Monta Ellis vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis, 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.

Monta Ellis played 12 years in the NBA, 9 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Monta Ellis had the first of his seasons in 2005-06, 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.

Season 2
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2006-07	1999-00
Team	Golden State Warriors	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	Most Improved Player	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Monta Ellis	77	34.3	16.5	0.8	2.4	3.2	4.1	1.7	0.3	2.9	2.7	6.2	13.1	.475	0.5	1.9	.273	3.5	4.6	.763
difference:	+5	+1.5	+1.0	+0.4	+2.8	+3.3	+1.6	+0.9	+0.5	-1.2	-0.4	+0.1	+0.5	+.014	+0.9	+1.8	+.106		+0.4	+.067
Dirk Nowitzki	82	35.8	17.5	1.2	5.2	6.5	2.5	0.8	0.8	1.7	3.1	6.3	13.6	.461	1.4	3.7	.379	3.5	4.2	.830
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	11	21.6	8.0	0.7	1.5	2.3	0.9	0.9	0.2	1.8	2.1	2.9	7.5	.390	0.1	0.8	.111	2.1	2.5	.821
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2007-08	2000-01
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Monta Ellis	81	37.9	20.2	1.6	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.5	0.3	2.1	2.4	8.0	15.1	.531	0.1	0.6	.231	4.0	5.1	.767
difference:	+1	+0.2	+1.6	+0.1	+4.4	+4.2	+1.8	+0.5	+0.9	-0.2	-0.6	+0.8	+0.1	+.057	+1.7	+4.2	+.156	+1.5	+1.5	+.071
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2008-09	2001-02
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Monta Ellis	25	35.7	19.0	0.6	3.8	4.3	3.7	1.6	0.3	2.7	2.7	7.8	17.2	.451	0.3	1.0	.308	3.1	3.8	.830
difference:	+51	+2.3	+4.4	+1.0	+4.6	+5.6	+1.3	+0.5	+0.7	-0.8	-0.2	+0.1	+0.6	+.026	+1.5	+3.6	+.089	+2.7	+3.0	+.023
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2009-10	2002-03
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Monta Ellis	64	41.4	25.5	0.7	3.3	4.0	5.3	2.2	0.4	3.8	3.0	9.9	22.0	.449	1.2	3.6	.338	4.6	6.1	.753
difference:	+16	+2.4	+0.4	+0.3	+5.6	+5.9	+2.3	+0.8	+0.6	-1.9	-0.4	+1.3	+3.4	+.014	+0.7	+1.3	+.041	+1.4	+0.8	+.128
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2010-11	2003-04
Team	Golden State Warriors	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	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		%
Monta Ellis	80	40.3	24.1	0.6	3.0	3.5	5.6	2.1	0.3	3.2	2.5	9.1	20.1	.451	1.7	4.7	.361	4.3	5.4	.789
difference:	+3	+2.4	+2.3	+0.6	+4.5	+5.2	+2.9	+0.9	+1.1	-1.4	-0.3	+1.2	+3.1	+.011	+0.4	+0.9	+.020	+0.5	+0.1	+.088
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2011-12	2004-05
Team	Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks	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		%
Monta Ellis	58	36.6	20.4	0.3	3.1	3.4	6.0	1.5	0.3	3.1	2.3	7.8	17.9	.433	1.1	3.5	.308	3.8	4.7	.796
difference:	+20	+2.1	+5.7	+0.9	+5.4	+6.3	+2.9	+0.3	+1.2	-0.8	-0.5	+0.7	+0.6	+.026	+0.1	+0.6	+.091	+4.1	+4.4	+.073
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2012-13	2005-06
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Monta Ellis	82	37.5	19.2	0.5	3.3	3.9	6.0	2.1	0.4	3.1	2.0	7.3	17.5	.416	1.1	4.0	.287	3.5	4.6	.773
difference:	+1	+0.6	+7.4	+0.9	+4.3	+5.1	+3.2	+1.4	+0.6	-1.2		+2.0	+1.8	+.064	+0.3	+0.7	+.119	+3.2	+2.8	+.128
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		%
Monta Ellis	4	38.0	14.3	0.5	2.8	3.3	5.5	2.5	0.3	3.5	2.0	6.0	13.8	.436	0.8	4.8	.158	1.5	4.0	.375
difference:	+19	+4.7	+12.7	+1.5	+6.8	+8.4	+2.6	+1.4	+0.3	-1.4	-0.8	+2.5	+4.4	+.032	+0.2	+1.9	+.185	+7.4	+6.0	+.520
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

