Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

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.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 years in the NBA, 13 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the first of his seasons in 1969-70, 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.

Their Careers

Player		 Total Seasons Playoffs Played NBA Years
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 18 1969-70 to 1988-89
Arvydas Sabonis 7 7 1995-96 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:

1-2-3-4-5-6-7

Rookie Season
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1969-701995-96
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement Rookie of the Year-
Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement All-Rookie First Team
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Bucks Lost East Div FinalsTrail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 82 43.1 28.8 - - 14.5 4.1 - - - 3.5 11.4 22.1 .518 - - - 5.9 9.1 .653
difference:+9+19.3+14.3+6.4+2.3-0.6+6.0+12.2+.027+2.7+4.9+.104
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10 43.5 35.2 - - 16.8 4.1 - - - 2.5 13.9 24.5 .567 - - - 7.4 10.1 .733
difference:+5+8.1+11.6+6.6+2.3-0.9+6.9+8.3+.135+1.2+1.9+.016
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 2
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1970-711996-97
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement Finals MVP-
Achievement Season MVP-
Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs NBA Champion NBA ChampionTrail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 82 40.1 31.7 - - 16.0 3.3 - - - 3.2 13.0 22.5 .577 - - - 5.7 8.3 .690
difference:+13+14.6+18.3+8.1+1.2-0.3+8.2+13.0+.079+2.5+4.1+.087
Arvydas Sabonis 69 25.5 13.4 1.7 6.3 7.9 2.1 0.9 1.2 2.2 2.9 4.8 9.5 .498 0.7 1.9 .371 3.2 4.2 .777
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14 41.2 26.6 - - 17.0 2.5 - - - 3.2 10.9 21.1 .515 - - - 4.9 7.2 .673
difference:+10+14.4+15.3+10.5+0.2-1.6+6.4+10.6+.086+3.1+5.2+.202
Arvydas Sabonis 4 26.8 11.3 2.0 4.5 6.5 2.3 0.8 0.8 2.3 4.8 4.5 10.5 .429 0.5 2.0 .250 1.8 2.0 .875

Season 3
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1971-721997-98
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement Season MVP-
Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Bucks Lost West Conf FinalsTrail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 81 44.2 34.8 - - 16.6 4.6 - - - 2.9 14.3 24.9 .574 - - - 6.2 9.0 .689
difference:+8+12.2+18.8+6.6+1.6-0.8+8.7+13.6+.081+1.8+3.5+.109
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 11 46.4 28.7 - - 18.2 5.1 - - - 3.2 12.6 28.9 .437 - - - 3.5 4.9 .704
difference:+7+19.6+16.4+10.4+3.6-1.6+8.1+18.9+.013+0.5+1.4+.153
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1972-731998-99
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Bucks Lost West Conf SemisTrail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals
more >>
4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 76 42.8 30.2 - - 16.1 5.0 - - - 2.7 12.9 23.3 .554 - - - 4.3 6.1 .713
difference:+26+15.8+18.1+8.2+2.6-0.2+8.3+13.7+.069+1.6+2.6+.058
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 6 46.0 22.8 - - 16.2 2.8 - - - 4.3 9.8 23.0 .428 - - - 3.2 5.8 .543
difference:+7+15.9+12.8+7.4+0.6-1.6+6.3+14.3+.030+0.2+2.5+.364
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1973-741999-00
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement Season MVP-
Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Bucks Lost NBA FinalsTrail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals
more >>
5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 81 43.8 27.0 3.5 11.0 14.5 4.8 1.4 3.5 - 2.9 11.7 21.7 .539 - - - 3.6 5.2 .702
difference:+15+18.2+15.2+2.0+4.7+6.7+3.0+0.7+2.3-0.1+7.1+12.6+.034+1.1+2.2+.141
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 16 47.4 32.2 4.2 11.6 15.8 4.9 1.3 2.4 - 2.6 14.0 25.1 .557 - - - 4.2 5.7 .736
difference:+16.6+20.9+3.0+6.1+9.1+3.0+0.4+1.6-1.1+9.7+15.7+.104+1.8+2.6+.060
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1974-752000-01
Team Milwaukee BucksPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement Blocks Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayTrail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 65 42.3 30.0 3.0 11.0 14.0 4.1 1.0 3.3 - 3.2 12.5 24.4 .513 - - - 5.0 6.6 .763
difference:+4+21.0+19.9+2.2+6.4+8.6+2.6+0.3+2.3-1.0+8.5+15.9+.034+3.0+4.0+.013
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar DNP------ --- ----------
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Arvydas Sabonis
Season 1975-762002-03
Team Los Angeles LakersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement Season MVP-
Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement Rebounds Leader-
Achievement Blocks Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayTrail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd
more >>
7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 82 41.2 27.7 3.3 13.5 16.9 5.0 1.5 4.1 - 3.6 11.1 21.1 .529 - - - 5.5 7.8 .703
difference:+4+25.7+21.6+2.2+10.3+12.6+3.2+0.7+3.5-1.8+8.9+16.5+.053+3.8+5.7+.084
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 TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar DNP------ --- ----------
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

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 13 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 8 to 20, from 1977 to 1989—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 13 Playoffs and won 5 NBA Championships.

In those 13 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 1 Finals MVP
Achievement 2 Season MVP
Achievement 5 All-NBA First Team
Achievement 4 All-NBA Second Team
Achievement 3 All-Defensive First Team
Achievement 3 All-Defensive Second Team
Achievement 2 Blocks Leader
Achievement 12 All-Star Game
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