Keldon Johnson vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Keldon Johnson, 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.

Keldon Johnson played 7 years in the NBA, 14 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Keldon Johnson had the first of his seasons in 2019-20, 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
	Keldon Johnson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2000-01
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Keldon Johnson	75	31.9	17.0	1.1	5.0	6.1	2.1	0.8	0.2	1.2	2.0	6.3	13.5	.466	2.1	5.3	.398	2.4	3.1	.756
difference:	+7	+6.2	+4.8	+0.4	+2.7	+3.1		+0.2	+1.0	-0.7	-1.0	+0.9	+1.7	+.008	+0.3	+0.5	+.011	+3.1	+3.5	+.082
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		%
Keldon Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Keldon Johnson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2001-02
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Keldon Johnson	63	32.7	22.0	0.9	4.2	5.0	2.9	0.7	0.2	2.1	2.0	8.0	17.7	.452	2.1	6.5	.329	3.9	5.2	.749
difference:	+13	+5.3	+1.4	+0.7	+4.2	+4.9	+0.5	+0.4	+0.8	-0.2	-0.9	+0.1	+1.1	+.025	+0.3	+1.9	+.068	+1.9	+1.6	+.104
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		%
Keldon Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Keldon Johnson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2002-03
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Keldon Johnson	69	29.5	15.7	1.4	4.1	5.5	2.8	0.7	0.3	1.4	2.2	5.7	12.5	.454	1.8	5.3	.346	2.5	3.2	.792
difference:	+11	+9.5	+9.4	+0.4	+4.8	+4.4	+0.2	+0.7	+0.7	-0.5	-0.4	+2.9	+6.1	+.009	+0.1	+0.4	+.033	+3.5	+3.7	+.089
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		%
Keldon Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Keldon Johnson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2003-04
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Keldon Johnson	77	23.9	12.7	1.5	3.4	4.8	1.6	0.6	0.3	1.0	1.5	4.8	10.0	.482	1.1	3.6	.318	1.9	2.5	.773
difference:		+14.0	+9.1	+0.3	+4.1	+3.9	+1.1	+0.6	+1.1	-0.8	-1.3	+3.1	+7.0	+.020	+0.2	+0.2	+.023	+2.9	+3.0	+.104
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		%
Keldon Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Keldon Johnson	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2025-26	2004-05
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play (season in progress)	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Keldon Johnson	32	22.9	13.2	2.2	4.2	6.4	1.4	0.6	0.1	0.9	1.9	5.0	8.6	.583	1.2	2.8	.418	1.9	2.6	.744
difference:	+46	+15.8	+12.9	+1.0	+4.3	+3.3	+1.7	+0.6	+1.4	-1.4	-0.9	+3.5	+9.9	+.124		+0.1	+.019	+6.0	+6.5	+.125
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		%
Keldon Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 14 seasons more than Keldon Johnson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 21, from 2006 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 14 extra years over Keldon Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 10 All-Star Game