Aaron Nesmith vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Aaron Nesmith, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Aaron Nesmith played 6 years in the NBA, 7 less than Bill Russell, who played 13. Aaron Nesmith had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Bill Russell had his rookie season in 1956-57. 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2020-21	1956-57
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	46	14.5	4.7	0.6	2.2	2.8	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.5	1.9	1.7	3.9	.438	0.9	2.3	.370	0.5	0.6	.786
difference:	+2	+20.8	+10.0			+16.8	+1.3				-1.1	+4.1	+9.6	+.011				+2.7	+5.8	+.294
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	5	15.0	3.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	1.4	1.0	3.6	.278	0.8	2.8	.286	0.4	0.4	1.000
difference:	+5	+25.9	+10.7			+21.8	+3.0				-2.7	+4.4	+11.2	+.087				+2.7	+5.7	+.492
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508

Season 2
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2021-22	1957-58
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	52	11.0	3.8	0.3	1.4	1.7	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.6	1.3	1.4	3.5	.396	0.6	2.2	.270	0.4	0.5	.808
difference:	+17	+27.3	+12.8			+21.0	+2.5				-1.3	+5.2	+11.5	+.046				+2.9	+5.9	+.289
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	15	3.5	0.8	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.3	1.1	.235	0.1	0.7	.091	0.2	0.3	.750
difference:	+6	+35.9	+14.3			+23.6	+2.5				-2.3	+5.0	+13.7	+.126				+4.2	+7.0	+.144
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606

Season 3
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2022-23	1958-59
Team	Indiana Pacers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	73	24.9	10.1	0.8	2.9	3.8	1.3	0.8	0.5	1.0	3.2	3.5	8.1	.427	1.6	4.3	.366	1.6	1.9	.838
difference:	+3	+17.7	+6.6			+19.2	+1.9				-0.9	+3.0	+6.1	+.030				+2.1	+4.2	+.240
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612

Season 4
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2023-24	1959-60
Team	Indiana Pacers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	72	27.7	12.2	0.9	2.9	3.8	1.5	0.9	0.7	0.9	3.3	4.4	8.8	.496	1.9	4.6	.419	1.5	1.9	.781
difference:	+2	+14.8	+6.0			+20.2	+2.2				-0.5	+3.1	+7.3	+.029				+1.7	+3.4	+.169
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	17	32.9	10.5	1.1	3.8	4.9	2.2	0.6	0.5	1.4	3.9	3.6	8.3	.433	1.3	4.6	.278	2.0	2.2	.919
difference:	+4	+11.1	+8.0			+20.9	+0.7				-1.0	+3.6	+7.5	+.023				+2.1	+3.6	+.212
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 5
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2024-25	1960-61
Team	Indiana Pacers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	45	25.0	12.0	0.8	3.1	4.0	1.2	0.8	0.4	0.8	2.5	4.3	8.4	.507	1.9	4.3	.431	1.6	1.8	.913
difference:	+33	+19.3	+4.9			+19.9	+2.2				-0.5	+2.5	+7.6	+.081				+1.7	+4.2	+.363
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	23	28.3	12.7	1.2	4.5	5.7	1.1	0.9	0.8	1.0	4.1	4.3	9.2	.472	2.6	5.3	.492	1.3	1.6	.861
difference:	+13	+17.9	+6.4			+24.2	+3.7				-1.7	+3.0	+7.9	+.045				+3.2	+7.0	+.338
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523

Season 6
	Aaron Nesmith	Bill Russell
Season	2025-26	1961-62
Team	Indiana Pacers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	4	32.5	10.8	1.5	3.3	4.8	1.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	2.8	3.8	12.8	.294	2.8	7.5	.367	0.5	1.8	.286
difference:	+72	+12.7	+8.1			+18.8	+3.5				-0.1	+3.8	+3.8	+.163				+3.3	+4.5	+.309
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Aaron Nesmith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 7 seasons more than Aaron Nesmith in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 13, from 1963 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 7 Playoffs and won 6 NBA Championships. In those 7 extra years over Aaron Nesmith, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 4 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 7 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP