Lonzo Ball vs. Jermaine O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jermaine O'Neal 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 7 years in the NBA, 11 less than Jermaine O'Neal, who played 18. Lonzo Ball had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Jermaine O'Neal had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2017-18	1996-97
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+7	+24.0	+6.1	+0.4	+3.7	+4.1	+7.0	+1.7	+0.2	-2.0	-1.3	+2.4	+7.4	+.091	+1.7	+5.7		+0.4	+0.3	+.152
Jermaine O'Neal	45	10.2	4.1	0.9	1.9	2.8	0.2	0.0	0.6	0.6	1.0	1.5	3.4	.451	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.7	.603
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	2	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	1.0	.000

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

Season 6
	Lonzo Ball	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2024-25	2001-02
Team	Chicago Bulls	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Most Improved Player
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers 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:	+37	+15.4	+11.4	+1.9	+5.2	+7.1	+1.7	+0.7	+1.8	-1.2	-2.1	+5.0	+8.8	+.113	+1.9	+5.4	+.273	+3.3	+4.9	+.127
Jermaine O'Neal	72	37.6	19.0	2.6	7.9	10.5	1.6	0.6	2.3	2.4	3.7	7.5	15.7	.479	0.0	0.2	.071	3.9	5.7	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	5	38.0	17.2	1.2	6.4	7.6	1.0	0.8	1.6	2.8	4.8	6.8	15.2	.447	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.8	.750

Season 7
	Lonzo Ball	Jermaine O'Neal
Season	2025-26	2002-03
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Lonzo Ball	5	23.8	5.4	1.0	3.0	4.0	5.8	1.0	0.0	2.6	0.4	1.8	6.0	.300	1.2	4.4	.273	0.6	1.0	.600
difference:	+72	+13.4	+15.4	+1.6	+4.7	+6.3	+3.8	+0.1	+2.3	-0.3	-3.2	+6.1	+10.4	+.184	+1.1	+4.1	+.060	+4.2	+5.6	+.131
Jermaine O'Neal	77	37.2	20.8	2.6	7.7	10.3	2.0	0.9	2.3	2.3	3.6	7.9	16.4	.484	0.1	0.3	.333	4.8	6.6	.731
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Lonzo Ball	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jermaine O'Neal	6	45.5	22.8	4.0	13.5	17.5	0.7	0.5	3.0	3.0	3.7	7.2	15.3	.467	0.0	0.5	.000	8.5	10.8	.785

Additional Years
* Jermaine O'Neal played 11 seasons more than Lonzo Ball in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 18, from 2004 to 2014—Jermaine O'Neal played in 7 Playoffs. In those 11 extra years over Lonzo Ball, Jermaine O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 4 All-Star Game