Artis Gilmore vs. Ronnie Lester Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ronnie Lester and Artis Gilmore, 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 / Games against each other

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.

Artis Gilmore played 12 years in the NBA, 6 more than Ronnie Lester, who played 6. Artis Gilmore had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Ronnie Lester had his rookie season in 1980-81. 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
Artis Gilmore 12 6 1976-77 to 1987-88
Ronnie Lester 6 2 1980-81 to 1985-86

Comparison Season by Season

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

Rookie Season

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1976-771980-81
Team Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Bulls Lost West Conf 1st RdBulls 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 %
Artis Gilmore 82 35.1 18.6 3.8 9.2 13.0 2.4 0.5 2.5 - 3.2 7.0 13.3 .522 - - - 4.7 7.1 .660
Ronnie Lester 8 10.4 3.8 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.9 0.3 0.0 1.1 0.6 1.3 3.0 .417 0.0 0.0 - 1.3 1.4 .909
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 3 42.0 18.7 5.0 8.0 13.0 2.0 1.0 2.7 - 3.0 6.3 13.3 .475 - - - 6.0 7.7 .783
Ronnie Lester 5 8.4 3.8 1.0 0.2 1.2 0.8 0.4 0.0 1.0 0.8 1.4 3.6 .389 0.0 0.2 .000 1.0 1.4 .714

Season 2

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1977-781981-82
Team Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Defensive Second Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 82 37.4 22.9 3.9 9.2 13.1 3.2 0.5 2.2 4.5 3.2 8.6 15.4 .559 - - - 5.7 8.2 .704
Ronnie Lester 75 30.0 11.6 1.0 1.8 2.8 4.8 1.1 0.2 2.5 2.1 4.4 8.8 .501 0.1 0.1 .500 2.8 3.4 .813
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 3

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1978-791982-83
Team Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 82 39.8 23.7 3.6 9.1 12.7 3.3 0.6 1.9 3.8 3.4 9.2 16.0 .575 - - - 5.3 7.2 .739
Ronnie Lester 65 22.1 8.1 0.7 1.9 2.6 5.1 0.8 0.1 2.1 1.9 3.1 6.9 .453 0.0 0.1 .000 1.9 2.6 .725
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 4

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1979-801983-84
Team Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 48 32.7 17.8 2.3 6.8 9.0 2.8 0.6 1.2 2.8 3.5 6.4 10.7 .595 0.0 0.0 - 5.1 7.2 .712
Ronnie Lester 43 16.0 5.4 0.5 0.6 1.1 3.9 0.7 0.1 1.7 1.4 1.8 4.4 .415 0.0 0.1 .200 1.7 2.0 .862
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 5

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1980-811984-85
Team Chicago BullsLos Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Bulls Lost East Conf SemisNBA Champion NBA Champion
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 82 34.5 17.9 2.7 7.4 10.1 2.1 0.6 2.4 2.9 3.6 6.7 10.0 .670 0.0 0.0 - 4.6 6.5 .705
Ronnie Lester 32 8.7 2.8 0.1 0.7 0.8 2.5 0.5 0.1 1.0 0.8 1.1 2.6 .415 0.0 0.0 .000 0.7 1.0 .677
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 6 41.2 18.0 4.0 7.2 11.2 2.0 1.0 2.8 2.8 2.5 5.8 10.0 .583 0.0 0.0 - 6.3 9.2 .691
Ronnie Lester 9 6.0 2.1 0.2 0.7 0.9 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.8 0.7 1.7 .400 0.0 0.0 - 0.8 1.0 .778

Season 6

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1981-821985-86
Team Chicago BullsLos Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 82 34.1 18.5 2.7 7.5 10.2 1.7 0.6 2.7 2.8 3.5 6.7 10.2 .652 0.0 0.0 1.000 5.2 6.7 .768
Ronnie Lester 27 8.2 2.5 0.0 0.4 0.4 2.0 0.3 0.1 1.6 1.0 1.0 1.9 .500 0.0 0.1 .000 0.6 0.7 .789
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 7

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1982-83-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs Lost West Conf Finals-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 82 34.1 18.0 3.6 8.4 12.0 1.5 0.5 2.3 3.1 3.3 6.8 10.8 .626 0.0 0.1 .000 4.5 6.0 .740
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 11 36.5 16.7 3.4 9.5 12.9 1.6 0.8 3.1 2.5 4.2 6.9 12.0 .576 0.0 0.0 - 2.9 4.2 .696
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 8

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1983-84-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
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 %
Artis Gilmore 64 31.8 15.3 3.3 7.0 10.3 1.1 0.6 2.1 2.3 3.6 5.5 8.7 .631 0.0 0.0 .000 4.4 6.1 .718
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 9

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1984-85-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Spurs 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 %
Artis Gilmore 81 34.0 19.1 2.9 7.6 10.4 1.6 0.5 2.1 3.0 3.8 6.6 10.5 .623 0.0 0.0 .000 6.0 8.0 .749
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 5 37.0 17.8 2.0 8.0 10.0 1.4 0.4 1.4 4.6 3.6 5.8 10.4 .558 0.0 0.0 - 6.2 9.0 .689
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 10

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1985-86-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Spurs 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 %
Artis Gilmore 71 33.7 16.7 2.3 6.1 8.5 1.4 0.5 1.5 2.6 3.4 6.0 9.6 .618 0.0 0.0 .000 4.8 6.8 .701
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 3 35.7 13.3 2.3 3.7 6.0 1.0 2.3 0.3 3.3 3.7 5.3 8.0 .667 0.0 0.0 - 2.7 4.7 .571
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 11

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1986-87-
Team San Antonio Spurs-
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 %
Artis Gilmore 82 29.3 11.4 2.3 4.8 7.1 1.8 0.5 1.2 2.2 2.9 4.2 7.1 .597 0.0 0.0 - 3.0 4.3 .680
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore ------- --- ----------
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------

Season 12

Artis Gilmore Ronnie Lester
Season 1987-88-
Team Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs Celtics Lost East Conf Finals-
more >>
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 71 12.6 3.7 1.0 2.0 3.0 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.9 2.1 1.4 2.5 .547 0.0 0.0 - 0.9 1.8 .523
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF FGM / A % 3PM / A % FTM / A %
Artis Gilmore 14 6.1 1.1 0.3 1.1 1.4 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.3 1.0 0.3 0.6 .500 0.0 0.0 - 0.5 1.0 .500
Ronnie Lester ------- --- ----------