Sam Jones vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Sam Jones, 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 Jones played 12 years in the NBA, 7 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Sam Jones had the first of his seasons in 1957-58, while Shaquille O'Neal had his rookie season in 1992-93. 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 Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1957-58	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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 Jones	56	10.6	4.6	-	-	2.9	0.7	-	-	-	0.8	1.8	4.2	.429	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.714
difference:	+25	+27.3	+18.8			+11.0	+1.2				-3.2	+7.2	+11.9	+.133				+4.2	+7.4	+.122
Shaquille O'Neal	81	37.9	23.4	4.2	9.6	13.9	1.9	0.7	3.5	3.8	4.0	9.0	16.1	.562	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	8.9	.592
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	8	9.4	3.9	-	-	3.0	0.5	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	2.8	.455	-	-	-	1.4	2.0	.688
Shaquille O'Neal	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1958-59	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost East 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		%
Sam Jones	71	20.6	10.7	-	-	6.0	1.4	-	-	-	1.4	4.3	9.9	.434	-	-	-	2.1	2.8	.770
difference:	+10	+19.2	+18.6			+7.2	+1.0				-2.1	+7.5	+9.7	+.165				+3.7	+7.7	+.216
Shaquille O'Neal	81	39.8	29.3	4.7	8.5	13.2	2.4	0.9	2.9	2.7	3.5	11.8	19.6	.599	0.0	0.0	-	5.8	10.5	.554
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	11	17.5	10.3	-	-	5.7	1.5	-	-	-	1.3	3.6	9.8	.370	-	-	-	3.0	3.5	.846
difference:	+8	+24.5	+10.4			+7.6	+0.8				-3.0	+4.1	+5.2	+.141				+2.3	+7.8	+.375
Shaquille O'Neal	3	42.0	20.7	5.7	7.7	13.3	2.3	0.7	3.0	3.3	4.3	7.7	15.0	.511	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	11.3	.471

Season 3
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1959-60	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost NBA 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 Jones	74	20.4	11.9	-	-	5.1	1.7	-	-	-	1.4	4.8	10.6	.454	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.764
difference:	+5	+16.6	+17.4			+6.3	+1.0				-1.9	+7.0	+9.6	+.129				+3.5	+7.8	+.231
Shaquille O'Neal	79	37.0	29.3	4.2	7.3	11.4	2.7	0.9	2.4	2.6	3.3	11.8	20.2	.583	0.0	0.1	.000	5.8	10.8	.533
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	13	15.2	8.2	-	-	3.2	1.4	-	-	-	1.2	3.5	9.0	.385	-	-	-	1.3	1.6	.810
difference:	+8	+23.1	+17.5			+8.7	+1.9				-2.8	+5.8	+7.1	+.192				+5.8	+10.8	+.239
Shaquille O'Neal	21	38.3	25.7	4.5	7.4	11.9	3.3	0.9	1.9	3.5	4.0	9.3	16.1	.577	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	12.4	.571

Season 4
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1960-61	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost East 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		%
Sam Jones	78	26.0	15.0	-	-	5.4	2.8	-	-	-	1.9	6.2	13.7	.449	-	-	-	2.7	3.4	.787
difference:	+24	+10.0	+11.6			+5.6	+0.1				-1.7	+4.8	+5.4	+.124				+1.9	+6.1	+.300
Shaquille O'Neal	54	36.0	26.6	3.4	7.7	11.0	2.9	0.6	2.1	2.9	3.6	11.0	19.1	.573	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	9.5	.487
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	10	25.8	13.1	-	-	5.4	2.2	-	-	-	2.2	5.0	11.2	.446	-	-	-	3.1	3.5	.886
difference:	+2	+12.5	+12.7			+4.6	+2.4				-1.1	+5.9	+6.8	+.160				+0.9	+6.7	+.493
Shaquille O'Neal	12	38.3	25.8	4.1	5.9	10.0	4.6	0.8	1.3	3.7	3.3	10.9	18.0	.606	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	10.2	.393

