LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and LeBron James, 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.

LeBron James played 22 years in the NBA, 12 more than Nikola Jokic, who played 10. LeBron James had the first of his seasons in 2003-04, while Nikola Jokic had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2003-04	2015-16
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	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		%
LeBron James	79	39.5	20.9	1.3	4.2	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.7	3.5	1.9	7.9	18.9	.417	0.8	2.7	.290	4.4	5.8	.754
difference:	+1	+17.8	+10.9	+1.0	+0.5	+1.5	+3.5	+0.6	+0.1	-2.2	-0.7	+4.1	+11.4	+.095	+0.4	+1.6	+.043	+2.5	+3.4	+.057
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LeBron James nor Nikola Jokic played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2004-05	2016-17
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	80	42.4	27.2	1.4	6.0	7.4	7.2	2.2	0.7	3.3	1.8	9.9	21.1	.472	1.4	3.9	.351	6.0	8.0	.750
difference:	+7	+14.5	+10.5	+1.5	+0.9	+2.4	+2.3	+1.4	+0.1	-1.0	-1.1	+3.1	+9.4	+.106	+0.8	+2.0	+.027	+3.4	+4.9	+.075
Nikola Jokic	73	27.9	16.7	2.9	6.9	9.8	4.9	0.8	0.8	2.3	2.9	6.8	11.7	.578	0.6	1.9	.324	2.6	3.1	.825
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher LeBron James nor Nikola Jokic played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2005-06	2017-18
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
LeBron James	79	42.5	31.4	0.9	6.1	7.0	6.6	1.6	0.8	3.3	2.3	11.1	23.1	.480	1.6	4.8	.335	7.6	10.3	.738
difference:	+4	+9.9	+12.9	+1.7	+2.0	+3.7	+0.5	+0.4		-0.5	-0.5	+4.4	+9.6	+.019	+0.1	+1.1	+.061	+4.1	+6.1	+.112
Nikola Jokic	75	32.6	18.5	2.6	8.1	10.7	6.1	1.2	0.8	2.8	2.8	6.7	13.5	.499	1.5	3.7	.396	3.5	4.2	.850
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	13	46.5	30.8	1.7	6.4	8.1	5.8	1.4	0.7	5.0	3.4	11.2	23.6	.476	1.6	4.8	.333	6.7	9.1	.737
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2006-07	2018-19
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets 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		%
LeBron James	78	40.9	27.3	1.1	5.7	6.7	6.0	1.6	0.7	3.2	2.2	9.9	20.8	.476	1.3	4.0	.319	6.3	9.0	.698
difference:	+2	+9.6	+7.2	+1.8	+2.3	+4.1	+1.3	+0.2		-0.1	-0.7	+2.2	+5.7	+.035	+0.3	+0.6	+.012	+2.7	+4.6	+.123
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	20	44.7	25.1	1.3	6.8	8.1	8.0	1.7	0.5	3.3	2.0	8.3	20.0	.416	1.1	3.8	.280	7.4	9.8	.755
difference:	+6	+4.9		+2.6	+2.3	+4.9	+0.4	+0.6	+0.4	-0.7	-1.9	+1.1	+1.4	+.090	+0.5	+0.2	+.113	+2.7	+4.2	+.091
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846

Season 5
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2007-08	2019-20
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Nuggets 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		%
LeBron James	75	40.4	30.0	1.8	6.1	7.9	7.2	1.8	1.1	3.4	2.2	10.6	21.9	.484	1.5	4.8	.315	7.3	10.3	.712
difference:	+2	+8.4	+10.1	+0.5	+1.4	+1.8	+0.2	+0.6	+0.5	-0.3	-0.8	+2.9	+7.2	+.044	+0.4	+1.3	+.001	+3.9	+6.2	+.105
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	13	42.5	28.2	1.2	6.6	7.8	7.6	1.8	1.3	4.2	2.5	8.7	21.2	.411	1.4	5.4	.257	9.4	12.8	.731
difference:	+6	+6.0	+3.8	+0.7	+1.3	+2.0	+1.9	+0.7	+0.5	-0.9	-1.1	+0.7	+3.1	+.108	+0.8	+0.2	+.172	+5.9	+8.6	+.104
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835

Season 6
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2008-09	2020-21
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
LeBron James	81	37.7	28.4	1.3	6.3	7.6	7.2	1.7	1.1	3.0	1.7	9.7	19.9	.489	1.6	4.7	.344	7.3	9.4	.780
difference:	+9	+3.1	+2.0	+1.5	+1.7	+3.2	+1.1	+0.4	+0.4	-0.1	-1.0	+0.5	+1.9	+.077	+0.3	+1.4	+.044	+2.5	+3.9	+.088
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	14	41.4	35.3	1.4	7.8	9.1	7.3	1.6	0.9	2.7	2.1	11.4	22.3	.510	1.9	5.8	.333	10.6	14.2	.749
difference:	+4	+6.9	+5.5	+2.3	+0.1	+2.5	+2.3	+1.0		-0.3	-0.2	+0.2	+0.5	+.001	+0.1	+0.5	+.044	+6.0	+8.7	+.087
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836

