Bill Russell vs. Amen Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Amen Thompson and Bill Russell, 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.

Bill Russell played 13 years in the NBA, 10 more than Amen Thompson, who played 3. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Amen Thompson had his rookie season in 2023-24. 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
	Bill Russell	Amen Thompson
Season	1956-57	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
difference:	+14	+12.9	+5.2			+13.0	+0.8				-0.7	+1.9	+6.3	+.109				+1.5	+3.9	+.192
Amen Thompson	62	22.4	9.5	2.4	4.2	6.6	2.6	1.3	0.6	1.5	2.3	3.9	7.2	.536	0.1	0.9	.138	1.7	2.5	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508
Amen Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Bill Russell	Amen Thompson
Season	1957-58	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
difference:		+6.1	+2.5			+14.5	+0.9				-0.2	+1.0	+4.9	+.115				+0.9	+2.8	+.165
Amen Thompson	69	32.2	14.1	2.8	5.4	8.2	3.8	1.4	1.3	2.0	2.4	5.6	10.1	.557	0.4	1.3	.275	2.4	3.6	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606
difference:	+2	+6.4	+0.6			+17.7	+0.6				-0.1	+0.7	+2.7	+.133				+0.8	+2.2	+.088
Amen Thompson	7	33.0	15.7	2.7	4.1	6.9	3.3	1.7	0.9	1.7	2.6	6.0	12.1	.494	0.1	0.6	.250	3.6	5.1	.694

Season 3
	Bill Russell	Amen Thompson
Season	1958-59	2025-26
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
difference:	+66	+9.1	+2.2			+17.7	+2.1				-1.2	+1.0	+2.2	+.001				+0.2	+1.1	+.102
Amen Thompson	4	33.5	14.5	1.5	3.8	5.3	5.3	1.0	0.3	2.5	3.5	5.5	12.0	.458	0.0	2.5	.000	3.5	5.0	.700
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612
Amen Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Bill Russell played 10 seasons more than Amen Thompson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 4 to 13, from 1960 to 1969—Bill Russell played in 10 Playoffs and won 9 NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Amen Thompson, Bill Russell got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 7 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive First Team 2 Rebounds Leader 10 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP