Larry Bird vs. Adrian Dantley Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Adrian Dantley and Larry Bird, 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.

Larry Bird played 13 years in the NBA, 2 less than Adrian Dantley, who played 15. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Adrian Dantley had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92
Adrian Dantley	15	7	1976-77 to 1990-91

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1979-80	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Buffalo Braves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Adrian Dantley	77	36.6	20.3	3.3	4.4	7.6	1.9	1.2	0.2	-	2.8	7.1	13.6	.520	-	-	-	6.2	7.6	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1980-81	1977-78
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Adrian Dantley	79	37.1	21.5	3.4	4.5	7.8	3.2	1.5	0.3	2.9	2.9	7.3	14.3	.512	-	-	-	6.8	8.6	.796

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894
Adrian Dantley	3	34.7	17.0	3.0	5.3	8.3	3.7	1.7	1.0	2.0	3.0	6.7	11.7	.571	-	-	-	3.7	5.7	.647


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1981-82	1978-79
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Adrian Dantley	60	29.6	17.3	2.2	3.5	5.7	2.3	1.1	0.2	2.6	2.7	6.2	12.2	.510	-	-	-	4.9	5.7	.854

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822
Adrian Dantley	8	29.5	17.6	1.3	2.9	4.1	1.4	0.8	0.1	2.4	3.0	6.3	11.1	.562	-	-	-	5.1	6.5	.788


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1982-83	1979-80
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Adrian Dantley	68	39.3	28.0	2.7	4.9	7.6	2.8	1.4	0.2	3.4	3.1	10.7	18.6	.576	0.0	0.0	.000	6.5	7.7	.842

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1983-84	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring 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		%
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Adrian Dantley	80	42.7	30.7	2.4	4.0	6.4	4.0	1.4	0.2	3.5	3.1	11.4	20.3	.559	0.0	0.1	.286	7.9	9.8	.806

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1984-85	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	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		%
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882
Adrian Dantley	81	39.8	30.3	2.9	3.5	6.3	4.0	1.2	0.2	3.7	3.1	11.2	19.6	.570	0.0	0.0	.333	8.0	10.1	.792

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1985-86	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	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		%
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896
Adrian Dantley	22	40.3	30.7	2.6	3.7	6.4	4.8	0.9	0.0	3.7	2.8	10.6	18.3	.580	0.0	0.0	-	9.5	11.3	.847

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1986-87	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Jazz Lost West 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		%
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910
Adrian Dantley	79	37.8	30.6	2.3	3.4	5.7	3.9	0.8	0.1	3.3	2.5	10.2	18.2	.558	0.0	0.1	.250	10.3	12.0	.859

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912
Adrian Dantley	11	41.3	32.2	3.4	4.2	7.5	4.2	0.9	0.1	3.5	2.7	10.6	21.1	.504	0.0	0.0	-	10.9	12.6	.863


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1987-88	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Jazz 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		%
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916
Adrian Dantley	55	35.8	26.6	2.7	3.2	5.9	3.4	1.0	0.1	3.1	2.4	9.3	17.5	.531	0.0	0.0	-	8.0	9.9	.804

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894
Adrian Dantley	10	39.8	25.3	2.5	5.0	7.5	2.0	1.6	0.0	3.6	3.9	7.9	15.1	.523	0.0	0.1	.000	9.5	12.2	.779


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1988-89	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Adrian Dantley	76	36.1	29.8	2.3	2.9	5.2	3.5	0.8	0.1	3.0	2.7	10.8	19.1	.563	0.0	0.1	.091	8.3	10.5	.791

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1989-90	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930
Adrian Dantley	81	33.8	21.5	1.3	2.8	4.1	2.0	0.8	0.1	2.2	2.4	7.4	13.9	.534	0.0	0.1	.167	6.7	8.2	.812

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906
Adrian Dantley	15	33.3	20.5	1.9	2.6	4.5	2.3	0.9	0.0	2.2	2.4	7.4	13.7	.539	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.4	.775


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1990-91	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	60	38.0	19.4	0.9	7.6	8.5	7.2	1.8	1.0	3.1	2.0	7.7	17.0	.454	1.3	3.3	.389	2.7	3.1	.891
Adrian Dantley	69	31.1	20.0	1.2	2.1	3.3	2.5	0.6	0.1	2.0	2.1	6.4	12.5	.514	0.0	0.0	.000	7.1	8.3	.860

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	10	39.6	17.1	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.8	6.2	15.2	.408	0.3	2.1	.143	4.4	5.1	.863
Adrian Dantley	23	35.0	19.4	1.6	3.0	4.7	2.0	0.8	0.0	2.2	2.2	6.7	12.7	.524	0.0	0.1	.000	6.1	7.7	.787


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	1991-92	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Larry Bird	45	36.9	20.2	1.0	8.6	9.6	6.8	0.9	0.7	2.8	1.8	7.8	16.8	.466	1.2	2.8	.406	3.3	3.6	.926
Adrian Dantley	73	33.2	19.2	1.6	2.7	4.3	2.3	0.6	0.2	2.2	2.5	6.4	13.1	.493	0.0	0.0	.000	6.3	7.8	.810

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	4	26.8	11.3	0.5	4.0	4.5	5.3	0.3	0.5	1.5	1.8	5.3	10.5	.500	0.0	1.3	.000	0.8	1.0	.750
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	-	1989-90
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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrian Dantley	45	28.9	14.7	1.7	2.1	3.8	1.8	0.4	0.2	1.7	2.2	5.1	10.8	.477	0.0	0.0	.000	4.4	5.6	.787

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Adrian Dantley
Season	-	1990-91
Team	-	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Bucks 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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrian Dantley	10	12.6	5.7	0.8	0.5	1.3	0.9	0.5	0.0	0.6	0.8	1.9	5.0	.380	0.1	0.3	.333	1.8	2.6	.692

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrian Dantley	3	6.3	1.7	0.7	0.7	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.3	2.3	.143	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.750

Larry Bird vs. Adrian Dantley Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Adrian Dantley and Larry Bird, 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