Spencer Haywood vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Spencer Haywood, 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.

Spencer Haywood played 12 years in the NBA, 7 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Spencer Haywood had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, 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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1970-71	1992-93
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	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		%
Spencer Haywood	33	35.2	20.6	-	-	12.0	1.5	-	-	-	2.5	7.9	17.5	.449	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.734
difference:	+48	+2.7	+2.8			+1.9	+0.4				-1.5	+1.1	+1.4	+.113				+0.5	+2.3	+.142
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
* Neiher Spencer Haywood nor Shaquille O'Neal played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1971-72	1993-94
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	73	43.4	26.2	-	-	12.7	2.0	-	-	-	2.8	9.8	21.3	.461	-	-	-	6.6	8.0	.819
difference:	+8	+3.6	+3.1			+0.5	+0.4				-0.7	+2.0	+1.7	+.138				+0.8	+2.5	+.265
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1972-73	1994-95
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	77	42.3	29.2	-	-	12.9	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	11.5	24.3	.476	-	-	-	6.1	7.3	.839
difference:	+2	+5.3	+0.1			+1.5	+0.2				-0.5	+0.3	+4.1	+.107				+0.3	+3.5	+.306
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1973-74	1995-96
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	75	40.5	23.5	4.2	9.2	13.4	3.2	0.9	1.4	-	2.6	9.3	20.3	.457	-	-	-	5.0	6.1	.814
difference:	+21	+4.5	+3.1	+0.8	+1.5	+2.4	+0.3	+0.3	+0.7		-1.0	+1.7	+1.2	+.116				+0.4	+3.4	+.327
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1974-75	1996-97
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Spencer Haywood	68	37.2	22.4	2.9	6.4	9.3	2.0	0.8	1.6	-	2.5	8.9	19.5	.459	-	-	-	4.5	5.6	.811
difference:	+17	+0.9	+3.8	+0.9	+2.3	+3.2	+1.1	+0.1	+1.3		-1.0	+1.9	+0.1	+.098					+3.8	+.327
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		%
Spencer Haywood	9	37.4	15.7	2.2	6.8	9.0	2.0	0.8	1.2	-	3.2	5.2	14.6	.359	-	-	-	5.2	6.8	.770
difference:		+1.2	+11.2	+2.0	+0.5	+1.6	+1.2	+0.2	+0.7		-0.9	+4.7	+4.6	+.155				+1.9	+4.9	+.160
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1975-76	1997-98
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	78	37.1	19.9	3.0	8.3	11.3	1.2	0.7	1.0	-	3.3	7.8	17.4	.445	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.757
difference:	+18	+0.8	+8.4	+0.5	+0.4	+0.1	+1.2		+1.4		-0.1	+3.4	+1.7	+.139				+1.7	+5.7	+.230
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1976-77	1998-99
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	31	32.9	16.5	2.5	6.5	9.0	1.6	0.5	0.9	-	2.3	6.5	14.5	.450	-	-	-	3.5	4.2	.832
difference:	+18	+1.9	+9.8	+1.3	+0.4	+1.7	+0.7	+0.2	+0.8		-0.9	+3.9	+3.6	+.126				+2.0	+6.0	+.292
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1977-78	1999-00
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Spencer Haywood	67	26.3	13.7	2.1	4.5	6.6	1.9	0.6	1.1	2.1	2.8	6.1	12.7	.484	-	-	-	1.4	2.0	.711
difference:	+12	+13.7	+16.0	+2.2	+4.9	+7.0	+1.9	+0.1	+1.9	-0.7	-0.4	+6.0	+8.4	+.090				+4.1	+8.4	+.187
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		%
Spencer Haywood	6	29.5	16.2	3.2	3.8	7.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	1.7	4.0	7.2	14.2	.506	-	-	-	1.8	1.8	1.000
difference:	+17	+14.0	+14.5	+2.0	+6.5	+8.4	+1.1	+0.3	+1.6	-0.7	-1.1	+5.2	+7.8	+.060				+4.1	+11.1	+.544
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1978-79	2000-01
Team	New York Knicks, New Orleans Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	68	34.7	20.9	2.5	5.3	7.8	1.9	0.6	1.2	2.9	3.5	8.8	17.7	.494	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	.791
difference:	+6	+4.8	+7.8	+1.4	+3.5	+4.9	+1.8		+1.6			+2.2	+1.5	+.078				+3.3	+8.8	+.278
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1979-80	2001-02
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Spencer Haywood	76	20.3	9.7	1.7	2.8	4.6	1.2	0.5	0.8	1.8	2.6	3.8	7.8	.487	0.0	0.1	.250	2.1	2.7	.772
difference:	+9	+15.8	+17.5	+1.8	+4.4	+6.1	+1.8	+0.1	+1.2	-0.8	-0.4	+6.8	+10.5	+.092		+0.1		+3.8	+8.0	+.217
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		%
Spencer Haywood	11	13.2	5.7	1.3	1.1	2.4	0.4	0.0	0.5	1.8	1.5	2.3	4.8	.472	0.0	0.1	.000	1.2	1.5	.813
difference:	+8	+27.6	+22.8	+2.2	+8.0	+10.2	+2.4	+0.5	+2.0	-1.5	-1.8	+8.4	+15.4	+.057		+0.1		+5.9	+9.4	+.164
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

Note: Spencer Haywood didn't play in 1980-81.

Season 11
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1981-82	2002-03
Team	Washington Bullets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Spencer Haywood	76	27.4	13.3	1.9	3.7	5.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	2.3	3.3	5.2	10.9	.476	0.0	0.0	-	2.9	3.4	.842
difference:	+9	+10.4	+14.2	+2.0	+3.5	+5.5	+2.3		+1.5	-0.6	-0.1	+5.2	+7.2	+.098				+3.8	+7.4	+.220
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		%
Spencer Haywood	7	33.0	20.0	2.3	3.3	5.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	2.1	4.0	8.1	16.4	.496	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	5.0	.743
difference:	+5	+7.1	+7.0	+3.0	+6.3	+9.2	+2.7		+0.8	-0.8	-1.2	+2.0	+2.4	+.039				+3.1	+6.0	+.122
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
	Spencer Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	1982-83	2003-04
Team	Washington Bullets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did not play	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		%
Spencer Haywood	38	20.4	8.2	2.0	2.8	4.8	0.8	0.3	0.7	1.8	2.5	3.3	8.2	.401	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.3	.724
difference:	+29	+16.4	+13.3	+1.7	+5.0	+6.7	+2.1	+0.2	+1.8	-1.1	-0.9	+5.0	+5.9	+.183				+3.2	+7.8	+.234
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		%
Spencer Haywood	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 Spencer Haywood 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 Spencer Haywood, 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