Shaquille O'Neal vs. Trae Young Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Trae Young 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.

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, 12 more than Trae Young, who played 7. Shaquille O'Neal had the first of his seasons in 1992-93, while Trae Young had his rookie season in 2018-19. 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
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1992-93	2018-19
Team	Orlando Magic	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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:		+7.0	+4.3	+3.4	+6.7	+10.2	+6.2	+0.2	+3.3		-2.3	+2.5	+0.6	+.144	+1.9	+6.0		+1.1	+3.8	+.237
Trae Young	81	30.9	19.1	0.8	2.9	3.7	8.1	0.9	0.2	3.8	1.7	6.5	15.5	.418	1.9	6.0	.324	4.2	5.1	.829
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Shaquille O'Neal nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1993-94	2019-20
Team	Orlando Magic	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+21	+4.5	+0.3	+4.2	+4.8	+8.9	+6.9	+0.2	+2.8	-2.1	-1.8	+2.7	+1.2	+.162	+3.4	+9.5		+2.2	+1.2	+.306
Trae Young	60	35.3	29.6	0.5	3.7	4.3	9.3	1.1	0.1	4.8	1.7	9.1	20.8	.437	3.4	9.5	.361	8.0	9.3	.860
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
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1994-95	2020-21
Team	Orlando Magic	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 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		%
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:	+16	+3.3	+4.0	+3.6	+4.0	+7.5	+6.7	+0.1	+2.2	-1.5	-1.5	+4.1	+2.5	+.145	+2.2	+6.2	+.343	+1.9	+2.1	+.353
Trae Young	63	33.7	25.3	0.6	3.3	3.9	9.4	0.8	0.2	4.1	1.8	7.7	17.7	.438	2.2	6.3	.343	7.7	8.7	.886
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:	+5	+0.6	+3.1	+4.1	+5.0	+9.1	+6.2	+0.4	+1.9	-0.5	-1.8	+0.1	+6.3	+.159	+2.8	+9.0		+0.2	+4.0	+.295
Trae Young	16	37.7	28.8	0.4	2.4	2.8	9.5	1.3	0.0	4.0	2.2	9.4	22.4	.418	2.8	9.0	.313	7.3	8.4	.866

Season 4
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1995-96	2021-22
Team	Orlando Magic	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+22	+1.1	+1.8	+2.7	+4.6	+7.3	+6.8	+0.3	+2.0	-1.1	-1.9	+1.6	+1.2	+.113	+3.1	+8.0		+2.0	+2.2	+.417
Trae Young	76	34.9	28.4	0.7	3.1	3.7	9.7	0.9	0.1	4.0	1.7	9.4	20.3	.460	3.1	8.0	.382	6.6	7.3	.904
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
difference:	+7	+1.1	+10.4	+3.1	+1.9	+5.0	+1.4	+0.2	+1.3	-2.5	-0.7	+6.5	+4.2	+.287	+1.4	+7.6		+1.2	+3.6	+.395
Trae Young	5	37.2	15.4	1.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	0.6	0.0	6.2	2.6	4.4	13.8	.319	1.4	7.6	.184	5.2	6.6	.788

Season 5
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1996-97	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+22	+3.3		+3.0	+6.5	+9.5	+7.1	+0.2	+2.8	-1.2	-2.1	+2.6	+0.4	+.128	+2.1	+6.2	+.335	+3.3	+0.6	+.402
Trae Young	73	34.8	26.2	0.8	2.2	3.0	10.2	1.1	0.1	4.1	1.4	8.2	19.0	.429	2.1	6.3	.335	7.8	8.8	.886
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
difference:	+3	+2.1	+2.3	+3.4	+3.5	+6.9	+7.0	+1.1	+1.2	-1.6	-2.3	+0.1	+5.6	+.111	+3.0	+9.0		+0.9	+4.5	+.250
Trae Young	6	38.3	29.2	0.8	2.8	3.7	10.2	1.7	0.7	4.0	1.8	10.0	24.8	.403	3.0	9.0	.333	6.2	7.2	.860

Season 6
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1997-98	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	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:	+6	+0.3	+2.6	+3.1	+5.6	+8.6	+8.4	+0.6	+2.2	-1.5	-1.2	+3.2	+0.4	+.154	+3.2	+8.7		+0.4	+3.9	+.328
Trae Young	54	36.0	25.7	0.4	2.3	2.8	10.8	1.3	0.2	4.4	2.0	8.0	18.7	.430	3.2	8.7	.373	6.4	7.5	.855
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
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Shaquille O'Neal	Trae Young
Season	1998-99	2024-25
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Cup All-Tournament Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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:	+27	+1.2	+2.1	+3.3	+4.3	+7.6	+9.3	+0.5	+1.5	-2.2	-1.3	+3.0		+.165	+2.9	+8.4		+1.0	+2.8	+.335
Trae Young	76	36.0	24.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	11.6	1.2	0.2	4.7	1.9	7.4	18.1	.411	2.9	8.4	.340	6.5	7.4	.875
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
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 12 seasons more than Trae Young in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 19, from 2000 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 11 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those 12 extra years over Trae Young, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 Finals MVP 1 Season MVP 7 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Scoring Leader 9 All-Star Game 3 All-Star Game MVP