Season 9
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2013-14	2006-07
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Monta Ellis	82	36.9	19.0	0.5	3.1	3.6	5.7	1.7	0.3	3.2	2.4	7.0	15.6	.451	0.8	2.5	.330	4.1	5.2	.788
difference:	+4	+0.7	+5.6	+1.1	+4.2	+5.3	+2.3	+1.0	+0.5	-1.1	-0.2	+1.6	+1.6	+.051	+0.1	+0.3	+.086	+2.3	+1.9	+.116
Dirk Nowitzki	78	36.2	24.6	1.6	7.3	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.2	.502	0.9	2.2	.416	6.4	7.1	.904
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	7	35.6	20.4	0.9	1.6	2.4	2.9	1.3	0.1	2.1	2.7	7.4	18.1	.409	1.7	4.9	.353	3.9	4.4	.871
difference:	+1	+4.2	+0.7	+3.3	+5.6	+8.9	+0.6	+0.5	+1.2	-0.2	-0.6	+1.4	+2.4	+.026	+1.0	+1.7	+.142	+3.1	+3.9	+.031
Dirk Nowitzki	6	39.8	19.7	4.2	7.2	11.3	2.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	6.0	15.7	.383	0.7	3.2	.211	7.0	8.3	.840

Season 10
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2014-15	2007-08
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Monta Ellis	80	33.7	18.9	0.4	2.0	2.4	4.1	1.9	0.3	2.5	2.5	7.5	16.9	.445	1.0	3.6	.285	2.9	3.8	.752
difference:	+3	+2.3	+4.7	+0.8	+5.3	+6.2	+0.6	+1.2	+0.6	-0.4	-0.1	+0.7	+0.2	+.034		+0.7	+.074	+3.3	+3.3	+.127
Dirk Nowitzki	77	36.0	23.6	1.2	7.3	8.6	3.5	0.7	0.9	2.1	2.6	8.2	17.1	.479	1.0	2.9	.359	6.2	7.1	.879
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	5	39.4	26.0	0.8	2.4	3.2	5.2	2.0	0.6	3.2	3.6	10.4	22.2	.468	2.2	6.0	.367	3.0	4.0	.750
difference:		+2.8	+0.8	+1.2	+7.6	+8.8	+1.2	+1.8	+0.8	-1.2	-1.0	+1.8	+4.0	+.005	+1.0	+2.4	+.034	+5.4	+6.4	+.058
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.8	2.0	10.0	12.0	4.0	0.2	1.4	2.0	2.6	8.6	18.2	.473	1.2	3.6	.333	8.4	10.4	.808

Season 11
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2015-16	2008-09
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	81	33.8	13.8	0.5	2.8	3.3	4.7	1.9	0.5	2.5	2.1	5.4	12.6	.427	1.1	3.5	.309	2.0	2.5	.786
difference:		+3.9	+12.1	+0.6	+4.5	+5.1	+2.3	+1.1	+0.3	-0.6	-0.1	+4.2	+7.4	+.052	+0.3	+1.4	+.050	+4.0	+4.2	+.104
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.7	25.9	1.1	7.3	8.4	2.4	0.8	0.8	1.9	2.2	9.6	20.0	.479	0.8	2.1	.359	6.0	6.7	.890
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	7	32.1	11.6	0.6	3.3	3.9	4.3	2.1	0.0	2.4	2.4	4.7	10.9	.434	1.0	3.0	.333	1.1	1.4	.800
difference:	+3	+7.3	+15.2	+0.6	+5.6	+6.2	+1.2	+1.2	+0.8	-0.1	-0.3	+4.1	+6.1	+.084	+0.4	+0.9	+.047	+7.5	+7.9	+.125
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.4	26.8	1.2	8.9	10.1	3.1	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.1	8.8	17.0	.518	0.6	2.1	.286	8.6	9.3	.925

Season 12
	Monta Ellis	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2016-17	2009-10
Team	Indiana Pacers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	74	27.0	8.5	0.3	2.5	2.8	3.2	1.1	0.4	1.8	2.0	3.3	7.5	.443	0.6	1.8	.319	1.3	1.7	.727
difference:	+7	+10.5	+16.5	+0.7	+4.2	+4.9	+0.5	+0.2	+0.6		-0.6	+5.6	+11.0	+.038		+0.3	+.102	+5.3	+5.5	+.188
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.5	25.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	2.7	0.9	1.0	1.8	2.6	8.9	18.5	.481	0.6	1.5	.421	6.6	7.2	.915
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Monta Ellis	4	19.0	5.5	0.3	1.8	2.0	1.3	0.5	0.3	1.0	1.3	2.0	5.0	.400	0.5	2.0	.250	1.0	1.3	.800
difference:	+2	+19.8	+21.2	+0.9	+5.2	+6.2	+1.7	+0.3	+0.4	-0.7	-1.2	+7.7	+12.7	+.147	+0.2	+0.8	+.321	+5.7	+5.7	+.152
Dirk Nowitzki	6	38.8	26.7	1.2	7.0	8.2	3.0	0.8	0.7	1.7	2.5	9.7	17.7	.547	0.7	1.2	.571	6.7	7.0	.952

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 9 seasons more than Monta Ellis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 21, from 2011 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Monta Ellis, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Star Game