Sam Cassell vs. George Mikan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of George Mikan and Sam Cassell, 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.

Sam Cassell played 15 years in the NBA, 8 more than George Mikan, who played 7. Sam Cassell had the first of his seasons in 1993-94, while George Mikan had his rookie season in 1948-49. 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
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1993-94	1948-49
Team	Houston Rockets	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Cassell	66	17.0	6.7	0.4	1.7	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.1	1.4	2.1	2.5	5.9	.418	0.4	1.3	.295	1.4	1.6	.841
difference:	+6		+21.6				+0.7				-2.2	+7.2	+17.5	+.002				+7.5	+9.9	+.069
George Mikan	60	-	28.3	-	-	-	3.6	-	-	-	4.3	9.7	23.4	.416	-	-	-	8.9	11.5	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	22	21.7	9.4	0.9	1.8	2.7	4.2	1.0	0.2	2.1	2.8	2.9	7.3	.394	0.8	2.0	.378	2.9	3.4	.865
difference:	+12		+20.9				+2.1				-1.6	+7.4	+15.4	+.060				+6.8	+8.7	+.063
George Mikan	10	-	30.3	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	10.3	22.7	.454	-	-	-	9.7	12.1	.802

Season 2
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1994-95	1949-50
Team	Houston Rockets	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Cassell	82	23.0	9.5	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.9	1.1	0.2	2.0	2.5	3.1	7.2	.427	0.8	2.3	.330	2.6	3.1	.843
difference:	+14		+17.9				+2.0				-1.9	+6.4	+16.3	+.020				+5.7	+7.6	+.064
George Mikan	68	-	27.4	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-	4.4	9.5	23.5	.407	-	-	-	8.3	10.7	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	22	22.0	11.0	0.4	1.5	1.9	4.0	1.0	0.1	1.5	3.0	3.4	7.7	.438	1.1	2.7	.400	3.2	3.9	.835
difference:	+10		+20.3				+1.0				-0.9	+6.7	+18.6	+.055				+8.0	+10.3	+.047
George Mikan	12	-	31.3	-	-	-	3.0	-	-	-	3.9	10.1	26.3	.383	-	-	-	11.2	14.2	.788

Season 3
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1995-96	1950-51
Team	Houston Rockets	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Div Finals

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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		%
Sam Cassell	61	27.6	14.5	0.8	2.2	3.1	4.6	0.9	0.1	2.6	2.7	4.7	10.8	.439	1.2	3.4	.348	3.9	4.7	.825
difference:	+7		+13.9			+11.0	+1.5				-1.8	+5.3	+12.5	+.011				+4.6	+5.8	+.022
George Mikan	68	-	28.4	-	-	14.1	3.1	-	-	-	4.5	10.0	23.3	.428	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.803
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	8	25.8	10.4	0.1	2.0	2.1	4.3	0.8	0.1	2.3	2.5	3.3	10.1	.321	1.0	3.6	.276	2.9	3.6	.793
difference:	+1		+13.6			+8.5	+3.0				-1.1	+5.6	+11.6	+.087				+3.4	+4.3	+.007
George Mikan	7	-	24.0	-	-	10.6	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	21.7	.408	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.800

Season 4
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1996-97	1951-52
Team	Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	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		%
Sam Cassell	61	28.1	15.9	0.8	2.2	3.0	5.0	1.3	0.3	2.8	3.3	5.5	12.8	.430	1.3	3.8	.351	3.5	4.1	.845
difference:	+3	+12.1	+7.9			+10.5	+2.0				-1.2	+3.0	+9.3	+.045				+3.3	+4.6	+.065
George Mikan	64	40.2	23.8	-	-	13.5	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	8.5	22.1	.385	-	-	-	6.8	8.7	.780
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
George Mikan	13	42.5	23.6	-	-	15.9	2.8	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	20.1	.379	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.790

Season 5
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1997-98	1952-53
Team	New Jersey Nets	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Cassell	75	34.7	19.6	1.0	2.1	3.0	8.0	1.6	0.3	3.6	3.5	6.8	15.4	.441	0.2	1.1	.188	5.8	6.8	.860
difference:	+5	+3.2	+1.0			+11.4	+5.1				-0.6	+0.3	+2.5	+.042				+0.5	+1.3	+.080
George Mikan	70	37.9	20.6	-	-	14.4	2.9	-	-	-	4.1	7.1	17.9	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.780
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	3	9.0	2.0	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.0	0.3	0.7	2.3	1.0	3.0	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+9	+29.6	+17.8			+14.4	+0.2				-2.4	+5.5	+14.8	+.033				+6.8	+9.3
George Mikan	12	38.6	19.8	-	-	15.4	1.9	-	-	-	4.7	6.5	17.8	.366	-	-	-	6.8	9.3	.732

Season 6
	Sam Cassell	George Mikan
Season	1998-99	1953-54
Team	New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Cassell	8	24.9	15.9	0.6	1.3	1.9	4.5	1.1	0.0	2.5	2.8	4.9	11.6	.419	0.3	1.3	.200	5.9	6.3	.940
difference:	+64	+7.9	+2.2			+12.4	+2.1				-0.9	+1.2	+4.5	+.039					+1.3	+.163
George Mikan	72	32.8	18.1	-	-	14.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	16.1	.380	-	-	-	5.9	7.6	.777
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Cassell	3	34.3	15.3	0.0	2.0	2.0	8.7	1.0	0.0	2.3	4.7	5.3	10.7	.500	0.0	0.3	.000	4.7	5.3	.875
difference:	+10	+1.7	+4.1			+11.2	+6.8				-0.4	+1.4	+3.9	+.042				+1.3	+2.1	+.062
George Mikan	13	32.6	19.4	-	-	13.2	1.9	-	-	-	4.3	6.7	14.6	.458	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.813

Note: George Mikan didn't play in 1954-55.

Additional Years
* Sam Cassell played 8 seasons more than George Mikan in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 15, from 2001 to 2008—Sam Cassell played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over George Mikan, Sam Cassell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game