Nate Thurmond vs. Ben Wallace Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Wallace and Nate Thurmond, 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.

Nate Thurmond played 14 years in the NBA, 2 less than Ben Wallace, who played 16. Nate Thurmond had the first of his seasons in 1963-64, while Ben Wallace had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
Nate Thurmond	14	9	1963-64 to 1976-77
Ben Wallace	16	8	1996-97 to 2011-12

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
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1963-64	1996-97
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549
Ben Wallace	34	5.8	1.1	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.5	1.4	.348	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.6	.300

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1964-65	1997-98
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Washington Wizards
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		%
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658
Ben Wallace	67	16.8	3.1	1.7	3.2	4.8	0.3	0.9	1.1	0.4	1.7	1.3	2.4	.518	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.5	.357

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1965-66	1998-99
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Washington Wizards
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		%
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654
Ben Wallace	46	26.8	6.0	3.0	5.4	8.3	0.4	1.1	2.0	0.8	2.4	2.5	4.3	.578	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.9	.356

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1966-67	1999-00
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629
Ben Wallace	81	24.2	4.8	2.6	5.6	8.2	0.8	0.9	1.6	0.8	2.0	2.1	4.1	.503	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.4	.474

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1967-68	2000-01
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644
Ben Wallace	80	34.5	6.4	3.8	9.4	13.2	1.5	1.3	2.3	1.5	2.4	2.7	5.5	.490	0.0	0.1	.250	1.0	3.0	.336

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1968-69	2001-02
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Div Semis	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		%
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615
Ben Wallace	80	36.5	7.6	4.0	9.0	13.0	1.4	1.7	3.5	0.9	2.2	3.2	6.0	.531	0.0	0.0	.000	1.2	2.9	.423

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588
Ben Wallace	10	40.8	7.3	4.8	11.3	16.1	1.2	1.9	2.6	1.9	2.4	2.8	5.9	.475	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	3.9	.436


Season 7
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1969-70	2002-03
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	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		%
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754
Ben Wallace	73	39.4	6.9	4.0	11.4	15.4	1.6	1.4	3.2	1.2	2.5	2.9	6.0	.481	0.0	0.1	.167	1.2	2.6	.450

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	17	42.5	8.9	5.1	11.2	16.3	1.6	2.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	3.1	6.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	2.6	5.9	.446


Season 8
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1970-71	2003-04
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730
Ben Wallace	81	37.7	9.5	4.0	8.4	12.4	1.7	1.8	3.0	1.5	2.0	3.9	9.2	.421	0.0	0.1	.125	1.8	3.6	.490

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800
Ben Wallace	23	40.3	10.3	4.1	10.1	14.3	1.9	1.9	2.4	1.6	2.5	4.0	8.9	.454	0.0	0.1	.000	2.2	5.1	.427


Season 9
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1971-72	2004-05
Team	Golden State Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743
Ben Wallace	74	36.1	9.7	3.9	8.2	12.2	1.7	1.4	2.4	1.1	2.1	4.0	8.8	.453	0.0	0.1	.111	1.8	4.1	.428

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750
Ben Wallace	25	39.0	10.0	3.8	7.5	11.3	1.0	1.7	2.4	1.2	2.6	4.1	8.5	.481	0.0	0.2	.000	1.9	4.1	.461


Season 10
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1972-73	2005-06
Team	Golden State Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718
Ben Wallace	82	35.2	7.3	3.7	7.6	11.3	1.9	1.8	2.2	1.1	2.0	2.9	5.7	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	3.6	.416

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800
Ben Wallace	18	35.7	4.7	3.3	7.2	10.5	1.7	1.3	1.2	0.8	2.3	1.8	3.9	.465	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	3.7	.273


Season 11
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1973-74	2006-07
Team	Golden State Warriors	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls 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		%
Nate Thurmond	62	39.7	13.0	4.0	10.1	14.2	2.7	0.7	2.9	-	2.9	5.0	11.2	.444	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.666
Ben Wallace	77	35.0	6.4	3.9	6.7	10.7	2.4	1.4	2.0	1.3	2.0	2.5	5.5	.453	0.0	0.1	.200	1.4	3.5	.408

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	10	36.9	8.7	2.9	6.6	9.5	1.4	1.5	1.7	1.0	1.9	3.0	5.3	.566	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	5.4	.500


Season 12
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1974-75	2007-08
Team	Chicago Bulls	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf 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		%
Nate Thurmond	80	34.5	7.9	3.2	8.1	11.3	4.1	0.6	2.4	-	3.4	3.1	8.6	.364	-	-	-	1.7	2.8	.589
Ben Wallace	72	30.6	4.8	3.3	5.1	8.4	1.5	1.2	1.6	0.9	1.7	1.9	4.9	.392	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	2.3	.426

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	13	19.5	3.5	1.8	4.8	6.7	2.4	0.4	1.6	-	2.8	1.1	2.9	.368	-	-	-	1.4	2.8	.486
Ben Wallace	13	23.4	3.2	2.5	4.0	6.5	1.2	0.6	1.1	0.5	2.0	1.3	2.5	.515	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.5	.350


Season 13
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1975-76	2008-09
Team	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Nate Thurmond	78	17.9	4.4	1.5	3.8	5.3	1.2	0.3	1.3	-	2.1	1.8	4.3	.421	-	-	-	0.8	1.6	.504
Ben Wallace	56	23.5	2.9	2.4	4.0	6.5	0.8	0.9	1.3	0.6	1.5	1.2	2.8	.445	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.1	.422

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	13	28.8	6.7	2.9	6.1	9.0	2.2	0.5	2.2	-	4.0	2.8	6.1	.468	-	-	-	1.0	2.5	.406
Ben Wallace	14	12.6	1.1	1.3	1.4	2.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.9	0.6	0.9	.615	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.4	.000


Season 14
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	1976-77	2009-10
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East 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		%
Nate Thurmond	49	20.3	5.5	2.5	5.2	7.6	1.7	0.3	1.7	-	2.6	2.0	5.0	.407	-	-	-	1.4	2.2	.642
Ben Wallace	69	28.6	5.5	3.6	5.1	8.7	1.5	1.2	1.2	0.9	1.9	2.3	4.2	.541	0.0	0.0	.000	0.9	2.3	.406

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	1	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	-	2010-11
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	54	22.9	2.9	2.4	4.1	6.5	1.3	1.0	1.0	0.8	1.5	1.2	2.8	.450	0.0	0.0	.500	0.4	1.1	.333

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Nate Thurmond	Ben Wallace
Season	-	2011-12
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	62	15.8	1.4	1.3	3.0	4.3	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.5	1.0	0.5	1.4	.395	0.0	0.1	.250	0.3	0.8	.340

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Nate Thurmond vs. Ben Wallace Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Wallace and Nate Thurmond, 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