Larry Bird vs. Zydrunas Ilgauskas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zydrunas Ilgauskas 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

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 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas both played 13 years in the NBA. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas had his rookie season in 1997-98. 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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	13	7	1997-98 to 2010-11

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1979-80	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Cavaliers 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	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	82	29.0	13.9	3.4	5.4	8.8	0.9	0.6	1.6	1.8	3.5	5.5	10.7	.518	0.0	0.0	.250	2.8	3.7	.762

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	4	36.8	17.3	3.5	4.0	7.5	0.5	0.5	1.3	2.5	5.5	7.0	12.3	.571	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	6.3	.520


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1980-81	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	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	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	5	34.2	15.2	3.4	5.4	8.8	0.8	0.8	1.4	1.8	4.8	5.8	11.4	.509	0.0	0.0	-	3.6	6.0	.600

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Zydrunas Ilgauskas didn't play in 1999-00.


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1981-82	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
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	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	24	25.7	11.7	2.7	4.0	6.7	0.8	0.6	1.5	2.5	3.3	4.8	9.8	.487	0.0	0.1	.000	2.2	3.3	.679

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1982-83	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	62	21.4	11.1	2.2	3.2	5.4	1.1	0.3	1.4	1.5	3.0	3.9	9.1	.425	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	4.5	.754

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1983-84	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	81	30.0	17.2	3.0	4.6	7.5	1.6	0.7	1.9	2.6	3.4	6.1	13.9	.441	0.0	0.1	.000	4.9	6.3	.781

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1984-85	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	81	31.3	15.3	3.4	4.6	8.1	1.3	0.5	2.5	2.0	3.4	5.8	11.9	.483	0.0	0.1	.286	3.7	5.0	.746

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1985-86	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	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	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	78	33.5	16.9	3.8	4.8	8.6	1.3	0.7	2.1	2.4	4.0	5.9	12.6	.468	0.0	0.1	.286	5.2	6.4	.799

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1986-87	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers 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		%
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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	78	29.3	15.6	3.1	4.4	7.6	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.0	3.6	5.8	11.4	.506	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	4.9	.834

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	13	27.2	10.4	2.5	3.8	6.3	0.8	0.4	2.1	1.8	3.5	4.2	9.2	.454	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	2.8	.750


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1987-88	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Cavaliers 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		%
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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	78	27.3	11.9	3.1	4.6	7.7	1.6	0.6	1.3	1.8	3.3	4.9	10.2	.485	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.5	.807

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	20	32.5	12.6	3.3	6.4	9.7	0.9	0.5	0.8	1.6	3.0	4.9	9.9	.492	0.0	0.0	-	2.9	3.4	.838


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1988-89	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	73	30.4	14.1	3.6	5.7	9.3	1.4	0.5	1.6	1.8	3.4	5.7	12.0	.474	0.0	0.0	.000	2.7	3.3	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	13	30.2	13.1	2.5	5.0	7.5	1.6	0.4	1.1	1.6	2.7	5.2	10.8	.479	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	3.4	.818


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1989-90	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Cavaliers 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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	65	27.2	12.9	2.4	5.1	7.5	1.0	0.4	1.3	1.4	2.8	5.3	11.1	.472	0.2	0.6	.385	2.1	2.7	.799

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	14	29.1	10.5	1.9	5.9	7.8	1.2	0.4	0.9	0.6	3.4	4.4	9.9	.449	0.1	0.9	.154	1.5	2.4	.636


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1990-91	2009-10
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers Lost East 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	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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	64	20.9	7.4	1.8	3.6	5.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	1.0	2.9	3.0	6.8	.443	0.2	0.4	.478	1.2	1.6	.743

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	7	9.9	1.7	1.0	0.6	1.6	0.4	0.0	1.0	0.1	1.4	0.7	1.9	.385	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.667


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Season	1991-92	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Heat 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		%
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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	72	15.9	5.0	1.5	2.5	4.0	0.4	0.3	0.8	0.7	2.6	2.3	4.4	.508	0.0	0.0	.000	0.5	0.6	.783

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
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	9	11.6	3.6	1.7	1.9	3.6	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.0	1.8	1.6	3.3	.467	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.7	.667

Larry Bird vs. Zydrunas Ilgauskas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zydrunas Ilgauskas 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