Larry Johnson vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Larry 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.

Larry Johnson played 10 years in the NBA, 9 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Larry Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1991-92, while Shaquille O'Neal had his rookie season in 1992-93. 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
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1991-92	1992-93
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	82	37.2	19.2	3.9	7.0	11.0	3.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	2.7	7.5	15.3	.490	0.1	0.3	.227	4.1	5.0	.829
difference:	+1	+0.7	+4.2	+0.3	+2.6	+2.9	+1.7	+0.3	+2.9	-1.8	-1.3	+1.5	+0.8	+.072	+0.1	+0.3		+1.2	+3.9	+.237
Shaquille O'Neal	81	37.9	23.4	4.2	9.6	13.9	1.9	0.7	3.5	3.8	4.0	9.0	16.1	.562	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	8.9	.592
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Larry Johnson nor Shaquille O'Neal played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1992-93	1993-94
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hornets Lost East Conf Semis	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	82	40.5	22.1	3.4	7.1	10.5	4.3	0.6	0.3	2.8	2.3	8.9	16.9	.526	0.2	0.9	.254	4.1	5.3	.767
difference:	+1	+0.7	+7.2	+1.3	+1.4	+2.7	+1.9	+0.3	+2.6	-0.1	-1.2	+2.9	+2.7	+.073	+0.2	+0.9		+1.7	+5.2	+.213
Shaquille O'Neal	81	39.8	29.3	4.7	8.5	13.2	2.4	0.9	2.9	2.7	3.5	11.8	19.6	.599	0.0	0.0	-	5.8	10.5	.554
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	9	38.7	19.8	2.1	4.8	6.9	3.3	0.6	0.2	2.1	3.0	7.6	13.6	.557	0.1	0.4	.250	4.6	5.8	.788
difference:	+6	+3.3	+0.9	+3.6	+2.9	+6.4	+1.0	+0.1	+2.8	-1.2	-1.3	+0.1	+1.4	+.046	+0.1	+0.4		+0.7	+5.5	+.317
Shaquille O'Neal	3	42.0	20.7	5.7	7.7	13.3	2.3	0.7	3.0	3.3	4.3	7.7	15.0	.511	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	11.3	.471

Season 3
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1993-94	1994-95
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Magic Lost NBA Finals

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		%
Larry Johnson	51	34.5	16.4	2.8	6.0	8.8	3.6	0.6	0.3	2.3	2.6	6.8	13.2	.515	0.1	0.4	.238	2.7	3.9	.695
difference:	+28	+2.5	+12.9	+1.4	+1.3	+2.6	+0.9	+0.3	+2.1	-0.3	-0.7	+5.0	+7.0	+.068	+0.1	+0.3	+.238	+3.1	+6.9	+.162
Shaquille O'Neal	79	37.0	29.3	4.2	7.3	11.4	2.7	0.9	2.4	2.6	3.3	11.8	20.2	.583	0.0	0.1	.000	5.8	10.8	.533
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	21	38.3	25.7	4.5	7.4	11.9	3.3	0.9	1.9	3.5	4.0	9.3	16.1	.577	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	12.4	.571

Season 4
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1994-95	1995-96
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hornets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Magic Lost East Conf Finals

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		%
Larry Johnson	81	39.9	18.8	2.3	4.9	7.2	4.6	1.0	0.3	2.6	2.1	7.2	15.0	.480	1.0	2.6	.386	3.4	4.4	.774
difference:	+27	+3.9	+7.8	+1.1	+2.8	+3.8	+1.7	+0.4	+1.8	-0.3	-1.5	+3.8	+4.1	+.093	+1.0	+2.6		+1.2	+5.1	+.287
Shaquille O'Neal	54	36.0	26.6	3.4	7.7	11.0	2.9	0.6	2.1	2.9	3.6	11.0	19.1	.573	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	9.5	.487
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	4	43.0	20.8	2.5	3.3	5.8	2.8	1.0	0.5	1.5	1.8	7.8	16.3	.477	0.3	2.3	.111	5.0	6.3	.800
difference:	+8	+4.7	+5.0	+1.6	+2.6	+4.2	+1.8	+0.2	+0.8	-2.2	-1.5	+3.1	+1.7	+.129	+0.3	+2.3		+1.0	+3.9	+.407
Shaquille O'Neal	12	38.3	25.8	4.1	5.9	10.0	4.6	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.3	10.9	18.0	.606	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	10.2	.393

Season 5
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1995-96	1996-97
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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		%
Larry Johnson	81	40.4	20.5	3.1	5.4	8.4	4.4	0.7	0.5	2.2	2.1	7.2	15.1	.476	0.8	2.3	.366	5.3	7.0	.757
difference:	+30	+2.3	+5.7	+0.7	+3.3	+4.1	+1.3	+0.2	+2.4	-0.7	-1.4	+3.6	+4.3	+.081	+0.8	+2.2	+.366	+0.8	+2.4	+.273
Shaquille O'Neal	51	38.1	26.2	3.8	8.7	12.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	2.9	3.5	10.8	19.4	.557	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	9.4	.484
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	9	36.2	26.9	4.2	6.3	10.6	3.2	0.6	1.9	2.4	4.1	9.9	19.2	.514	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	11.7	.610

