.5	+0.7	+0.4	+.051	+1.0	+4.6	+.074	+0.6	+0.2	+.109
Jermaine O'Neal	51	35.3	20.1	2.0	7.3	9.3	2.6	0.5	2.3	3.0	3.5	7.5	15.8	.472	0.1	0.2	.300	5.1	7.2	.709
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	6	36.0	21.0	1.5	6.0	7.5	1.7	0.5	2.3	4.3	4.7	7.3	14.0	.524	0.0	0.3	.000	6.3	8.8	.717

Additional Years
* Jermaine O'Neal played 8 seasons more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 18, from 2007 to 2014—Jermaine O'Neal played in 4 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Joel Embiid, Jermaine O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game