Season 5
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1961-62	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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 Jones	78	30.6	18.4	-	-	5.9	3.0	-	-	-	1.9	7.6	16.5	.464	-	-	-	3.1	3.8	.818
difference:	+27	+7.5	+7.8			+6.6	+0.1				-1.6	+3.2	+2.9	+.093				+1.4	+5.6	+.334
Shaquille O'Neal	51	38.1	26.2	3.8	8.7	12.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	2.9	3.5	10.8	19.4	.557	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	9.4	.484
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	14	36.0	20.6	-	-	7.1	3.1	-	-	-	2.1	8.8	19.8	.444	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.700
difference:	+5	+0.2	+6.3			+3.5	+0.1				-2.0	+1.1	+0.6	+.070				+4.1	+7.4	+.090
Shaquille O'Neal	9	36.2	26.9	4.2	6.3	10.6	3.2	0.6	1.9	2.4	4.1	9.9	19.2	.514	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	11.7	.610

Season 6
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1962-63	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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 Jones	76	30.6	19.7	-	-	5.2	3.2	-	-	-	2.1	8.2	17.2	.476	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	.793
difference:	+16	+5.7	+8.6			+6.2	+0.8				-1.1	+3.0	+1.9	+.108				+2.6	+7.1	+.266
Shaquille O'Neal	60	36.3	28.3	3.5	7.9	11.4	2.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	3.2	11.2	19.1	.584	0.0	0.0	-	6.0	11.4	.527
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	13	34.6	23.8	-	-	6.2	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	9.2	19.1	.484	-	-	-	5.3	6.4	.831
difference:		+3.9	+6.7			+4.0	+0.4					+3.0	+0.7	+.128				+0.9	+5.8	+.328
Shaquille O'Neal	13	38.5	30.5	3.7	6.5	10.2	2.9	0.5	2.6	3.3	3.2	12.2	19.8	.612	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	12.2	.503

Season 7
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1963-64	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers 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		%
Sam Jones	76	31.3	19.4	-	-	4.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.5	8.1	17.9	.450	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	.783
difference:	+27	+3.5	+6.9			+6.1	+0.4				-0.7	+2.3	+0.2	+.126				+2.2	+6.0	+.243
Shaquille O'Neal	49	34.8	26.3	3.8	6.9	10.7	2.3	0.7	1.7	2.5	3.2	10.4	18.1	.576	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.2	.540
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	10	35.6	23.2	-	-	4.7	2.3	-	-	-	2.4	9.1	18.0	.506	-	-	-	5.0	6.8	.735
difference:	+2	+3.8	+3.4			+6.9					-1.2	+0.8	+1.4	+.004				+1.9	+8.0	+.269
Shaquille O'Neal	8	39.4	26.6	5.5	6.1	11.6	2.3	0.9	2.9	2.3	3.6	9.9	19.4	.510	0.0	0.0	-	6.9	14.8	.466

Season 8
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1964-65	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Jones	80	36.1	25.9	-	-	5.1	2.8	-	-	-	2.2	10.3	22.7	.452	-	-	-	5.4	6.5	.820
difference:	+1	+3.9	+3.8			+8.5	+1.0				-1.0	+1.8	+1.6	+.122				+0.1	+3.9	+.296
Shaquille O'Neal	79	40.0	29.7	4.3	9.4	13.6	3.8	0.5	3.0	2.8	3.2	12.1	21.1	.574	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	10.4	.524
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	12	41.3	28.6	-	-	4.6	2.5	-	-	-	3.3	11.3	24.5	.459	-	-	-	6.1	7.0	.869
difference:	+11	+2.2	+2.1			+10.8	+0.6				-0.4	+1.1	+2.5	+.107				+0.2	+5.9	+.413
Shaquille O'Neal	23	43.5	30.7	5.2	10.3	15.4	3.1	0.6	2.4	2.4	2.9	12.4	22.0	.566	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	12.9	.456

