Rudy Gay vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Rudy Gay, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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.

Rudy Gay played 17 years in the NBA, 10 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Rudy Gay had the first of his seasons in 2006-07, while Arvydas Sabonis had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Rudy Gay	17	3	2006-07 to 2022-23
Arvydas Sabonis	7	7	1995-96 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7


Rookie Season
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2006-07	1995-96
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First 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		%
Rudy Gay	78	27.0	10.8	1.2	3.3	4.5	1.3	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.5	4.1	9.7	.422	0.7	1.8	.364	1.9	2.7	.727
difference:	+5	+3.2	+3.7	+0.8	+2.7	+3.6	+0.5		+0.2	-0.3	-0.4	+1.3	+0.2	+.123	+0.2	+0.4	+.011	+1.3	+1.5	+.030
Arvydas Sabonis	73	23.8	14.5	2.0	6.0	8.1	1.8	0.9	1.1	2.1	2.9	5.4	9.9	.545	0.5	1.4	.375	3.2	4.2	.757

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	5	35.4	23.6	2.4	7.8	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.4	7.0	16.2	.432	1.0	1.8	.556	8.6	12.0	.717


Season 2
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2007-08	1996-97
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Rudy Gay	81	37.0	20.1	1.7	4.4	6.2	2.0	1.4	1.0	2.3	2.8	7.7	16.7	.461	1.7	4.8	.346	3.1	3.9	.785
difference:	+12	+11.5	+6.7		+1.9	+1.7	+0.1	+0.5	+0.2	-0.1	-0.1	+2.9	+7.2	+.037	+1.0	+2.9	+.025	+0.1	+0.3	+.008
Arvydas Sabonis	69	25.5	13.4	1.7	6.3	7.9	2.1	0.9	1.2	2.2	2.9	4.8	9.5	.498	0.7	1.9	.371	3.2	4.2	.777

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	4	26.8	11.3	2.0	4.5	6.5	2.3	0.8	0.8	2.3	4.8	4.5	10.5	.429	0.5	2.0	.250	1.8	2.0	.875


Season 3
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2008-09	1997-98
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Rudy Gay	79	37.3	18.9	1.4	4.2	5.5	1.7	1.2	0.7	2.6	2.8	7.2	16.0	.453	1.1	3.1	.351	3.3	4.4	.767
difference:	+6	+5.3	+2.9	+0.6	+3.7	+4.5	+1.3	+0.3	+0.4		-0.9	+1.6	+4.7	+.040	+0.7	+1.5	+.090	+1.1	+1.1	+.031
Arvydas Sabonis	73	32.0	16.0	2.0	7.9	10.0	3.0	0.9	1.1	2.6	3.7	5.6	11.3	.493	0.4	1.6	.261	4.4	5.5	.798

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	4	26.8	12.3	1.8	6.0	7.8	1.5	1.8	0.8	2.5	4.8	4.5	10.0	.450	0.3	0.5	.500	3.0	3.5	.857


Season 4
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2009-10	1998-99
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Rudy Gay	80	39.7	19.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	1.9	1.5	0.8	2.1	2.5	7.5	16.1	.466	0.8	2.5	.327	3.8	5.0	.753
difference:	+30	+12.7	+7.5	+0.4	+1.6	+2.0	+0.5	+0.8	+0.5	-0.4	-0.4	+2.9	+6.5	+.019	+0.7	+2.0	+.035	+1.1	+1.5	+.018
Arvydas Sabonis	50	27.0	12.1	1.8	6.1	7.9	2.4	0.7	1.3	1.7	2.9	4.6	9.6	.485	0.1	0.5	.292	2.7	3.5	.771

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	13	30.1	10.0	0.9	7.8	8.8	2.2	1.2	1.2	1.5	2.7	3.5	8.7	.398	0.1	0.4	.200	3.0	3.3	.907


Season 5
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2010-11	1999-00
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers 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		%
Rudy Gay	54	39.9	19.8	1.5	4.7	6.2	2.8	1.7	1.1	2.5	2.4	7.6	16.1	.471	1.1	2.7	.396	3.6	4.5	.805
difference:	+12	+14.3	+8.0		+1.6	+1.6	+1.0	+1.0	+0.1	-1.0	-0.4	+3.0	+7.0	+.034	+1.0	+2.4	+.028	+1.1	+1.5	+.038
Arvydas Sabonis	66	25.6	11.8	1.5	6.3	7.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	1.5	2.8	4.6	9.1	.505	0.1	0.3	.368	2.5	3.0	.843

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	16	30.8	11.3	1.2	5.5	6.7	1.9	0.9	0.8	1.6	3.7	4.3	9.4	.453	0.4	1.3	.286	2.4	3.1	.796


Season 6
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2011-12	2000-01
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers 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		%
Rudy Gay	65	37.3	19.0	2.0	4.4	6.4	2.3	1.5	0.8	2.5	2.1	7.5	16.4	.455	0.8	2.7	.312	3.2	4.0	.791
difference:	+4	+16.0	+8.9	+1.2	+0.2	+1.0	+0.8	+0.8	+0.2	-1.1	-0.1	+3.5	+7.9	+.024	+0.8	+2.5	+.245	+1.2	+1.4	+.015
Arvydas Sabonis	61	21.3	10.1	0.8	4.6	5.4	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.4	2.2	4.0	8.5	.479	0.0	0.2	.067	2.0	2.6	.776

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	7	39.9	19.0	1.4	5.1	6.6	1.4	1.3	0.3	3.0	2.1	6.9	16.3	.421	0.6	2.7	.211	4.7	5.7	.825
difference:	+4	+4.9	+7.7	+1.3	+0.6	+1.7	+1.3	+1.0	+2.0	-2.3	-1.9	+2.2	+6.6	+.062	+0.6	+2.0	+.211	+2.7	+3.0	+.075
Arvydas Sabonis	3	35.0	11.3	2.7	5.7	8.3	2.7	0.3	2.3	0.7	4.0	4.7	9.7	.483	0.0	0.7	.000	2.0	2.7	.750

Note: Arvydas Sabonis didn't play in 2001-02.


Season 7
	Rudy Gay	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	2012-13	2002-03
Team	Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Trail Blazers 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		%
Rudy Gay	75	35.8	18.2	1.3	4.8	6.1	2.7	1.5	0.7	2.6	2.4	6.9	16.7	.416	1.1	3.5	.323	3.2	3.9	.814
difference:	+3	+20.3	+12.1	+0.2	+1.6	+1.8	+0.9	+0.7	+0.1	-1.6	-0.6	+4.7	+12.1	+.060	+1.1	+3.4	+.177	+1.5	+1.8	+.027
Arvydas Sabonis	78	15.5	6.1	1.1	3.2	4.3	1.8	0.8	0.6	1.0	1.8	2.2	4.6	.476	0.0	0.1	.500	1.7	2.1	.787

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arvydas Sabonis	6	14.5	10.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0	2.3	4.0	6.0	.667	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.5	.800

Additional Years

* Rudy Gay played 10 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 8 to 17, from 2014 to 2023—Rudy Gay played in two Playoffs.

Rudy Gay vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Rudy Gay, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years