Alton Lister vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and Alton Lister, 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.

Alton Lister played 16 years in the NBA, 4 more than Isaiah Thomas, who played 12. Alton Lister had the first of his seasons in 1981-82, while Isaiah Thomas had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Alton Lister	16	11	1981-82 to 1997-98
Isaiah Thomas	12	4	2011-12 to 2023-24

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
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1981-82	2011-12
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Alton Lister	80	14.8	4.5	1.4	3.5	4.8	1.1	0.2	1.5	1.6	3.0	1.9	3.6	.519	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.5	.520
Isaiah Thomas	65	25.5	11.5	0.7	1.8	2.6	4.1	0.8	0.1	1.6	1.9	3.9	8.8	.448	1.3	3.4	.379	2.4	2.8	.832

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	6	18.7	5.5	1.0	3.5	4.5	0.8	0.3	2.5	1.5	3.8	2.3	4.0	.583	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.2	.714
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1982-83	2012-13
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Alton Lister	80	23.6	8.4	2.1	5.0	7.1	1.4	0.6	2.2	2.3	4.1	3.4	6.4	.529	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	3.0	.537
Isaiah Thomas	79	26.9	13.9	0.4	1.7	2.0	4.0	0.8	0.0	1.8	2.1	4.6	10.5	.440	1.5	4.1	.358	3.2	3.6	.882

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	9	22.9	6.4	2.3	4.4	6.8	1.2	1.0	1.7	1.9	3.3	3.0	7.0	.429	0.0	0.1	.000	0.4	0.6	.800
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1983-84	2013-14
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Alton Lister	82	23.8	7.6	1.9	5.5	7.4	1.3	0.5	1.7	1.9	4.0	3.1	6.2	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.2	.626
Isaiah Thomas	72	34.7	20.3	0.7	2.3	2.9	6.3	1.3	0.1	3.0	2.6	6.9	15.2	.453	1.8	5.1	.349	4.8	5.7	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	16	23.0	6.8	1.6	4.4	6.0	0.6	0.3	1.5	1.7	3.9	2.4	4.9	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.0	.625
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1984-85	2014-15
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics 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		%
Alton Lister	81	25.8	9.9	2.7	5.3	8.0	1.6	0.6	2.1	2.3	3.5	4.0	7.4	.538	0.0	0.0	.000	1.9	3.2	.588
Isaiah Thomas	67	25.8	16.4	0.5	1.8	2.3	4.2	0.9	0.1	2.1	2.2	5.0	11.9	.420	1.9	5.2	.373	4.5	5.2	.868

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	8	25.4	8.6	3.4	4.4	7.8	1.9	0.8	1.9	2.0	4.5	3.4	7.5	.450	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	4.0	.469
Isaiah Thomas	4	29.8	17.5	0.3	2.8	3.0	7.0	0.8	0.0	3.5	2.5	4.5	13.5	.333	0.8	4.5	.167	7.8	8.0	.969


Season 5
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1985-86	2015-16
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Finals	Celtics 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		%
Alton Lister	81	22.4	9.8	2.5	4.9	7.3	1.2	0.6	1.8	2.0	3.7	3.9	7.1	.551	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	3.3	.602
Isaiah Thomas	82	32.2	22.2	0.6	2.4	3.0	6.2	1.1	0.1	2.7	2.0	7.2	16.9	.428	2.0	5.7	.359	5.8	6.6	.871

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	14	23.9	11.9	2.6	4.2	6.9	0.9	0.5	1.6	1.5	4.0	4.7	7.4	.641	0.0	0.1	.000	2.5	4.1	.603
Isaiah Thomas	6	36.7	24.2	0.3	2.7	3.0	5.0	0.7	0.8	2.3	3.0	7.8	19.8	.395	2.2	7.7	.283	6.3	7.8	.809


Season 6
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1986-87	2016-17
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Alton Lister	75	30.5	11.6	3.0	6.4	9.4	1.5	0.4	2.4	2.3	3.9	4.6	9.2	.504	0.0	0.0	.000	2.4	3.5	.675
Isaiah Thomas	76	33.8	28.9	0.6	2.1	2.7	5.9	0.9	0.2	2.8	2.2	9.0	19.4	.463	3.2	8.5	.379	7.8	8.5	.909

