Nikola Jokic vs. Hakeem Olajuwon Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Hakeem Olajuwon and Nikola Jokic, 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.

Nikola Jokic played 10 years in the NBA, 8 less than Hakeem Olajuwon, who played 18. Nikola Jokic had the first of his seasons in 2015-16, while Hakeem Olajuwon had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2015-16	1984-85
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
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
difference:	+2	+13.8	+10.6	+3.1	+1.8	+4.9	+1.0	+0.2	+2.1	-1.6	-1.6	+4.5	+7.8	+.026	+0.4	+1.1		+2.2	+4.3	+.198
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	35.5	20.6	5.4	6.5	11.9	1.4	1.2	2.7	2.9	4.2	8.3	15.3	.538	0.0	0.0	-	4.1	6.7	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	5	37.4	21.2	6.6	6.4	13.0	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.2	4.4	8.4	17.6	.477	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	9.2	.478

Season 2
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2016-17	1985-86
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+5	+8.4	+6.8	+2.0	+0.3	+1.7	+2.9	+1.2	+2.6	-0.6	-1.1	+2.4	+5.8	+.052	+0.6	+1.9		+2.5	+4.8	+.180
Hakeem Olajuwon	68	36.3	23.5	4.9	6.6	11.5	2.0	2.0	3.4	2.9	4.0	9.2	17.5	.526	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	7.9	.645
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	20	38.3	26.9	5.1	6.8	11.8	2.0	2.0	3.5	2.2	4.4	10.3	19.4	.530	0.0	0.1	.000	6.4	10.0	.638

Season 3
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2017-18	1986-87
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
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
difference:		+4.2	+4.9	+1.6	+0.9	+0.7	+3.2	+0.7	+2.6	-0.2	-1.1	+2.3	+4.3	+.009	+1.5	+3.6	+.196	+1.8	+3.4	+.148
Hakeem Olajuwon	75	36.8	23.4	4.2	7.2	11.4	2.9	1.9	3.4	3.0	3.9	9.0	17.8	.508	0.0	0.1	.200	5.3	7.6	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	10	38.9	29.2	3.9	7.4	11.3	2.5	1.3	4.3	3.6	4.4	11.0	17.9	.615	0.0	0.1	.000	7.2	9.7	.742

Season 4
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2018-19	1987-88
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+1	+4.5	+2.7	+0.9	+0.3	+1.3	+5.2	+0.7	+2.0		-1.2	+1.3	+2.4	+.003	+1.0	+3.3	+.307	+1.2	+2.5	+.126
Hakeem Olajuwon	79	35.8	22.8	3.8	8.3	12.1	2.1	2.1	2.7	3.1	4.1	9.0	17.5	.514	0.0	0.1	.000	4.8	6.9	.695
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+10	+0.7	+12.4	+1.1	+2.7	+3.8	+6.6	+1.2	+1.9	-0.3	-0.4	+4.6	+5.9	+.065	+1.6	+3.7	+.393	+4.8	+5.2	+.038
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	37.5	5.0	11.8	16.8	1.8	2.3	2.8	2.3	3.5	14.0	24.5	.571	0.0	0.3	.000	9.5	10.8	.884

Season 5
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2019-20	1988-89
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+9	+4.9	+4.9	+1.8	+1.9	+3.8	+5.2	+1.4	+2.8	-0.3	-1.0	+1.9	+4.3	+.020	+1.1	+3.4	+.314	+2.1	+3.9	+.121
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	36.9	24.8	4.1	9.4	13.5	1.8	2.6	3.4	3.4	4.0	9.6	19.0	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	5.5	8.0	.696
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+15	+4.0	+0.9	+1.6	+1.6	+3.2	+2.7	+1.4	+2.0	-0.8	-0.7	+1.1	+2.2		+2.2	+5.2		+0.8	+2.1	+.155
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	25.3	3.5	9.5	13.0	3.0	2.5	2.8	2.5	4.3	10.5	20.3	.519	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	6.3	.680

