Lonzo Ball vs. Dennis Rodman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Rodman and Lonzo Ball, 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.

Lonzo Ball played 6 years in the NBA, 8 less than Dennis Rodman, who played 14. Lonzo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Dennis Rodman had his rookie season in 1986-87. 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
	Lonzo Ball	Dennis Rodman
Season	2017-18	1986-87
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
Lonzo Ball	52	34.2	10.2	1.3	5.6	6.9	7.2	1.7	0.8	2.6	2.3	3.9	10.8	.360	1.7	5.7	.305	0.6	1.4	.451
difference:	+25	+19.2	+3.7	+0.8	+3.4	+2.6	+6.5	+1.2	+0.2	-1.4	-0.1	+1.1	+5.7	+.185	+1.7	+5.7		+0.4	+0.2	+.136
Dennis Rodman	77	15.0	6.5	2.1	2.2	4.3	0.7	0.5	0.6	1.2	2.2	2.8	5.1	.545	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.6	.587
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	15	16.3	6.5	2.1	2.6	4.7	0.2	0.4	1.1	1.1	3.2	2.7	4.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.1	.563

Season 3
	Lonzo Ball	Dennis Rodman
Season	2019-20	1988-89
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Lonzo Ball	63	32.1	11.8	1.1	5.0	6.1	7.0	1.4	0.6	3.1	2.0	4.4	10.9	.403	2.3	6.3	.375	0.7	1.2	.566
difference:	+19	+5.2	+2.8	+2.9	+0.4	+3.3	+5.8	+0.7	+0.3	-1.6	-1.6	+0.5	+4.4	+.192	+2.2	+6.0	+.144	+0.5	+0.7	+.060
Dennis Rodman	82	26.9	9.0	4.0	5.4	9.4	1.2	0.7	0.9	1.5	3.6	3.9	6.5	.595	0.1	0.3	.231	1.2	1.9	.626
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	17	24.1	5.8	3.3	6.7	10.0	0.9	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.4	2.2	4.1	.529	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.1	.686

Season 4
	Lonzo Ball	Dennis Rodman
Season	2020-21	1989-90
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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		%
Lonzo Ball	55	31.8	14.6	0.6	4.2	4.8	5.7	1.5	0.6	2.2	1.9	5.3	12.7	.414	3.1	8.3	.378	0.9	1.2	.781
difference:	+27	+2.8	+5.8	+3.5	+1.4	+4.9	+4.8	+0.9	+0.1	-1.1	-1.5	+1.8	+6.7	+.167	+3.1	+8.2	+.267	+0.8	+1.4	+.127
Dennis Rodman	82	29.0	8.8	4.1	5.6	9.7	0.9	0.6	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.5	6.0	.581	0.0	0.1	.111	1.7	2.6	.654
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	19	29.5	6.6	2.9	5.6	8.5	0.9	0.5	0.7	1.6	3.3	2.8	5.0	.568	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.8	.514

Season 5
	Lonzo Ball	Dennis Rodman
Season	2021-22	1990-91
Team	Chicago Bulls	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East 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		%
Lonzo Ball	35	34.6	13.0	1.0	4.4	5.4	5.1	1.8	0.9	2.3	2.4	4.6	10.9	.423	3.1	7.4	.423	0.6	0.8	.750
difference:	+47	+1.1	+4.8	+3.4	+3.7	+7.1	+4.1	+1.0	+0.2	-1.2	-1.0	+1.2	+4.1	+.070	+3.0	+7.0	+.223	+0.8	+1.3	+.119
Dennis Rodman	82	33.5	8.2	4.4	8.1	12.5	1.0	0.8	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.4	6.8	.493	0.1	0.4	.200	1.4	2.1	.631
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	15	33.0	6.3	4.5	7.3	11.8	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	3.7	2.7	6.1	.451	0.1	0.6	.222	0.7	1.6	.417

Note: Lonzo Ball didn't play in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Season 6
	Lonzo Ball	Dennis Rodman
Season	2024-25	1991-92
Team	Chicago Bulls	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East 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		%
Lonzo Ball	35	22.2	7.6	0.7	2.7	3.4	3.3	1.3	0.5	1.2	1.6	2.5	6.9	.366	1.9	5.6	.344	0.6	0.8	.815
difference:	+47	+18.1	+2.2	+5.7	+9.6	+15.3	+1.0	+0.5	+0.4	-0.5	-1.4	+1.7	+0.8	+.173	+1.5	+4.4	+.027	+0.4	+0.9	+.215
Dennis Rodman	82	40.3	9.8	6.4	12.3	18.7	2.3	0.8	0.9	1.7	3.0	4.2	7.7	.539	0.4	1.2	.317	1.0	1.7	.600
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	5	31.2	7.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	3.4	3.2	5.4	.593	0.0	0.4	.000	0.8	1.6	.500

Additional Years
* Dennis Rodman played 8 seasons more than Lonzo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 14, from 1993 to 2000—Dennis Rodman played in 5 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 8 extra years over Lonzo Ball, Dennis Rodman got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 6 Rebounds Leader