Season 6
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1996-97	1997-98
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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		%
Larry Johnson	76	34.4	12.8	2.2	3.0	5.2	2.3	0.8	0.5	1.8	3.3	4.9	9.7	.512	0.4	1.4	.324	2.5	3.6	.693
difference:	+16	+1.9	+15.5	+1.3	+4.9	+6.2	+0.1	+0.1	+1.9	-1.1	-0.1	+6.3	+9.4	+.072	+0.4	+1.4		+3.5	+7.8	+.166
Shaquille O'Neal	60	36.3	28.3	3.5	7.9	11.4	2.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	3.2	11.2	19.1	.584	0.0	0.0	-	6.0	11.4	.527
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	9	32.6	13.8	1.2	2.8	4.0	2.6	0.8	0.1	1.7	3.0	4.8	8.6	.558	0.7	1.9	.353	3.6	4.2	.842
difference:	+4	+5.9	+16.7	+2.5	+3.7	+6.2	+0.3	+0.3	+2.5	-1.6	-0.2	+7.4	+11.2	+.054	+0.7	+1.9		+2.6	+8.0	+.339
Shaquille O'Neal	13	38.5	30.5	3.7	6.5	10.2	2.9	0.5	2.6	3.3	3.2	12.2	19.8	.612	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	12.2	.503

Season 7
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1997-98	1998-99
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
Larry Johnson	70	34.5	15.5	2.5	3.2	5.7	2.1	0.6	0.2	1.8	2.8	6.1	12.6	.485	0.2	0.9	.238	3.1	4.0	.756
difference:	+21	+0.3	+10.8	+1.3	+3.7	+5.0	+0.2	+0.1	+1.5	-0.7	-0.4	+4.3	+5.5	+.091	+0.2	+0.9		+2.4	+6.2	+.216
Shaquille O'Neal	49	34.8	26.3	3.8	6.9	10.7	2.3	0.7	1.7	2.5	3.2	10.4	18.1	.576	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.2	.540
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	8	38.8	17.9	3.1	3.5	6.6	1.6	1.3	0.4	3.1	3.8	6.5	13.4	.486	0.3	1.3	.200	4.6	6.3	.740
difference:		+0.6	+8.7	+2.4	+2.6	+5.0	+0.7	+0.4	+2.5	-0.8	-0.2	+3.4	+6.0	+.024	+0.3	+1.3		+2.3	+8.5	+.274
Shaquille O'Neal	8	39.4	26.6	5.5	6.1	11.6	2.3	0.9	2.9	2.3	3.6	9.9	19.4	.510	0.0	0.0	-	6.9	14.8	.466

Season 8
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1998-99	1999-00
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	49	33.4	12.0	1.9	3.9	5.8	2.4	0.7	0.2	1.8	3.0	4.3	9.3	.459	0.7	1.9	.359	2.7	3.3	.817
difference:	+30	+6.6	+17.7	+2.4	+5.5	+7.8	+1.4	+0.2	+2.8	-1.0	-0.2	+7.8	+11.8	+.115	+0.7	+1.9		+2.8	+7.1	+.293
Shaquille O'Neal	79	40.0	29.7	4.3	9.4	13.6	3.8	0.5	3.0	2.8	3.2	12.1	21.1	.574	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.4	.524
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	20	34.1	11.5	1.1	3.8	4.9	1.6	1.1	0.1	1.7	3.2	4.4	10.2	.426	1.2	4.1	.293	1.6	2.3	.674
difference:	+3	+9.4	+19.2	+4.1	+6.5	+10.5	+1.5	+0.5	+2.3	-0.7	-0.3	+8.0	+11.8	+.140	+1.2	+4.1		+4.3	+10.6	+.218
Shaquille O'Neal	23	43.5	30.7	5.2	10.3	15.4	3.1	0.6	2.4	2.4	2.9	12.4	22.0	.566	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	12.9	.456

Season 9
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1999-00	2000-01
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	70	32.6	10.7	1.2	4.2	5.4	2.5	0.6	0.1	1.3	2.9	4.0	9.3	.433	0.8	2.5	.333	1.8	2.4	.766
difference:	+4	+6.9	+18.0	+2.7	+4.6	+7.3	+1.2		+2.7	-1.6	-0.6	+7.0	+9.9	+.139	+0.8	+2.5		+4.9	+10.7	+.253
Shaquille O'Neal	74	39.5	28.7	3.9	8.8	12.7	3.7	0.6	2.8	2.9	3.5	11.0	19.2	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	13.1	.513
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	16	36.8	11.3	0.9	4.1	5.0	1.6	0.5	0.1	1.4	2.9	4.4	9.5	.461	0.8	2.1	.394	1.7	2.1	.794
difference:		+5.5	+19.1	+4.8	+5.7	+10.4	+1.6	+0.1	+2.3	-2.2	-0.5	+7.5	+12.0	+.094	+0.8	+2.1		+4.9	+10.4	+.269
Shaquille O'Neal	16	42.3	30.4	5.7	9.8	15.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	3.6	3.4	11.9	21.5	.555	0.0	0.0	-	6.6	12.5	.525

Season 10
	Larry Johnson	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2000-01	2001-02
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	65	32.4	9.9	1.4	4.2	5.6	2.0	0.6	0.4	1.5	3.2	3.8	9.2	.411	0.8	2.5	.313	1.6	2.0	.797
difference:	+2	+3.7	+17.3	+2.1	+3.0	+5.1	+1.0		+1.6	-1.1	-0.2	+6.8	+9.1	+.168	+0.8	+2.5		+4.3	+8.7	+.242
Shaquille O'Neal	67	36.1	27.2	3.5	7.2	10.7	3.0	0.6	2.0	2.6	3.0	10.6	18.3	.579	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	10.7	.555
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shaquille O'Neal	19	40.8	28.5	3.5	9.1	12.6	2.8	0.5	2.5	3.3	3.3	10.7	20.2	.529	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	10.9	.649

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 9 seasons more than Larry Johnson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 19, from 2003 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Larry Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 6 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP