Bill Russell vs. Lenny Wilkens Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Lenny Wilkens and Bill Russell, 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

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.

Bill Russell played 13 years in the NBA, 2 less than Lenny Wilkens, who played 15. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Lenny Wilkens had his rookie season in 1960-61. 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 achivements, 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
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69
Lenny Wilkens	15	7	1960-61 to 1974-75

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15


Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1956-57	1960-61
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Lenny Wilkens	75	25.3	11.7	-	-	4.5	2.8	-	-	-	2.9	4.4	10.4	.425	-	-	-	2.9	4.0	.713

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508
Lenny Wilkens	12	36.4	14.2	-	-	6.0	3.5	-	-	-	4.3	5.3	13.8	.380	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759


Season 2
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1957-58	1961-62
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Lenny Wilkens	20	43.5	18.2	-	-	6.6	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	7.0	18.2	.385	-	-	-	4.2	5.5	.764

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1958-59	1962-63
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Lenny Wilkens	75	34.3	11.8	-	-	5.4	5.1	-	-	-	3.4	4.4	11.1	.399	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.696

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612
Lenny Wilkens	11	36.4	13.7	-	-	6.3	6.3	-	-	-	4.6	5.2	14.0	.370	-	-	-	3.4	4.5	.755


Season 4
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1959-60	1963-64
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Lenny Wilkens	78	32.4	12.0	-	-	4.3	4.6	-	-	-	3.7	4.3	10.4	.413	-	-	-	3.5	4.7	.740

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707
Lenny Wilkens	12	34.4	14.3	-	-	5.0	5.3	-	-	-	3.5	5.3	11.9	.448	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759


Season 5
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1960-61	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Lenny Wilkens	78	36.6	16.5	-	-	4.7	5.5	-	-	-	3.6	5.6	13.4	.414	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.746

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523
Lenny Wilkens	4	36.8	16.0	-	-	3.0	3.8	-	-	-	3.5	5.0	14.3	.351	-	-	-	6.0	7.3	.828


Season 6
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1961-62	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Lenny Wilkens	69	39.0	18.0	-	-	4.7	6.2	-	-	-	3.6	6.0	13.8	.431	-	-	-	6.1	7.7	.793

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726
Lenny Wilkens	10	39.1	17.1	-	-	5.4	7.0	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	14.3	.399	-	-	-	5.7	8.3	.687


Season 7
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1962-63	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
Lenny Wilkens	78	38.1	17.4	-	-	5.3	5.7	-	-	-	3.6	5.7	13.3	.432	-	-	-	5.9	7.5	.787

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661
Lenny Wilkens	9	42.0	21.4	-	-	7.6	7.2	-	-	-	3.8	6.4	16.1	.400	-	-	-	8.6	10.0	.856


Season 8
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1963-64	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
Lenny Wilkens	82	38.6	20.0	-	-	5.3	8.3	-	-	-	3.1	6.7	15.2	.438	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.768

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	45.1	13.1	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	13.2	.356	-	-	-	3.7	6.7	.552
Lenny Wilkens	6	39.5	18.3	-	-	6.3	7.8	-	-	-	3.8	6.7	15.2	.440	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	.750


Season 9
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1964-65	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
Lenny Wilkens	82	42.2	22.4	-	-	6.2	8.2	-	-	-	3.6	7.9	17.8	.440	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.770

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	12	46.8	16.5	-	-	25.2	6.3	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	12.5	.527	-	-	-	3.3	6.3	.526
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1965-66	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
Lenny Wilkens	75	37.4	17.8	-	-	5.0	9.1	-	-	-	2.8	6.0	14.2	.420	-	-	-	5.8	7.4	.788

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	17	47.9	19.1	-	-	25.2	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.3	15.4	.475	-	-	-	4.5	7.2	.618
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1966-67	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610
Lenny Wilkens	71	37.2	19.8	-	-	4.5	9.2	-	-	-	2.8	6.6	15.8	.419	-	-	-	6.5	8.1	.803

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	43.3	10.6	-	-	22.0	5.6	-	-	-	3.6	3.4	9.6	.360	-	-	-	3.7	5.8	.635
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1967-68	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537
Lenny Wilkens	80	37.4	18.0	-	-	4.2	9.6	-	-	-	2.6	6.0	12.8	.466	-	-	-	6.0	7.8	.774

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	19	45.7	14.4	-	-	22.8	5.2	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	12.7	.409	-	-	-	4.0	6.8	.585
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	1968-69	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526
Lenny Wilkens	75	39.6	20.5	-	-	4.6	8.4	-	-	-	2.9	7.6	17.0	.449	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.828

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	18	46.1	10.8	-	-	20.5	5.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.3	10.1	.423	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	.506
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	-	1973-74
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lenny Wilkens	74	33.6	16.4	1.1	2.7	3.7	7.1	1.3	0.2	-	2.2	6.2	13.4	.465	-	-	-	3.9	4.9	.801

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Bill Russell	Lenny Wilkens
Season	-	1974-75
Team	-	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lenny Wilkens	65	17.9	6.5	0.6	1.3	1.8	3.6	1.2	0.1	-	1.5	2.1	4.7	.439	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.768

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lenny Wilkens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Bill Russell vs. Lenny Wilkens Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Lenny Wilkens and Bill Russell, 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

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15