George Gervin vs. Louie Nelson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Louie Nelson and George Gervin, 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.

George Gervin played 10 years in the NBA, 5 more than Louie Nelson, who played 5. George Gervin had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Louie Nelson had his rookie season in 1973-74. 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
George Gervin 10 9 1976-77 to 1985-86
Louie Nelson 5 0 1973-74 to 1977-78

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Rookie Season

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1976-771973-74
Team San Antonio SpursCapital Bullets
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost East Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 82 33.0 23.1 1.6 3.9 5.5 2.9 1.3 1.3 - 3.5 8.9 16.3 .544 - - - 5.4 6.5 .833
Louie Nelson 49 11.3 4.9 0.5 0.9 1.4 1.1 0.6 0.0 - 1.3 1.9 4.4 .433 - - - 1.1 1.5 .726
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 2 31.0 25.0 2.5 3.0 5.5 1.5 0.5 1.0 - 4.5 9.5 22.0 .432 - - - 6.0 7.5 .800
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 2

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1977-781974-75
Team San Antonio SpursNew Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost East Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 82 34.8 27.2 1.4 3.7 5.1 3.7 1.7 1.3 3.7 3.1 10.5 19.6 .536 - - - 6.1 7.4 .830
Louie Nelson 72 26.4 11.2 1.0 1.7 2.7 2.5 0.9 0.1 - 2.6 4.3 9.4 .452 - - - 2.7 3.5 .768
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 6 37.8 33.2 1.8 3.8 5.7 3.2 1.0 2.7 3.2 3.8 13.0 23.7 .549 - - - 7.2 9.3 .768
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 3

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1978-791975-76
Team San Antonio SpursNew Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost East Conf FinalsDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 80 36.1 29.6 1.8 3.2 5.0 2.7 1.7 1.1 3.6 3.4 11.8 21.9 .541 - - - 5.9 7.1 .826
Louie Nelson 66 30.8 12.5 1.2 1.8 3.1 2.6 1.2 0.1 - 2.2 5.0 11.4 .433 - - - 2.6 3.5 .735
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 14 36.6 28.6 2.4 3.5 5.9 2.5 1.9 1.1 2.9 3.6 11.3 21.1 .536 - - - 6.0 7.4 .808
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 4

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1979-801976-77
Team San Antonio SpursSan Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Achievement All-Star Game NVP-
Playoffs Spurs Lost East Conf 1st RdDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 78 37.6 33.1 2.0 3.2 5.2 2.6 1.4 1.0 3.3 2.7 13.1 24.9 .528 0.4 1.3 .314 6.5 7.6 .852
Louie Nelson 4 14.3 4.5 0.5 1.3 1.8 0.8 0.5 0.0 - 2.3 1.8 3.5 .500 - - - 1.0 1.8 .571
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 3 40.7 33.3 3.0 3.7 6.7 4.0 1.7 1.0 3.0 2.7 12.3 24.7 .500 0.0 0.7 .000 8.7 10.0 .867
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 5

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1980-811977-78
Team San Antonio SpursKansas City Kings, New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost West Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 82 33.7 27.1 1.5 3.6 5.1 3.2 1.1 0.7 3.1 2.6 10.4 21.1 .492 0.1 0.4 .257 6.2 7.6 .826
Louie Nelson 33 12.3 6.9 0.4 1.2 1.6 1.0 0.7 0.2 1.5 1.0 2.6 6.4 .403 - - - 1.7 2.5 .679
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 7 39.1 27.1 1.3 3.7 5.0 3.4 0.7 0.7 2.9 2.7 11.0 22.0 .500 0.0 0.4 .000 5.1 6.4 .800
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 6

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1981-82-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement Scoring Leader-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs 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 %
George Gervin 79 35.7 32.3 1.7 3.2 5.0 2.4 1.0 0.6 2.7 2.7 12.6 25.2 .500 0.1 0.5 .278 7.0 8.1 .864
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 9 41.4 29.4 2.1 5.2 7.3 4.6 1.1 0.4 3.4 4.0 11.4 25.3 .452 0.0 0.3 .000 6.6 7.9 .831
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 7

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1982-83-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs 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 %
George Gervin 78 36.3 26.2 1.4 3.2 4.6 3.4 1.1 0.9 3.2 3.1 9.7 19.9 .487 0.2 0.4 .364 6.6 7.8 .853
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 11 39.7 25.2 1.9 4.8 6.7 3.4 1.1 0.4 4.2 3.5 9.8 18.9 .519 0.0 0.2 .000 5.5 6.3 .884
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 8

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1983-84-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
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 %
George Gervin 76 34.0 25.9 1.4 2.7 4.1 2.9 1.0 0.6 2.9 2.9 10.1 20.5 .490 0.1 0.3 .417 5.6 6.7 .842
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin ------- --- ----------
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 9

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1984-85-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 72 29.0 21.2 1.1 2.2 3.3 2.5 0.9 0.7 2.8 2.9 8.3 16.4 .508 0.0 0.1 .000 4.5 5.3 .844
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 5 36.6 22.2 0.6 3.0 3.6 2.8 0.6 0.6 4.0 3.8 8.4 15.8 .532 0.0 0.6 .000 5.4 6.8 .794
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------

Season 10

George Gervin Louie Nelson
Season 1985-86-
Team Chicago Bulls-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Bulls 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 %
George Gervin 82 25.2 16.2 1.0 1.7 2.6 1.8 0.6 0.3 2.0 2.6 6.3 13.4 .472 0.0 0.2 .211 3.5 3.9 .879
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
George Gervin 2 5.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.5 0.0 0.5 .000 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 -
Louie Nelson ------- --- ----------