Season 6
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2020-21	1989-90
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets 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		%
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
difference:	+10	+3.5	+2.1	+0.8	+2.4	+3.2	+5.4	+0.8	+3.9	-0.8	-1.1	+0.4	+1.6	+.065	+1.3	+3.2	+.221	+0.1	+1.0	+.155
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	38.1	24.3	3.6	10.4	14.0	2.9	2.1	4.6	3.9	3.8	9.8	19.6	.501	0.0	0.1	.167	4.7	6.5	.713
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+6	+5.8	+11.3	+0.1	+0.1	+0.1	+3.0	+1.9	+4.9	-0.4	-2.5	+3.8	+5.3	+.066	+2.0	+5.3		+1.6	+1.2	+.130
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.3	18.5	3.8	7.8	11.5	2.0	2.5	5.8	2.8	4.8	7.8	17.5	.443	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.3	.706

Season 7
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2021-22	1990-91
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
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
difference:	+18	+3.3	+5.9	+1.1	+1.2		+5.6	+0.7	+3.0	-0.7	-1.3	+1.6	+0.6	+.075	+1.3	+3.8	+.337	+1.3	+1.4	+.041
Hakeem Olajuwon	56	36.8	21.2	3.9	9.8	13.8	2.3	2.2	3.9	3.1	3.9	8.7	17.1	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	3.8	4.9	.769
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+2	+8.8	+9.0	+0.6	+0.9	+1.5	+3.8	+0.3	+1.7	-2.1	-0.3	+3.5	+6.2	+.003	+1.0	+3.3	+.278	+0.9	+0.9	+.024
Hakeem Olajuwon	3	43.0	22.0	4.0	10.7	14.7	2.0	1.3	2.7	2.7	3.7	8.7	15.0	.578	0.0	0.3	.000	4.7	5.7	.824

Season 8
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2022-23	1991-92
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+1	+4.0	+2.9	+1.1	+0.8	+0.3	+7.6	+0.5	+3.6	-0.9	-1.3	+1.0	+2.0	+.130	+0.8	+2.2		+0.2	+0.1	+.056
Hakeem Olajuwon	70	37.7	21.6	3.5	8.6	12.1	2.2	1.8	4.3	2.7	3.8	8.4	16.8	.502	0.0	0.0	-	4.7	6.1	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Hakeem Olajuwon	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2023-24	1992-93
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets 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		%
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
difference:	+3	+4.9	+0.3	+0.7	+0.1	+0.6	+5.5	+0.4	+3.3	-0.2	-1.2	+0.1	+1.6	+.054	+1.1	+2.8	+.359	+0.9	+1.5	+.038
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	39.5	26.1	3.5	9.6	13.0	3.5	1.8	4.2	3.2	3.7	10.3	19.5	.529	0.0	0.1	.000	5.4	7.0	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:		+3.0	+3.0	+0.7	+0.1	+0.6	+3.9	+0.4	+4.2	-0.5	-0.4	+0.8	+0.5	+.028	+1.2	+4.3	+.264	+0.1	+0.4	+.074
Hakeem Olajuwon	12	43.2	25.7	4.3	9.7	14.0	4.8	1.8	4.9	3.8	3.1	10.3	19.8	.517	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	6.3	.827

Season 10
	Nikola Jokic	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2024-25	1993-94
Team	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
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
difference:	+10	+4.3	+2.3		+0.8	+0.8	+6.6	+0.2	+3.1	-0.1	-1.3		+1.7	+.048	+1.9	+4.5	+.004	+0.3	+0.4	+.084
Hakeem Olajuwon	80	41.0	27.3	2.9	9.1	11.9	3.6	1.6	3.7	3.4	3.6	11.2	21.2	.528	0.1	0.2	.421	4.9	6.8	.716
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+9	+2.8	+2.7	+0.3	+1.9	+1.7	+3.7	+0.3	+3.1	-0.3	-0.2	+2.2	+3.2	+.030	+1.8	+4.9	+.120		+0.2	+.023
Hakeem Olajuwon	23	43.0	28.9	2.4	8.7	11.0	4.3	1.7	4.0	3.6	3.6	11.6	22.3	.519	0.1	0.2	.500	5.6	7.0	.795

Additional Years
* Hakeem Olajuwon played 8 seasons more than Nikola Jokic in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 18, from 1995 to 2002—Hakeem Olajuwon played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over Nikola Jokic, Hakeem Olajuwon got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 3 All-Star Game