Derek Harper vs. Isiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isiah Thomas and Derek Harper, 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 / Games against each other

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.

Derek Harper played 16 years in the NBA, 3 more than Isiah Thomas, who played 13. Derek Harper had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, while Isiah Thomas had his rookie season in 1981-82. 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
Derek Harper	16	10	1983-84 to 1998-99
Isiah Thomas	13	9	1981-82 to 1993-94

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
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1983-84	1981-82
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Derek Harper	82	20.9	5.7	0.6	1.5	2.1	2.9	1.2	0.3	1.4	1.7	2.4	5.5	.443	0.0	0.3	.115	0.8	1.2	.673
Isiah Thomas	72	33.8	17.0	0.8	2.1	2.9	7.8	2.1	0.2	4.2	3.5	6.3	14.8	.424	0.2	0.8	.288	4.2	6.0	.704

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	10	22.6	5.0	0.8	1.2	2.0	2.8	1.1	0.2	0.6	1.6	2.1	5.4	.389	0.3	0.8	.375	0.5	0.7	.714
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1984-85	1982-83
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Derek Harper	82	27.0	9.6	0.6	1.9	2.4	4.4	1.8	0.5	1.5	2.4	4.0	7.7	.520	0.3	0.7	.344	1.4	1.9	.721
Isiah Thomas	81	38.2	22.9	1.3	2.8	4.0	7.8	2.5	0.4	4.0	3.9	9.0	19.0	.472	0.4	1.5	.288	4.5	6.4	.710

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	4	33.0	6.5	0.3	2.8	3.0	5.0	1.5	0.3	1.0	3.0	2.5	5.3	.476	0.3	0.8	.333	1.3	1.8	.714
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1985-86	1983-84
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	79	27.2	12.2	0.9	1.9	2.9	5.3	1.9	0.3	1.8	2.1	4.9	9.2	.534	0.2	0.6	.235	2.2	2.9	.747
Isiah Thomas	82	36.7	21.3	1.3	2.7	4.0	11.1	2.5	0.4	3.7	4.0	8.2	17.7	.462	0.3	0.8	.338	4.7	6.5	.733

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	10	34.8	13.4	1.3	0.6	1.9	7.6	2.3	0.0	2.3	2.7	5.7	10.7	.533	0.8	1.4	.571	1.2	1.6	.750
Isiah Thomas	5	39.6	21.4	1.4	2.4	3.8	11.0	2.6	1.2	4.6	4.4	7.8	16.6	.470	0.4	1.2	.333	5.4	7.0	.771


Season 4
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1986-87	1984-85
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Pistons Lost East Conf 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		%
Derek Harper	77	33.2	16.0	0.7	1.9	2.6	7.9	2.2	0.3	1.8	2.5	6.5	12.9	.501	1.0	2.8	.358	2.1	3.0	.684
Isiah Thomas	81	38.1	21.2	1.4	3.0	4.5	13.9	2.3	0.3	3.7	3.6	8.0	17.4	.458	0.4	1.4	.257	4.9	6.1	.809

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	4	30.8	16.5	0.5	2.5	3.0	6.8	1.8	0.0	1.3	1.8	5.0	10.0	.500	0.5	2.3	.222	6.0	7.5	.800
Isiah Thomas	9	39.4	24.3	1.2	4.0	5.2	11.2	2.1	0.4	3.3	4.3	9.2	18.4	.500	0.7	1.7	.400	5.2	6.9	.758


Season 5
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1987-88	1985-86
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	82	37.0	17.0	0.9	2.1	3.0	7.7	2.0	0.4	2.3	2.0	6.5	14.2	.459	0.7	2.3	.313	3.2	4.2	.759
Isiah Thomas	77	36.2	20.9	1.1	2.5	3.6	10.8	2.2	0.3	3.8	3.2	7.9	16.2	.488	0.3	1.1	.310	4.7	6.0	.790

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	17	35.4	13.5	0.6	1.9	2.5	7.1	1.9	0.3	1.9	2.6	5.2	11.9	.441	0.5	2.1	.250	2.5	3.5	.729
Isiah Thomas	4	40.8	26.5	2.0	3.5	5.5	12.0	2.3	0.8	4.3	4.3	10.3	22.8	.451	0.0	1.3	.000	6.0	9.0	.667


Season 6
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1988-89	1986-87
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Derek Harper	81	36.6	17.3	0.6	2.2	2.8	7.0	2.1	0.5	2.5	2.7	6.6	13.9	.477	1.2	3.4	.356	2.8	3.5	.806
Isiah Thomas	81	37.2	20.6	1.0	2.9	3.9	10.0	1.9	0.2	4.2	3.1	7.7	16.7	.463	0.2	1.2	.194	4.9	6.4	.768

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	15	37.5	24.1	1.4	3.1	4.5	8.7	2.6	0.3	2.8	3.4	8.9	19.8	.451	0.7	2.2	.303	5.5	7.3	.755


Season 7
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1989-90	1987-88
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Pistons 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		%
Derek Harper	82	36.7	18.0	0.7	2.3	3.0	7.4	2.3	0.3	2.5	2.7	6.9	14.2	.488	1.1	2.9	.371	3.0	3.8	.794
Isiah Thomas	81	36.1	19.5	0.8	2.6	3.4	8.4	1.7	0.2	3.4	2.7	7.7	16.6	.463	0.4	1.2	.309	3.8	4.9	.774

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	3	39.7	19.3	0.7	2.0	2.7	7.7	1.3	0.0	4.0	4.3	7.0	16.0	.438	1.7	5.3	.313	3.7	5.3	.688
Isiah Thomas	23	39.6	21.9	1.1	3.5	4.7	8.7	2.9	0.3	3.7	3.1	8.0	18.2	.437	0.6	1.9	.295	5.4	6.6	.828


Season 8
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1990-91	1988-89
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Derek Harper	77	37.4	19.7	0.8	2.3	3.0	7.1	1.9	0.2	2.3	2.9	7.4	15.9	.467	1.2	3.2	.362	3.7	5.1	.731
Isiah Thomas	80	36.6	18.2	0.6	2.8	3.4	8.3	1.7	0.3	3.7	2.6	7.1	15.3	.464	0.4	1.5	.273	3.6	4.4	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	17	37.2	18.2	1.4	2.9	4.3	8.3	1.6	0.2	2.5	2.3	6.8	16.4	.412	0.5	1.8	.267	4.2	5.6	.740


Season 9
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1991-92	1989-90
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Derek Harper	65	34.6	17.7	0.8	1.9	2.6	5.7	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.3	6.9	15.6	.443	0.9	2.9	.312	3.0	4.0	.759
Isiah Thomas	81	37.0	18.4	0.9	2.9	3.8	9.4	1.7	0.2	4.0	2.5	7.1	16.3	.438	0.5	1.7	.309	3.6	4.7	.775

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	20	37.9	20.5	1.1	4.4	5.5	8.2	2.2	0.4	3.6	3.3	7.4	16.0	.463	1.6	3.4	.471	4.1	5.1	.794


Season 10
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1992-93	1990-91
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Derek Harper	62	34.0	18.2	0.7	1.3	2.0	5.4	1.3	0.3	2.2	2.3	6.3	15.1	.419	1.6	4.1	.393	3.9	5.1	.756
Isiah Thomas	48	34.5	16.2	0.7	2.6	3.3	9.3	1.6	0.2	3.9	2.5	6.0	13.9	.435	0.4	1.4	.292	3.7	4.8	.782

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	13	33.5	13.5	1.0	3.2	4.2	8.5	1.0	0.2	3.2	3.2	4.6	11.5	.403	0.5	1.7	.273	3.8	5.3	.725


Season 11
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1993-94	1991-92
Team	Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	82	26.9	9.6	0.2	1.5	1.7	4.1	1.5	0.1	1.6	2.0	3.7	9.1	.407	0.9	2.5	.360	1.4	2.0	.687
Isiah Thomas	78	37.4	18.5	0.9	2.3	3.2	7.2	1.5	0.2	3.2	2.5	7.2	16.2	.446	0.3	1.1	.291	3.7	4.8	.772

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	23	32.6	11.4	0.6	1.8	2.3	4.5	1.8	0.0	1.8	2.7	4.3	10.0	.429	1.3	3.7	.341	1.6	2.4	.643
Isiah Thomas	5	40.0	14.0	0.6	4.6	5.2	7.4	1.0	0.0	3.2	3.6	4.4	13.0	.338	0.8	2.2	.364	4.4	5.6	.786


Season 12
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1994-95	1992-93
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	80	34.0	11.5	0.4	2.0	2.4	5.7	1.0	0.1	1.9	2.7	4.2	9.5	.446	1.3	3.7	.363	1.7	2.4	.724
Isiah Thomas	79	37.0	17.6	0.9	2.0	2.9	8.5	1.6	0.2	3.6	2.8	6.7	15.9	.418	0.8	2.5	.308	3.5	4.8	.737

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	11	35.3	14.3	0.5	3.0	3.5	5.6	1.0	0.1	2.4	2.6	5.1	9.9	.514	2.5	4.3	.574	1.6	2.2	.750
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1995-96	1993-94
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	82	35.3	14.0	0.4	2.1	2.5	4.3	1.6	0.1	2.2	2.5	5.3	11.5	.464	1.5	4.0	.372	1.9	2.5	.757
Isiah Thomas	58	30.2	14.8	0.8	1.9	2.7	6.9	1.2	0.1	3.5	2.2	5.5	13.2	.417	0.7	2.2	.310	3.1	4.4	.702

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	8	36.6	10.0	0.0	2.1	2.1	4.8	1.3	0.1	1.8	3.0	3.6	10.3	.354	1.4	4.4	.314	1.4	1.9	.733
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1996-97	-
Team	Dallas Mavericks	-
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		%
Derek Harper	75	29.5	10.0	0.4	1.4	1.8	4.3	1.2	0.2	1.8	1.9	4.0	9.0	.444	0.8	2.3	.341	1.3	1.7	.742
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1997-98	-
Team	Orlando Magic	-
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		%
Derek Harper	66	26.7	8.6	0.3	1.2	1.6	3.5	1.1	0.2	1.5	2.1	3.4	8.2	.417	0.9	2.5	.360	0.8	1.2	.696
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Derek Harper	Isiah Thomas
Season	1998-99	-
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers 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		%
Derek Harper	45	24.9	6.9	0.3	1.2	1.5	4.2	1.0	0.1	1.2	1.5	2.7	6.5	.412	1.0	2.6	.368	0.6	0.7	.813
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Derek Harper	7	16.0	4.3	0.1	1.3	1.4	2.1	0.3	0.0	0.6	0.3	1.9	4.4	.419	0.1	1.4	.100	0.4	0.9	.500
Isiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Derek Harper vs. Isiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isiah Thomas and Derek Harper, 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