Season 7
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2009-10	2021-22
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
LeBron James	76	39.0	29.7	0.9	6.4	7.3	8.6	1.6	1.0	3.4	1.6	10.1	20.1	.503	1.7	5.1	.333	7.8	10.2	.767
difference:	+2	+5.5	+2.6	+1.9	+4.6	+6.5	+0.7	+0.1	+0.1	-0.4	-1.0	+0.2	+2.4	+.080	+0.4	+1.2	+.004	+2.7	+3.9	+.043
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	11	41.8	29.1	1.4	7.9	9.3	7.6	1.7	1.8	3.8	2.1	9.6	19.2	.502	1.8	4.5	.400	8.0	10.9	.733
difference:	+6	+7.6	+1.9	+2.0	+1.9	+3.9	+1.8	+0.1	+0.8	-1.0	-1.9	+2.6	+2.0	+.073	+0.8	+0.9	+.122	+2.4	+4.3	+.115
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848

Season 8
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2010-11	2022-23
Team	Miami Heat	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Heat Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
LeBron James	79	38.8	26.7	1.0	6.5	7.5	7.0	1.6	0.6	3.6	2.1	9.6	18.8	.510	1.2	3.5	.330	6.4	8.4	.759
difference:	+10	+5.1	+2.2	+1.4	+2.9	+4.3	+2.8	+0.3	+0.1		-0.4	+0.2	+4.0	+.122	+0.4	+1.3	+.053	+1.5	+2.4	+.063
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	21	43.9	23.7	1.6	6.8	8.4	5.9	1.7	1.2	3.1	2.7	8.3	17.8	.466	1.4	4.0	.353	5.7	7.4	.763
difference:	+1	+4.4	+6.3	+1.9	+3.2	+5.1	+3.6	+0.6	+0.2	-0.4	-0.8	+3.1	+2.9	+.082	+0.4	+0.2	+.108	+0.1	+0.4	+.036
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799

Season 9
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2011-12	2023-24
Team	Miami Heat	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	62	37.5	27.1	1.5	6.4	7.9	6.2	1.9	0.8	3.4	1.5	10.0	18.9	.531	0.9	2.4	.362	6.2	8.1	.771
difference:	+17	+2.9	+0.7	+1.3	+3.1	+4.5	+2.8	+0.5	+0.1	-0.4	-1.0	+0.4	+1.0	+.052	+0.2	+0.5	+.003	+1.7	+2.6	+.046
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	23	42.7	30.3	2.3	7.4	9.7	5.6	1.9	0.7	3.5	2.0	10.9	21.8	.500	1.0	3.7	.259	7.5	10.2	.739
difference:	+11	+2.5	+1.6	+1.3	+2.4	+3.7	+3.1	+0.5		-0.2	-0.7	+0.2	+1.5	+.045	+0.2	+0.7	+.005	+2.2	+4.3	+.162
Nikola Jokic	12	40.2	28.7	3.6	9.8	13.4	8.7	1.4	0.7	3.3	2.7	11.1	20.3	.545	1.2	4.4	.264	5.3	5.9	.901

Season 10
	LeBron James	Nikola Jokic
Season	2012-13	2024-25
Team	Miami Heat	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	76	37.9	26.8	1.3	6.8	8.0	7.3	1.7	0.9	3.0	1.4	10.1	17.8	.565	1.4	3.3	.406	5.3	7.0	.753
difference:	+6	+1.2	+2.8	+1.6	+3.1	+4.7	+2.9	+0.1	+0.3	-0.3	-0.9	+1.1	+1.7	+.011	+0.6	+1.4	+.011	+0.1	+0.6	+.047
Nikola Jokic	70	36.7	29.6	2.9	9.9	12.7	10.2	1.8	0.6	3.3	2.3	11.2	19.5	.576	2.0	4.7	.417	5.2	6.4	.800
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
LeBron James	23	41.7	25.9	1.6	6.8	8.4	6.6	1.8	0.8	3.0	1.9	9.2	18.8	.491	1.6	4.2	.375	5.9	7.6	.777
difference:	+9	+1.5	+0.3	+0.5	+3.8	+4.3	+1.4	+0.2	+0.1	-0.9	-1.5	+0.2	+0.3	+.002	+0.3	+0.9	+.005	+0.3	+0.4	+.005
Nikola Jokic	14	40.2	26.2	2.1	10.6	12.7	8.0	2.0	0.9	3.9	3.4	9.4	19.1	.489	1.9	5.1	.380	5.6	7.2	.772

Additional Years
* LeBron James played 12 seasons more than Nikola Jokic in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 22, from 2014 to 2025—LeBron James played in 10 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships and one NBA Cup. In those 12 extra years over Nikola Jokic, LeBron James got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 6 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 4 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Assists Leader 1 Cup MVP 1 Cup All-Tournament Team 12 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP