Bill Russell vs. Paul Silas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Silas 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, 3 less than Paul Silas, who played 16. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Paul Silas had his rookie season in 1964-65. 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
Paul Silas	16	14	1964-65 to 1979-80

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1956-57	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards
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	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Paul Silas	79	15.7	4.6	-	-	7.3	0.6	-	-	-	2.0	1.8	4.7	.373	-	-	-	1.1	2.1	.506

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
Paul Silas	4	10.5	2.8	-	-	4.5	0.3	-	-	-	1.5	1.0	2.5	.400	-	-	-	0.8	1.0	.750


Season 2
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1957-58	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Paul Silas	46	12.7	3.8	-	-	5.1	0.5	-	-	-	1.6	1.5	3.8	.405	-	-	-	0.8	1.3	.574

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
Paul Silas	7	11.4	2.6	-	-	4.9	0.3	-	-	-	1.6	0.7	2.6	.278	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.727


Season 3
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1958-59	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	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
Paul Silas	77	20.4	6.8	-	-	8.7	1.0	-	-	-	2.7	2.7	6.3	.429	-	-	-	1.5	2.8	.531

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
Paul Silas	8	15.3	3.6	-	-	6.5	0.8	-	-	-	2.1	1.1	4.5	.250	-	-	-	1.4	2.3	.611


Season 4
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1959-60	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	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	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Paul Silas	82	32.3	13.4	-	-	11.7	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	4.9	10.6	.458	-	-	-	3.6	5.2	.705

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
Paul Silas	6	29.7	11.8	-	-	9.5	3.5	-	-	-	2.8	3.7	8.5	.431	-	-	-	4.5	6.3	.711


Season 5
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1960-61	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta 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	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Paul Silas	79	23.5	8.7	-	-	9.4	1.8	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	7.3	.419	-	-	-	2.6	4.2	.613

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
Paul Silas	11	23.5	5.5	-	-	8.4	1.9	-	-	-	2.9	1.9	5.3	.362	-	-	-	1.7	3.4	.514


Season 6
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1961-62	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns 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	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Paul Silas	78	36.4	12.8	-	-	11.7	2.7	-	-	-	3.4	4.8	10.3	.464	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.607

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
Paul Silas	7	40.9	16.1	-	-	15.9	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	6.6	15.6	.422	-	-	-	3.0	4.6	.656


Season 7
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1962-63	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
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	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
Paul Silas	81	36.3	11.9	-	-	12.5	3.0	-	-	-	2.8	4.2	9.7	.428	-	-	-	3.5	5.1	.685

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
Paul Silas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1963-64	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second 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	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
Paul Silas	80	38.5	17.5	-	-	11.9	4.3	-	-	-	2.5	6.1	12.9	.470	-	-	-	5.4	7.0	.773

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
Paul Silas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1964-65	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics Lost East Conf 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	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
Paul Silas	80	32.7	13.3	-	-	13.0	3.1	-	-	-	2.5	5.0	10.6	.470	-	-	-	3.3	4.8	.700

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
Paul Silas	13	39.4	9.6	-	-	15.1	3.0	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	9.2	.392	-	-	-	2.4	3.8	.620


Season 10
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1965-66	1973-74
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
Paul Silas	82	31.7	11.5	4.1	7.1	11.2	2.3	0.8	0.2	-	3.0	4.1	9.4	.440	-	-	-	3.2	4.1	.783

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
Paul Silas	18	31.9	8.0	2.9	7.7	10.6	2.6	0.7	0.5	-	2.8	2.8	7.0	.397	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	.830


Season 11
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1966-67	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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
Paul Silas	82	32.5	10.6	4.2	8.3	12.5	2.7	0.7	0.3	-	2.8	3.8	9.1	.417	-	-	-	3.0	4.2	.709

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
Paul Silas	11	36.8	9.1	4.2	7.6	11.8	3.6	1.1	0.2	-	4.1	3.8	8.4	.457	-	-	-	1.5	2.3	.640


Season 12
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1967-68	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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
Paul Silas	81	32.9	10.7	4.5	8.1	12.7	2.5	0.7	0.4	-	2.8	3.9	9.1	.426	-	-	-	2.9	4.1	.709

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
Paul Silas	18	41.2	10.8	4.3	9.3	13.7	2.3	1.3	0.3	-	3.7	3.8	8.6	.448	-	-	-	3.1	3.8	.812


Season 13
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	1968-69	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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
Paul Silas	81	24.2	7.2	2.9	4.6	7.5	1.6	0.7	0.3	-	2.3	2.5	7.1	.360	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	.667

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
Paul Silas	6	23.5	6.8	2.7	4.0	6.7	2.7	0.3	0.7	-	3.8	2.3	5.5	.424	-	-	-	2.2	4.0	.542


Season 14
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	-	1977-78
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	26.5	5.8	3.5	4.6	8.1	1.8	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.2	2.2	5.7	.397	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.586

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	22	27.5	4.9	3.3	5.2	8.5	1.6	0.5	0.3	1.4	2.7	1.5	4.3	.351	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.683


Season 15
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	-	1978-79
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	23.9	5.6	3.2	3.9	7.0	1.4	0.4	0.2	1.2	2.2	2.1	4.9	.423	-	-	-	1.4	2.4	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	17	24.6	4.3	2.4	3.4	5.8	1.1	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.6	1.2	3.2	.389	-	-	-	1.8	2.7	.674


Season 16
	Bill Russell	Paul Silas
Season	-	1979-80
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	19.5	3.8	2.5	2.8	5.3	0.8	0.3	0.1	1.0	1.5	1.4	3.6	.378	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.7	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	15	17.1	2.5	2.2	2.8	5.0	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.6	1.9	0.9	2.9	.302	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.9	.846

Bill Russell vs. Paul Silas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Silas 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

Season 16