Kyle Kuzma vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Kyle Kuzma, 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.

Kyle Kuzma played 8 years in the NBA, 13 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Kyle Kuzma had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, 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.

Rookie Season
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2017-18	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	77	31.2	16.1	1.1	5.1	6.3	1.8	0.6	0.4	1.8	2.1	6.1	13.5	.450	2.1	5.6	.366	1.9	2.7	.707
difference:	+30	+10.8	+7.9	+0.2	+2.5	+2.9	+0.8		+0.2	-0.2	-0.1	+3.2	+6.4	+.045	+1.8	+4.2	+.160	+0.2		+.066
Dirk Nowitzki	47	20.4	8.2	0.9	2.6	3.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	2.9	7.1	.405	0.3	1.4	.206	2.1	2.7	.773
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kyle Kuzma nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2019-20	2000-01
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	61	25.0	12.8	0.9	3.6	4.5	1.3	0.5	0.4	1.5	2.1	4.8	11.0	.436	1.4	4.5	.316	1.9	2.5	.735
difference:	+21	+13.1	+9.0	+0.6	+4.1	+4.7	+0.8	+0.5	+0.8	-0.4	-0.9	+2.4	+4.2	+.038	+0.4	+0.3	+.071	+3.6	+4.1	+.103
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	21	23.0	10.0	0.9	2.2	3.1	0.8	0.3	0.3	1.0	2.4	3.7	8.5	.430	1.2	4.0	.313	1.4	1.8	.784
difference:	+11	+16.9	+13.4	+0.5	+4.5	+5.0	+0.6	+0.8	+0.5	-0.4	-1.3	+3.2	+7.8	+.007	+0.1	+0.6	+.030	+6.9	+7.6	+.099
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
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2001-02
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	68	28.7	12.9	1.6	4.5	6.1	1.9	0.5	0.6	1.7	1.8	4.9	11.1	.443	2.0	5.6	.361	1.0	1.4	.691
difference:	+8	+9.3	+10.5		+3.9	+3.8	+0.5	+0.6	+0.4	-0.2	-1.1	+3.0	+5.5	+.034	+0.2	+1.0	+.036	+4.8	+5.4	+.162
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	6	21.5	6.3	0.7	3.2	3.8	1.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	1.3	2.3	8.0	.292	0.7	3.8	.174	1.0	1.5	.667
difference:	+2	+23.1	+22.1	+1.4	+7.8	+9.3	+1.1	+1.7	+0.6	-1.8	-2.1	+6.8	+12.5	+.153	+1.3	+0.3	+.397	+7.1	+7.8	+.211
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
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2002-03
Team	Washington Wizards	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	66	33.4	17.1	1.1	7.4	8.5	3.5	0.6	0.9	2.6	1.9	6.4	14.2	.452	1.9	5.7	.341	2.4	3.3	.712
difference:	+14	+5.6	+8.0	+0.1	+1.5	+1.4	+0.5	+0.8	+0.1	-0.7	-0.7	+2.2	+4.4	+.011		+0.8	+.038	+3.6	+3.6	+.169
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	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
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2003-04
Team	Washington Wizards	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	64	35.0	21.2	0.9	6.4	7.2	3.7	0.6	0.5	3.0	2.3	8.0	17.8	.448	2.5	7.5	.333	2.7	3.7	.730
difference:	+13	+2.9	+0.6	+0.3	+1.1	+1.5	+1.0	+0.6	+0.9	-1.2	-0.5	+0.1	+0.8	+.014	+1.2	+3.7	+.008	+2.1	+1.8	+.147
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	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
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2004-05
Team	Washington Wizards	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	70	32.6	22.2	0.9	5.7	6.6	4.2	0.5	0.7	2.7	2.2	8.7	18.8	.463	2.2	6.4	.336	2.7	3.4	.775
difference:	+8	+6.1	+3.9	+0.3	+2.8	+3.1	+1.1	+0.7	+0.8	-0.4	-0.6	+0.2	+0.3	+.004	+1.0	+3.5	+.063	+5.2	+5.7	+.094
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	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

Season 8
	Kyle Kuzma	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2005-06
Team	Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	65	29.8	14.8	0.8	4.9	5.7	2.3	0.6	0.3	2.2	1.8	5.7	13.0	.436	1.5	4.8	.307	2.0	3.1	.634
difference:	+16	+8.3	+11.8	+0.6	+2.7	+3.3	+0.5	+0.1	+0.7	-0.3	-0.2	+3.6	+6.3	+.044	+0.1	+1.5	+.099	+4.7	+4.3	+.267
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	5	20.4	5.8	0.6	1.6	2.2	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.6	2.4	2.4	7.0	.343	0.4	2.0	.200	0.6	1.2	.500
difference:	+18	+22.3	+21.2	+1.4	+8.0	+9.5	+2.1	+1.1	+0.4	-1.5	-0.4	+6.1	+11.2	+.125	+0.6	+0.9	+.143	+8.3	+8.8	+.395
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 Kyle Kuzma 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 Kyle Kuzma, 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