Yao Ming vs. Shaquille O'Neal Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming, 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.

Yao Ming played 8 years in the NBA, 11 less than Shaquille O'Neal, who played 19. Yao Ming had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, 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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2002-03	1992-93
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.5	.811
difference:	+1	+8.9	+9.9	+1.8	+3.8	+5.7	+0.2	+0.3	+1.7	-1.7	-1.2	+4.1	+6.3	+.064				+1.6	+4.4	+.219
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 Yao Ming nor Shaquille O'Neal played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2003-04	1993-94
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.4	.809
difference:	+1	+7.0	+11.8	+2.3	+1.9	+4.2	+0.9	+0.6	+1.0	-0.2	-0.2	+5.3	+7.1	+.077				+1.4	+5.1	+.255
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		%
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765
difference:	+2	+4.4	+5.7	+3.5	+2.5	+5.9	+0.5	+0.3	+1.6	-0.7	-0.3	+1.5	+1.4	+.055				+2.7	+7.9	+.294
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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2004-05	1994-95
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
difference:	+1	+6.4	+11.0	+1.6	+1.5	+3.0	+1.9	+0.5	+0.4	-0.1	-0.4	+5.1	+8.0	+.031		+0.1		+0.9	+4.6	+.250
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		%
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727
difference:	+14	+6.4	+4.3	+1.2	+3.0	+4.2	+2.6	+0.6	+0.8	-0.8	-0.4	+1.4	+4.1	+.078				+1.4	+4.5	+.156
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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2005-06	1995-96
Team	Houston Rockets	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third 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		%
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	6.9	.853
difference:	+3	+1.8	+4.3	+0.8	+0.1	+0.8	+1.4	+0.1	+0.5	-0.3	-0.2	+2.8	+3.3	+.054				+1.3	+2.6	+.366
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		%
Yao Ming	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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2006-07	1996-97
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.4	8.6	.862
difference:	+3	+4.3	+1.2	+1.7	+1.4	+3.1	+1.1	+0.5	+0.9	-0.6	-0.2	+2.0	+2.3	+.041		+0.1		+2.9	+0.8	+.378
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		%
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880
difference:	+2	+0.9	+1.8	+0.9	+0.7	+0.3	+2.3	+0.5	+1.2	-2.3	-0.2	+2.0	+1.3	+.074				+2.3	+1.0	+.270
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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2007-08	1997-98
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	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		%
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	7.4	.850
difference:	+5	+0.9	+6.3	+0.4	+0.2	+0.6	+0.1	+0.2	+0.4	-0.4	-0.1	+3.3	+3.6	+.077				+0.3	+4.0	+.323
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		%
Yao Ming	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
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2008-09	1998-99
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	5.7	.866
difference:	+28	+1.2	+6.6	+1.2	+0.3	+0.8	+0.5	+0.3	+0.2	-0.5	-0.1	+3.0	+4.7	+.028				+0.6	+4.5	+.326
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		%
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902
difference:	+1	+3.5	+9.5	+3.4	+2.7	+0.7	+1.3	+0.5	+1.7	-0.4	-0.6	+3.9	+8.4	+.035				+1.8	+9.1	+.436
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

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Yao Ming	Shaquille O'Neal
Season	2010-11	1999-00
Team	Houston Rockets	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
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
difference:	+74	+21.8	+19.5	+2.9	+5.4	+8.2	+3.0	+0.5	+1.4	-1.4	-0.6	+8.5	+13.7	+.088				+2.5	+7.2	+.414
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		%
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* Shaquille O'Neal played 11 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 19, from 2001 to 2011—Shaquille O'Neal played in 10 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 11 extra years over Yao Ming, Shaquille O'Neal got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Finals MVP 6 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 8 All-Star Game 2 All-Star Game MVP