Bill Russell vs. Kurt Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kurt Thomas 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, 5 less than Kurt Thomas, who played 18. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Kurt Thomas had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18
Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1956-57	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Heat 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		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Kurt Thomas	74	22.4	9.0	1.6	4.3	5.9	0.6	0.6	0.5	1.3	3.7	3.7	7.4	.501	0.0	0.0	.000	1.6	2.4	.663
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
Kurt Thomas	3	20.0	4.0	1.3	4.0	5.3	1.0	0.7	0.3	1.7	4.3	1.3	3.3	.400	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	1.3	1.000

Season 2
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1957-58	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA 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		%
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Kurt Thomas	18	20.8	6.3	1.7	4.2	5.9	0.5	0.7	0.5	1.4	3.7	2.2	5.8	.371	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.6	.761
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
Kurt Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1958-59	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
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	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Kurt Thomas	5	14.6	7.4	1.6	3.2	4.8	0.6	0.2	0.0	2.0	3.8	3.4	9.0	.378	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.6	1.000
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
Kurt Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1959-60	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Kurt Thomas	50	23.6	8.1	1.6	4.1	5.7	1.1	0.9	0.3	1.5	3.2	3.4	7.4	.462	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.2	.611
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
Kurt Thomas	20	21.1	5.3	1.9	3.6	5.5	0.4	0.8	0.6	1.0	3.8	2.3	5.9	.381	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.2	.696

Season 5
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1960-61	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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
Kurt Thomas	80	24.6	8.0	1.8	4.5	6.3	1.0	0.6	0.5	1.3	3.5	3.4	6.7	.505	0.0	0.0	.333	1.3	1.6	.781
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
Kurt Thomas	16	15.7	4.3	1.1	2.0	3.1	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.9	2.8	1.9	3.8	.508	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.6	.700

Season 6
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1961-62	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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		%
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Kurt Thomas	77	27.6	10.4	2.2	4.5	6.7	0.8	0.8	0.9	1.3	3.7	4.1	8.0	.511	0.0	0.0	.333	2.2	2.7	.814
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
Kurt Thomas	5	37.2	14.4	3.4	7.8	11.2	1.8	0.4	1.0	1.8	5.2	5.0	9.4	.532	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	6.2	.710

Season 7
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1962-63	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
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
Kurt Thomas	82	33.8	13.9	2.6	6.5	9.1	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.9	4.2	5.6	11.4	.494	0.0	0.1	.167	2.6	3.2	.815
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
Kurt Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1963-64	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
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	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
Kurt Thomas	81	31.8	14.0	2.0	5.9	7.9	2.0	1.0	1.2	1.7	4.2	6.1	12.7	.483	0.0	0.0	.667	1.7	2.3	.750
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
Kurt Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1964-65	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
Kurt Thomas	80	31.9	11.1	1.8	6.5	8.3	1.9	0.7	1.0	1.7	3.7	4.9	10.4	.473	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	1.6	.835
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
Kurt Thomas	4	35.3	12.8	2.3	9.3	11.5	1.5	1.8	0.8	2.5	4.3	5.3	12.3	.429	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.0	.750

Season 10
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1965-66	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
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	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
Kurt Thomas	80	35.7	11.5	2.1	8.3	10.4	2.0	0.9	1.0	1.2	3.9	5.3	11.3	.471	0.0	0.1	.500	0.8	1.1	.786
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
Kurt Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1966-67	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Suns Lost West 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	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610
Kurt Thomas	53	26.6	8.6	1.9	5.9	7.8	1.1	0.4	1.0	1.1	3.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	1.7	.815
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
Kurt Thomas	1	6.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.0	.500

Season 12
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1967-68	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns Lost West 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	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537
Kurt Thomas	67	18.0	4.6	1.3	4.4	5.7	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	2.3	1.9	3.9	.486	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.1	.789
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
Kurt Thomas	11	19.3	7.5	1.0	3.9	4.9	1.1	0.5	0.8	0.8	2.3	3.1	5.9	.523	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	1.5	.882

Season 13
	Bill Russell	Kurt Thomas
Season	1968-69	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics, San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs Lost West 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	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526
Kurt Thomas	70	22.6	6.3	1.9	5.4	7.2	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.7	2.7	2.8	5.7	.492	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.1	.663
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
Kurt Thomas	17	15.8	4.1	1.5	3.4	4.9	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.8	2.7	1.9	4.1	.457	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.714