Lauri Markkanen vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Lauri Markkanen, 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.

Lauri Markkanen played 8 years in the NBA, 13 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Lauri Markkanen 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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2017-18	1998-99
Team	Chicago Bulls	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	68	29.7	15.2	1.2	6.3	7.5	1.2	0.6	0.6	1.2	1.5	5.5	12.7	.434	2.1	5.9	.362	2.1	2.4	.843
difference:	+21	+9.3	+7.0	+0.3	+3.7	+4.1	+0.2			-0.4	-0.7	+2.6	+5.6	+.029	+1.8	+4.5	+.156		+0.3	+.070
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 Lauri Markkanen nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2019-20	2000-01
Team	Chicago Bulls	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	50	29.8	14.7	1.2	5.1	6.3	1.5	0.8	0.5	1.6	1.9	5.0	11.8	.425	2.2	6.3	.344	2.5	3.1	.824
difference:	+32	+8.3	+7.1	+0.3	+2.6	+2.9	+0.6	+0.2	+0.7	-0.3	-1.1	+2.2	+3.4	+.049	+0.4	+1.5	+.043	+3.0	+3.5	+.014
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2001-02
Team	Chicago Bulls	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	51	25.8	13.6	0.7	4.6	5.3	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.0	1.5	4.9	10.2	.480	2.3	5.8	.402	1.5	1.8	.826
difference:	+25	+12.2	+9.8	+0.9	+3.8	+4.6	+1.5	+0.6	+0.7	-0.9	-1.4	+3.0	+6.4	+.003	+0.5	+1.2	+.005	+4.3	+5.0	+.027
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2002-03
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	61	30.8	14.8	1.0	4.7	5.7	1.3	0.7	0.5	0.9	2.1	5.1	11.5	.445	2.2	6.2	.358	2.3	2.6	.868
difference:	+19	+8.2	+10.3		+4.2	+4.2	+1.7	+0.7	+0.5	-1.0	-0.5	+3.5	+7.1	+.018	+0.3	+1.3	+.021	+3.7	+4.3	+.013
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2003-04
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Most Improved Player	-
	All-Star Game	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	66	34.4	25.6	2.0	6.7	8.6	1.9	0.6	0.6	1.9	2.1	8.7	17.3	.499	3.0	7.7	.391	5.3	6.0	.875
difference:	+11	+3.5	+3.8	+0.8	+0.8	+0.1	+0.8	+0.6	+0.8	-0.1	-0.7	+0.8	+0.3	+.037	+1.7	+3.9	+.050	+0.5	+0.5	+.002
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2004-05
Team	Utah Jazz	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	55	33.1	23.2	2.2	5.9	8.2	2.0	0.9	0.5	1.4	1.8	7.8	16.2	.480	3.2	8.0	.399	4.5	5.0	.899
difference:	+23	+5.6	+2.9	+1.0	+2.6	+1.5	+1.1	+0.3	+1.0	-0.9	-1.0	+0.7	+2.3	+.021	+2.0	+5.1		+3.4	+4.1	+.030
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	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
	Lauri Markkanen	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2005-06
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Lauri Markkanen	47	31.4	19.0	1.5	4.4	5.9	1.5	0.7	0.4	1.4	1.7	6.3	14.9	.423	2.9	8.5	.346	3.4	3.9	.876
difference:	+34	+6.7	+7.6	+0.1	+3.2	+3.1	+1.3		+0.6	-0.5	-0.3	+3.0	+4.4	+.057	+1.5	+5.2	+.060	+3.3	+3.5	+.025
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		%
Lauri Markkanen	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 Lauri Markkanen 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 Lauri Markkanen, 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