Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 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.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played 7 years in the NBA, 14 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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.

Rookie Season
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2018-19	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	82	26.5	10.8	0.7	2.1	2.8	3.3	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.1	4.2	8.7	.476	0.6	1.7	.367	1.9	2.4	.800
difference:	+35	+6.1	+2.6	+0.2	+0.5	+0.6	+2.3	+0.6	+0.1	-0.1	-0.1	+1.3	+1.6	+.071	+0.3	+0.3	+.161	+0.2	+0.3	+.027
Dirk Nowitzki	47	20.4	8.2	0.9	2.6	3.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	2.9	7.1	.405	0.3	1.4	.206	2.1	2.7	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	6	28.8	13.7	0.7	2.0	2.7	3.2	1.0	0.8	0.8	2.8	4.7	10.0	.467	1.5	3.0	.500	2.8	3.3	.850
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2000-01
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	35	33.7	23.7	0.5	4.2	4.7	5.9	0.8	0.7	3.0	2.0	8.2	16.1	.508	2.0	4.9	.418	5.3	6.5	.808
difference:	+47	+4.4	+1.9	+1.0	+3.5	+4.5	+3.8	+0.2	+0.5	-1.1	-1.0	+1.0	+0.9	+.034	+0.2	+0.1	+.031	+0.2	+0.1	+.030
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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	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
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2001-02
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	56	34.7	24.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	5.9	1.3	0.8	2.8	2.5	8.5	18.8	.453	1.6	5.3	.300	5.9	7.2	.810
difference:	+20	+3.3	+1.1	+0.9	+4.1	+4.9	+3.5	+0.2	+0.2	-0.9	-0.4	+0.6	+2.2	+.024	+0.2	+0.7	+.097	+0.1	+0.4	+.043
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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	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
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2022-23	2002-03
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	68	35.5	31.4	0.9	4.0	4.8	5.5	1.6	1.0	2.8	2.8	10.4	20.3	.510	0.9	2.5	.345	9.8	10.9	.905
difference:	+12	+3.5	+6.3	+0.1	+4.9	+5.1	+2.5	+0.2		-0.9	-0.2	+1.8	+1.7	+.047	+1.0	+2.4	+.034	+3.8	+4.0	+.024
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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	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
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2023-24	2003-04
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	75	34.0	30.1	0.9	4.7	5.5	6.2	2.0	0.9	2.2	2.5	10.6	19.8	.535	1.3	3.6	.353	7.6	8.7	.874
difference:	+2	+3.9	+8.3	+0.3	+2.8	+3.2	+3.5	+0.8	+0.5	-0.4	-0.3	+2.7	+2.8	+.073		+0.2	+.012	+2.8	+3.2	+.003
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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	10	39.9	30.2	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.4	1.3	1.7	2.2	3.1	11.1	22.4	.496	1.6	3.7	.432	6.4	8.1	.790
difference:	+5	+2.3	+3.6	+1.8	+2.8	+4.6	+5.0	+0.1	+0.9	-1.0	-0.1	+2.1	+2.4	+.046	+0.2	+0.7	+.035	+0.8	+0.3	+.067
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
	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2024-25	2004-05
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	Cup All-Tournament Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	76	34.2	32.7	0.9	4.1	5.0	6.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.2	11.3	21.8	.519	2.1	5.7	.375	7.9	8.8	.898
difference:	+2	+4.5	+6.6	+0.3	+4.4	+4.7	+3.3	+0.5	+0.5	-0.1	-0.6	+2.8	+3.3	+.060	+0.9	+2.8	+.024		+0.3	+.029
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		%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	23	37.0	29.9	1.0	4.3	5.3	6.5	1.7	0.9	2.6	2.8	10.1	21.9	.462	1.4	4.9	.283	8.3	9.4	.876
difference:	+10	+5.5	+6.2	+0.9	+3.9	+4.8	+3.2	+0.3	+0.7	-0.1	-0.4	+2.2	+2.2	+.060	+0.6	+2.6	+.050	+1.2	+0.9	+.047
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

Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 14 seasons more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 21, from 2006 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 14 extra years over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 3 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 10 All-Star Game