Season 9
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1965-66	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Sam Jones	67	32.2	23.5	-	-	5.2	3.2	-	-	-	2.5	9.3	19.9	.469	-	-	-	4.9	6.1	.799
difference:	+7	+7.3	+5.2			+7.5	+0.5				-1.0	+1.7	+0.7	+.103				+1.8	+7.0	+.286
Shaquille O'Neal	74	39.5	28.7	3.9	8.8	12.7	3.7	0.6	2.8	2.9	3.5	11.0	19.2	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	13.1	.513
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	17	35.4	24.8	-	-	5.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.1	20.2	.449	-	-	-	6.7	8.0	.838
difference:	+1	+6.9	+5.6			+10.3	+0.1				-0.4	+2.8	+1.3	+.106				+0.1	+4.5	+.313
Shaquille O'Neal	16	42.3	30.4	5.7	9.8	15.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	3.6	3.4	11.9	21.5	.555	0.0	0.0	-	6.6	12.5	.525

Season 10
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1966-67	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Sam Jones	72	32.3	22.1	-	-	4.7	3.0	-	-	-	2.7	8.9	19.5	.454	-	-	-	4.4	5.2	.857
difference:	+5	+3.8	+5.1			+6.0					-0.3	+1.7	+1.2	+.125				+1.5	+5.5	+.302
Shaquille O'Neal	67	36.1	27.2	3.5	7.2	10.7	3.0	0.6	2.0	2.6	3.0	10.6	18.3	.579	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	10.7	.555
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	9	36.2	26.7	-	-	5.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.3	10.6	23.0	.459	-	-	-	5.6	6.4	.862
difference:	+10	+4.6	+1.8			+7.5	+0.3					+0.1	+2.8	+.070				+1.5	+4.5	+.213
Shaquille O'Neal	19	40.8	28.5	3.5	9.1	12.6	2.8	0.5	2.5	3.3	3.3	10.7	20.2	.529	0.0	0.0	-	7.1	10.9	.649

Season 11
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1967-68	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers 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		%
Sam Jones	73	33.0	21.3	-	-	4.9	3.0	-	-	-	2.5	8.5	18.5	.461	-	-	-	4.3	5.2	.827
difference:	+6	+4.8	+6.2			+6.2	+0.1				-0.9	+1.9	+0.4	+.113				+2.4	+5.6	+.205
Shaquille O'Neal	67	37.8	27.5	3.9	7.2	11.1	3.1	0.6	2.4	2.9	3.4	10.4	18.1	.574	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	10.8	.622
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	19	36.1	20.5	-	-	3.4	2.6	-	-	-	3.1	8.5	19.3	.441	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	.786
difference:	+7	+4.0	+6.5			+11.4	+1.1				-0.3	+1.6	+0.5	+.094				+3.3	+6.6	+.165
Shaquille O'Neal	12	40.1	27.0	5.3	9.6	14.8	3.7	0.6	2.8	2.9	2.8	10.1	18.8	.535	0.0	0.0	-	6.8	11.0	.621

Season 12
	Sam Jones	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1968-69	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Sam Jones	70	26.0	16.3	-	-	3.8	2.6	-	-	-	1.7	7.1	15.8	.450	-	-	-	2.1	2.7	.783
difference:	+3	+10.8	+5.2			+7.7	+0.3				-1.7	+1.2	+1.7	+.134				+2.8	+7.4	+.293
Shaquille O'Neal	67	36.8	21.5	3.7	7.8	11.5	2.9	0.5	2.5	2.9	3.4	8.3	14.1	.584	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	10.1	.490
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Jones	18	28.6	16.8	-	-	3.2	2.1	-	-	-	2.5	6.9	16.4	.419	-	-	-	3.1	3.8	.797
difference:	+4	+13.3	+4.7			+10.0	+0.4				-1.6	+1.4	+2.4	+.174				+1.9	+7.7	+.368
Shaquille O'Neal	22	41.9	21.5	4.1	9.1	13.2	2.5	0.3	2.8	2.5	4.1	8.3	14.0	.593	0.0	0.0	-	5.0	11.5	.429

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 7 seasons more than Sam Jones in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 19, from 2005 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 7 extra years over Sam Jones, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP