Shaquille O'Neal vs. Domantas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Domantas Sabonis and Shaquille O'Neal, 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 / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

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.

Shaquille O'Neal played 19 years in the NBA, 9 more than Domantas Sabonis, who played 10. Shaquille O'Neal had the first of his seasons in 1992-93, while Domantas Sabonis had his rookie season in 2016-17. 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
Shaquille O'Neal	19	17	1992-93 to 2010-11
Domantas Sabonis	10	4	2016-17 to 2025-26

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10


Rookie Season
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1992-93	2016-17
Team	Orlando Magic	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did not play	Thunder 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		%
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
difference:		+17.8	+17.5	+3.6	+6.6	+10.3	+0.9	+0.2	+3.1	-2.8	-1.5	+6.6	+10.2	+.163	+0.6	+2.0		+4.8	+8.1	+.065
Domantas Sabonis	81	20.1	5.9	0.6	3.0	3.6	1.0	0.5	0.4	1.0	2.5	2.4	5.9	.399	0.6	2.0	.321	0.5	0.8	.657

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Shaquille O'Neal	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Domantas Sabonis	2	3.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	2.0	0.0	1.5	.000	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.0	1.000


Season 2
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1993-94	2017-18
Team	Orlando Magic	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Pacers 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		%
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
difference:	+7	+15.3	+17.7	+2.5	+3.0	+5.5	+0.4	+0.4	+2.5	-0.8	-0.5	+7.2	+10.7	+.085	+0.2	+0.5		+3.5	+7.5	+.196
Domantas Sabonis	74	24.5	11.6	2.2	5.5	7.7	2.0	0.5	0.4	1.9	3.0	4.6	8.9	.514	0.2	0.5	.351	2.3	3.0	.750

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+4	+18.3	+8.3	+3.7	+5.1	+8.7	+1.6	+0.6	+2.7	-2.3	-1.2	+2.6	+6.1	+.070	+0.1	+1.0		+3.3	+8.7	+.307
Domantas Sabonis	7	23.7	12.4	2.0	2.6	4.6	0.7	0.1	0.3	1.0	3.1	5.1	8.9	.581	0.1	1.0	.143	2.0	2.6	.778


Season 3
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1994-95	2018-19
Team	Orlando Magic	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
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
difference:	+5	+12.2	+15.2	+1.7	+0.5	+2.1	+0.2	+0.3	+2.0	-0.4	-0.1	+6.2	+10.7	+.007	+0.1	+0.1	+.529	+3.0	+6.9	+.182
Domantas Sabonis	74	24.8	14.1	2.5	6.8	9.3	2.9	0.6	0.4	2.2	3.2	5.6	9.5	.590	0.1	0.2	.529	2.8	3.9	.715

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+17	+14.3	+17.2	+2.7	+1.9	+4.6	+0.7	+0.1	+1.6	-2.2	-1.0	+6.3	+8.8	+.163	+0.3	+1.0		+4.8	+8.9	+.072
Domantas Sabonis	4	24.0	8.5	1.8	5.5	7.3	4.0	0.8	0.3	1.3	3.0	3.0	7.3	.414	0.3	1.0	.250	2.3	3.5	.643


Season 4
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1995-96	2019-20
Team	Orlando Magic	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	Did not play

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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		%
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
difference:	+8	+1.2	+8.1	+0.4	+1.7	+1.4	+2.1	+0.2	+1.6	-0.2	-0.5	+3.6	+5.4	+.033	+0.3	+1.1		+1.1	+4.7	+.236
Domantas Sabonis	62	34.8	18.5	3.0	9.4	12.4	5.0	0.8	0.5	2.7	3.1	7.4	13.7	.540	0.3	1.1	.254	3.5	4.8	.723

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1996-97	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did not play

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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		%
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
difference:	+11	+2.1	+5.9	+1.4	+0.8	+0.5	+3.6	+0.3	+2.4	-0.5	-0.2	+3.0	+4.8	+.022	+0.8	+2.5	+.321	+0.6	+4.1	+.248
Domantas Sabonis	62	36.0	20.3	2.4	9.5	12.0	6.7	1.2	0.5	3.4	3.3	7.8	14.6	.535	0.8	2.6	.321	3.9	5.3	.732

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1997-98	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Did not play

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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		%
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
difference:	+2	+1.8	+9.4	+0.3	+1.0	+0.7	+2.8	+0.3	+2.0	-0.2	-0.1	+4.1	+6.6	+.011	+0.6	+2.0		+2.0	+6.0	+.214
Domantas Sabonis	62	34.5	18.9	3.2	8.9	12.1	5.2	1.0	0.4	3.1	3.3	7.1	12.5	.573	0.6	2.0	.312	4.0	5.4	.741

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1998-99	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Kings 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		%
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
difference:	+30	+0.2	+7.2	+0.6	+2.2	+1.6	+5.0	+0.1	+1.2	-0.4	-0.3	+3.1	+6.2	+.039	+0.4	+1.1		+1.4	+4.7	+.202
Domantas Sabonis	79	34.6	19.1	3.2	9.1	12.3	7.3	0.8	0.5	2.9	3.5	7.3	11.9	.615	0.4	1.1	.373	4.1	5.5	.742

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+1	+4.7	+10.2	+1.1	+0.5	+0.6	+2.4	+0.5	+2.0	-1.4	-0.4	+2.9	+5.3	+.015	+0.1	+0.7		+4.6	+10.8	+.105
Domantas Sabonis	7	34.7	16.4	4.4	6.6	11.0	4.7	1.4	0.9	3.7	4.0	7.0	14.1	.495	0.1	0.7	.200	2.3	4.0	.571


Season 8
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	1999-00	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
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		%
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
difference:	+3	+4.3	+10.3	+0.7	+0.7	+0.1	+4.4	+0.4	+2.4	-0.5	-0.2	+4.4	+8.1	+.020	+0.4	+1.1		+1.9	+5.3	+.180
Domantas Sabonis	82	35.7	19.4	3.6	10.1	13.7	8.2	0.9	0.6	3.3	3.0	7.7	13.0	.594	0.4	1.1	.379	3.6	5.1	.704

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2000-01	2024-25
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did not play

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+4	+4.8	+9.6	+0.1	+1.3	+1.2	+2.3	+0.1	+2.4		-0.2	+3.5	+6.4	+.018	+0.9	+2.2		+3.6	+9.0	+.241
Domantas Sabonis	70	34.7	19.1	3.8	10.1	13.9	6.0	0.7	0.4	2.9	3.3	7.5	12.8	.590	0.9	2.2	.417	3.1	4.1	.754

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Shaquille O'Neal	Domantas Sabonis
Season	2001-02	2025-26
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did not play (season in progress)

more >>

10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+56	+2.9	+10.0	+0.1	+1.7	+1.6	+0.7	+0.6	+1.8	-0.1	-1.0	+3.9	+5.1	+.069	+0.4	+1.8		+2.5	+6.1	+.170
Domantas Sabonis	11	33.2	17.2	3.4	8.9	12.3	3.7	1.2	0.2	2.5	4.0	6.7	13.2	.510	0.4	1.8	.200	3.4	4.6	.725

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Domantas Sabonis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 9 seasons more than Domantas Sabonis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 19, from 2003 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Domantas Sabonis, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 6 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP

Shaquille O'Neal vs. Domantas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Domantas Sabonis and Shaquille O'Neal, 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

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years