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	9	22.9	6.0	3.2	3.0	6.2	0.8	0.8	1.4	1.1	4.1	2.2	5.6	.400	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.2	.700
Isaiah Thomas	15	34.7	23.3	0.3	2.8	3.1	6.7	0.9	0.1	3.3	2.3	7.4	17.4	.425	2.4	7.2	.333	6.1	7.4	.820


Season 7
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1987-88	2017-18
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West 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		%
Alton Lister	82	22.1	5.6	2.4	5.2	7.6	0.7	0.3	1.7	1.1	3.9	2.1	4.2	.504	0.0	0.0	.500	1.4	2.3	.606
Isaiah Thomas	32	26.9	15.2	0.5	1.6	2.1	4.8	0.5	0.1	3.0	1.8	4.9	13.2	.373	1.7	5.9	.293	3.7	4.1	.893

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	5	15.4	5.6	1.8	4.0	5.8	1.0	0.2	1.0	0.8	3.4	2.4	3.4	.706	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.0	.800
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1988-89	2018-19
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West 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		%
Alton Lister	82	22.0	8.0	2.5	4.1	6.6	0.7	0.3	2.2	1.4	3.8	3.3	6.6	.499	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.2	.646
Isaiah Thomas	12	15.1	8.1	0.4	0.7	1.1	1.9	0.4	0.1	1.5	1.4	2.8	8.3	.343	1.0	3.6	.279	1.4	2.3	.630

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	8	20.0	7.0	1.6	3.1	4.8	0.3	0.3	2.6	1.1	3.5	2.1	4.9	.436	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	3.3	.846
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1989-90	2019-20
Team	Golden State Warriors	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	3	13.3	4.0	1.7	1.0	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	2.7	1.3	2.7	.500	0.0	0.3	.000	1.3	2.3	.571
Isaiah Thomas	40	23.1	12.2	0.3	1.4	1.7	3.7	0.3	0.2	1.9	1.9	4.4	10.7	.408	2.0	4.7	.413	1.6	1.9	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1990-91	2020-21
Team	Golden State Warriors	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West 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		%
Alton Lister	77	20.2	6.4	1.6	4.7	6.3	1.2	0.3	1.2	1.4	3.7	2.4	5.1	.478	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.6	.569
Isaiah Thomas	3	16.0	7.7	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.7	0.3	0.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	9.0	.333	1.0	4.0	.250	0.7	0.7	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	6	12.0	4.3	1.2	3.5	4.7	0.3	0.0	1.2	1.3	2.5	2.0	4.2	.480	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.8	.400
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1991-92	2021-22
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	26	11.3	3.9	0.8	2.7	3.5	0.5	0.2	0.6	0.8	2.3	1.7	3.0	.557	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.3	.424
Isaiah Thomas	22	15.2	8.4	0.2	1.1	1.3	1.5	0.3	0.2	0.7	1.5	3.0	7.6	.401	1.3	3.8	.337	1.0	1.2	.846

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	4	11.8	4.0	0.8	2.0	2.8	0.3	0.0	1.0	0.8	2.3	1.5	3.8	.400	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.800
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Isaiah Thomas didn't play in 2022-23.


Season 12
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1992-93	2023-24
Team	Golden State Warriors	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	20	8.7	2.3	0.8	1.5	2.2	0.3	0.0	0.5	0.9	2.0	1.0	2.1	.452	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.7	.538
Isaiah Thomas	6	3.2	1.3	0.0	0.0	0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.7	.300	0.3	0.7	.500	0.0	0.0	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	1	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Note: Alton Lister didn't play in 1993-94.


Season 13
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1994-95	-
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	-
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		%
Alton Lister	60	12.9	2.8	1.1	2.8	3.9	0.2	0.3	1.0	0.6	2.4	1.1	2.2	.493	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	1.2	.500
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1995-96	-
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics	-
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		%
Alton Lister	64	11.5	2.2	1.0	3.3	4.4	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.8	2.1	0.8	1.6	.486	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.0	.641
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1996-97	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
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		%
Alton Lister	53	9.7	1.6	1.2	1.9	3.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.6	1.8	0.6	1.5	.416	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.6	.742
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Alton Lister	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1997-98	-
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	7	6.3	0.9	0.3	1.3	1.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	1.7	0.4	1.1	.375	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alton Lister	2	5.5	1.0	0.5	0.5	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0	2.5	0.5	1.5	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Alton Lister vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and Alton Lister, 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