Kyrie Irving vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Kyrie Irving, 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.

Kyrie Irving played 14 years in the NBA, 7 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Kyrie Irving 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.

Their Careers

Player		 Total Seasons Playoffs Played NBA Years
Kyrie Irving 14 7 2011-12 to 2024-25
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2011-121995-96
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement Rookie of the Year-
Achievement All-Rookie First TeamAchievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 51 30.5 18.5 0.9 2.9 3.7 5.4 1.1 0.4 3.1 2.2 6.9 14.6 .469 1.4 3.6 .399 3.4 3.8 .872
difference:+22+6.7+4.0+1.1+3.1+4.4+3.6+0.2+0.7-1.0-0.7+1.5+4.7+.076+0.9+2.2+.024+0.2+0.4+.115
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%
Kyrie Irving DNP------ --- ----------
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2012-131996-97
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 59 34.7 22.5 0.6 3.1 3.7 5.9 1.5 0.4 3.2 2.5 8.2 18.1 .452 1.8 4.7 .391 4.2 4.9 .855
difference:+10+9.2+9.1+1.1+3.2+4.2+3.8+0.6+0.8-1.0-0.4+3.4+8.6+.046+1.1+2.8+.020+1.0+0.7+.078
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%
Kyrie Irving DNP------ --- ----------
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2013-141997-98
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Achievement All-Star Game MVP-
Playoffs Did Not PlayTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 71 35.2 20.8 0.7 2.9 3.6 6.1 1.5 0.3 2.7 2.3 7.5 17.4 .430 1.7 4.8 .358 4.1 4.8 .861
difference:+2+3.2+4.8+1.3+5.0+6.4+3.1+0.6+0.8-0.1-1.4+1.9+6.1+.063+1.3+3.2+.097+0.3+0.7+.063
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%
Kyrie Irving DNP------ --- ----------
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2014-151998-99
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Third Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Cavaliers Lost NBA FinalsTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 75 36.4 21.7 0.7 2.4 3.2 5.2 1.5 0.3 2.5 1.9 7.7 16.5 .468 2.1 5.0 .415 4.2 4.9 .863
difference:+25+9.4+9.6+1.1+3.7+4.7+2.8+0.8+1.0-0.8-1.0+3.1+6.9+.017+2.0+4.5+.123+1.5+1.4+.092
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%
Kyrie Irving 13 35.7 19.0 0.8 2.8 3.6 3.8 1.3 0.8 1.5 2.2 6.2 14.2 .438 2.1 4.6 .450 4.5 5.3 .841
difference:+5.6+9.0+0.1+5.0+5.2+1.6+0.1+0.4-0.5+2.7+5.5+.040+2.0+4.2+.250+1.5+2.0+.066
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2015-161999-00
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs NBA Champion NBA ChampionTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 53 31.5 19.6 0.8 2.1 3.0 4.7 1.1 0.3 2.3 2.0 7.4 16.6 .448 1.6 4.9 .321 3.2 3.6 .885
difference:+13+5.9+7.8+0.7+4.2+4.8+2.9+0.4+0.9-0.8-0.8+2.8+7.5+.057+1.5+4.6+.047+0.7+0.6+.042
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%
Kyrie Irving 21 36.9 25.2 0.7 2.2 3.0 4.7 1.7 0.6 2.3 2.2 9.6 20.1 .475 2.4 5.5 .440 3.7 4.2 .875
difference:+5+6.1+13.9+0.5+3.3+3.7+2.8+0.8+0.2-0.7-1.5+5.3+10.7+.022+2.0+4.2+.154+1.3+1.1+.079
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2016-172000-01
Team Cleveland CavaliersPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Cavaliers Lost NBA FinalsTrail 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%
Kyrie Irving 72 35.1 25.2 0.7 2.5 3.2 5.8 1.2 0.3 2.5 2.2 9.3 19.7 .473 2.5 6.1 .401 4.1 4.6 .905
difference:+11+13.8+15.1+0.1+2.1+2.2+4.3+0.5+0.7-1.1+5.3+11.2+.006+2.5+5.9+.334+2.1+2.0+.129
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%
Kyrie Irving 18 36.3 25.9 0.7 2.1 2.8 5.3 1.3 0.4 2.7 2.1 9.6 20.6 .468 2.4 6.6 .373 4.2 4.7 .905
difference:+15+1.3+14.6+2.0+3.6+5.5+2.6+1.0+1.9-2.0-1.9+4.9+10.9+.015+2.4+5.9+.373+2.2+2.0+.155
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
Kyrie Irving Arvydas Sabonis
Season 2017-182002-03
Team Boston CelticsPortland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards 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%
Kyrie Irving 60 32.2 24.4 0.6 3.2 3.8 5.1 1.1 0.3 2.3 2.0 8.9 18.1 .491 2.8 6.8 .408 3.9 4.4 .889
difference:+18+16.7+18.3+0.5+0.5+3.3+0.3+0.3-1.3-0.2+6.7+13.5+.015+2.8+6.7+.092+2.2+2.3+.102
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%
Kyrie Irving 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

* Kyrie Irving played 7 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 8 to 14, from 2019 to 2025—Kyrie Irving played in 4 Playoffs.

In those 7 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Kyrie Irving got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 1 All-NBA Second Team
Achievement 1 All-NBA Third Team
Achievement 4 All-Star Game
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