Bill Russell vs. Anderson Varejao Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Anderson Varejao 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.

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.

Bill Russell played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Anderson Varejao, who played 14. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Anderson Varejao had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69
Anderson Varejao	14	6	2004-05 to 2020-21

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1956-57	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Anderson Varejao	54	16.0	4.9	2.0	2.7	4.8	0.5	0.8	0.7	0.5	2.3	1.8	3.6	.513	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.4	.535

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
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1957-58	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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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
Anderson Varejao	48	15.8	4.6	1.6	3.3	4.9	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.6	2.5	1.6	3.1	.527	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.5	.513

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
Anderson Varejao	13	18.3	6.8	1.4	3.1	4.5	0.2	0.7	0.2	0.5	3.8	2.4	3.8	.620	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.8	.703


Season 3
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1958-59	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost NBA 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		%
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Anderson Varejao	81	23.9	6.8	2.4	4.4	6.7	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.8	3.3	2.4	5.0	.476	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	3.3	.616

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
Anderson Varejao	20	22.4	6.0	2.3	3.7	6.0	0.6	1.1	0.6	1.0	2.7	2.3	4.5	.511	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.4	.563


Season 4
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1959-60	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Anderson Varejao	48	27.5	6.7	2.8	5.5	8.3	1.1	0.8	0.5	1.2	2.8	2.8	6.1	.461	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.7	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707
Anderson Varejao	13	18.5	4.1	1.5	3.6	5.2	0.7	0.6	0.1	0.7	2.3	1.7	4.2	.407	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.6	.429


Season 5
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1960-61	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Anderson Varejao	81	28.5	8.6	2.0	5.1	7.2	1.0	0.9	0.8	1.0	3.0	3.3	6.2	.536	0.0	0.0	.000	1.9	3.1	.616

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523
Anderson Varejao	14	30.0	6.9	2.9	3.5	6.4	0.6	1.3	1.1	1.1	3.5	2.9	5.9	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.6	.682


Season 6
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1961-62	2009-10
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Anderson Varejao	76	28.5	8.6	2.5	5.1	7.6	1.1	0.9	0.9	0.9	2.9	3.5	6.1	.572	0.0	0.1	.200	1.5	2.3	.663

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726
Anderson Varejao	11	23.2	5.7	2.0	4.5	6.5	0.6	1.0	0.8	1.1	3.5	1.8	4.4	.417	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	2.8	.742


Season 7
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1962-63	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
Anderson Varejao	31	32.1	9.1	3.2	6.5	9.7	1.5	0.9	1.2	1.3	2.8	3.7	7.0	.528	0.0	0.1	.000	1.7	2.6	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1963-64	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
Anderson Varejao	25	31.4	10.8	4.4	7.1	11.5	1.7	1.4	0.7	1.8	2.5	4.6	8.9	.514	0.0	0.2	.000	1.7	2.6	.672

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	45.1	13.1	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	13.2	.356	-	-	-	3.7	6.7	.552
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1964-65	2012-13
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
Anderson Varejao	25	36.0	14.1	5.5	8.9	14.4	3.4	1.5	0.6	1.8	2.7	5.5	11.6	.478	0.0	0.2	.000	3.1	4.1	.755

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	12	46.8	16.5	-	-	25.2	6.3	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	12.5	.527	-	-	-	3.3	6.3	.526
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1965-66	2013-14
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
Anderson Varejao	65	27.7	8.4	2.9	6.8	9.7	2.2	1.1	0.6	1.1	2.5	3.5	7.1	.495	0.0	0.1	.000	1.4	2.1	.681

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	17	47.9	19.1	-	-	25.2	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.3	15.4	.475	-	-	-	4.5	7.2	.618
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1966-67	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610
Anderson Varejao	26	24.5	9.8	2.2	4.3	6.5	1.3	0.7	0.6	1.3	2.2	4.3	7.7	.555	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	1.7	.733

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	43.3	10.6	-	-	22.0	5.6	-	-	-	3.6	3.4	9.6	.360	-	-	-	3.7	5.8	.635
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1967-68	2015-16
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537
Anderson Varejao	53	9.4	2.6	0.7	2.0	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.4	1.3	1.0	2.3	.427	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.9	.640

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	19	45.7	14.4	-	-	22.8	5.2	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	12.7	.409	-	-	-	4.0	6.8	.585
Anderson Varejao	17	5.5	1.2	0.7	0.5	1.2	0.8	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.0	0.3	0.8	.357	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.1	.526


Season 13
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	1968-69	2016-17
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526
Anderson Varejao	14	6.6	1.3	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	0.2	0.2	0.6	1.1	0.4	1.0	.357	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.8	.727

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	18	46.1	10.8	-	-	20.5	5.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.3	10.1	.423	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	.506
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Anderson Varejao didn't play in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.


Season 14
	Bill Russell	Anderson Varejao
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
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		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	5	7.2	2.6	1.4	2.6	4.0	0.6	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.6	0.8	3.2	.250	0.0	0.2	.000	1.0	1.8	.556

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Bill Russell vs. Anderson Varejao Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Anderson Varejao 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.

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