Adrian Dantley vs. Don Nelson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Don Nelson and Adrian Dantley, 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.

Adrian Dantley played 15 years in the NBA, 1 more than Don Nelson, who played 14. Adrian Dantley had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Don Nelson had his rookie season in 1962-63. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15
Rookie Season
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1976-77	1962-63
Team	Buffalo Braves	Chicago Zephyrs
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
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		%
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
Don Nelson	62	17.3	6.8	-	-	4.5	1.2	-	-	-	2.2	2.1	4.7	.440	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.729
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1979-80	1965-66
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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
Don Nelson	75	23.5	10.2	-	-	5.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.5	3.6	8.2	.439	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	17	18.6	8.4	-	-	5.0	0.8	-	-	-	2.9	2.9	6.9	.424	-	-	-	2.5	3.1	.808

Season 5
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1980-81	1966-67
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
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
Don Nelson	79	15.2	7.5	-	-	3.7	0.8	-	-	-	1.8	2.9	6.4	.446	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	9	15.8	7.1	-	-	4.7	1.0	-	-	-	1.3	3.0	6.6	.458	-	-	-	1.1	1.9	.588

Season 6
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1981-82	1967-68
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	18.3	10.0	-	-	5.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	3.8	7.7	.494	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.728
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	19	24.6	12.5	-	-	7.5	1.7	-	-	-	2.6	4.8	9.2	.520	-	-	-	2.9	3.9	.743

Season 7
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1982-83	1968-69
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	21.6	11.6	-	-	5.6	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	4.6	9.4	.485	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	18	19.3	12.4	-	-	4.6	1.2	-	-	-	2.8	4.8	9.3	.518	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.833

Season 8
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1983-84	1969-70
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West 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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	27.1	15.4	-	-	7.3	1.8	-	-	-	2.9	5.6	11.2	.501	-	-	-	4.1	5.3	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1984-85	1970-71
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West 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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	27.5	13.9	-	-	6.9	1.9	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	10.7	.468	-	-	-	3.9	5.2	.744
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1985-86	1971-72
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	25.4	13.8	-	-	5.5	2.3	-	-	-	2.7	4.7	9.9	.480	-	-	-	4.3	5.5	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	11	28.0	13.2	-	-	5.5	1.9	-	-	-	2.7	4.7	9.0	.525	-	-	-	3.7	4.4	.854

Season 12
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1987-88	1973-74
Team	Detroit Pistons	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Pistons Lost NBA Finals	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		%
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
Don Nelson	82	21.3	11.5	1.1	3.1	4.2	2.0	0.2	0.2	-	2.3	4.4	8.7	.508	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Don Nelson	18	25.9	11.4	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.9	0.4	0.2	-	3.0	4.6	9.1	.500	-	-	-	2.3	2.9	.774

Season 14
	Adrian Dantley	Don Nelson
Season	1989-90	1975-76
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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
Don Nelson	75	12.6	6.4	0.7	1.7	2.4	1.0	0.2	0.1	-	1.5	2.3	5.1	.462	-	-	-	1.7	2.1	.789
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Adrian Dantley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	18	17.5	9.1	0.9	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.2	0.1	-	2.6	2.9	6.0	.481	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	.870