Bill Russell vs. Wes Unseld Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wes Unseld 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 and Wes Unseld both played 13 years in the NBA. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Wes Unseld had his rookie season in 1968-69. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69
Wes Unseld	13	12	1968-69 to 1980-81

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


Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1956-57	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Div Semis

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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:	+34	+0.9	+0.9			+1.4	+0.8				-0.4	+0.6	+2.6	+.049				+0.2	+0.8	+.113
Wes Unseld	82	36.2	13.8	-	-	18.2	2.6	-	-	-	3.4	5.2	10.9	.476	-	-	-	3.4	5.6	.605

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
difference:	+6	+0.4	+4.9			+5.9	+1.9				-0.6	+2.1	+0.5	+.161				+0.7	+1.3	+.281
Wes Unseld	4	41.3	18.8	-	-	18.5	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	7.5	14.3	.526	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.789


Season 2
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1957-58	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Bullets Lost East Div Semis

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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:	+13	+1.1	+0.4			+6.0	+0.6				-0.4	+0.2	+2.6	+.076					+1.2	+.119
Wes Unseld	82	39.4	16.2	-	-	16.7	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.4	12.4	.518	-	-	-	3.3	5.2	.638

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	+1.9	+4.7			+1.0	+0.7				-0.9	+1.2	+4.8	+.053				+2.3	+4.6	+.183
Wes Unseld	7	41.3	10.4	-	-	23.6	3.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.1	10.0	.414	-	-	-	2.1	2.7	.789


Season 3
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1958-59	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+4	+3.4	+2.6			+6.1	+0.8				-0.9	+0.8	+2.8	+.044				+1.0	+2.0	+.059
Wes Unseld	74	39.2	14.1	-	-	16.9	4.0	-	-	-	3.2	5.7	11.4	.501	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.657

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
difference:	+7	+2.9	+2.3			+8.9	+0.2				-0.8	+0.6	+2.9	+.053				+1.1	+1.6	+.044
Wes Unseld	18	42.2	13.2	-	-	18.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.3	5.3	11.6	.462	-	-	-	2.6	4.5	.568


Season 4
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1959-60	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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4th 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	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
difference:	+2	+0.8	+5.2			+6.4					-0.1	+2.1	+5.3	+.031				+0.9	+1.7	+.017
Wes Unseld	76	41.7	13.0	-	-	17.6	3.7	-	-	-	2.9	5.4	10.8	.498	-	-	-	2.3	3.6	.629

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
difference:	+7	+0.3	+6.2			+13.3	+1.3				-0.8	+1.9	+5.0	+.036				+2.4	+2.6	+.181
Wes Unseld	6	44.3	12.3	-	-	12.5	4.2	-	-	-	3.7	5.3	10.8	.492	-	-	-	1.7	3.2	.526


Season 5
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1960-61	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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5th 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	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
difference:	+1	+5.2	+4.4			+8.0	+1.0				-0.1	+1.5	+5.2	+.067				+1.4	+3.3	+.153
Wes Unseld	79	39.1	12.5	-	-	15.9	4.4	-	-	-	2.1	5.3	10.8	.493	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.703

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
difference:	+5	+6.0	+9.3			+14.7	+1.4					+3.3	+7.5	+.010				+2.7	+4.8	+.049
Wes Unseld	5	40.2	9.8	-	-	15.2	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	4.0	9.6	.417	-	-	-	1.8	3.8	.474


Season 6
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1961-62	1973-74
Team	Boston Celtics	Capital Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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6th 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	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
difference:	+20	+14.4	+13.0			+14.4	+1.7				-0.5	+5.0	+10.7	+.019				+3.2	+5.3	+.060
Wes Unseld	56	30.8	5.9	2.7	6.5	9.2	2.8	1.0	0.3	-	2.2	2.6	5.9	.438	-	-	-	0.6	1.0	.655

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
difference:	+7	+5.6	+12.3			+14.3	+1.1				-1.4	+3.9	+9.1	+.034				+4.6	+6.0	+.126
Wes Unseld	7	42.4	10.1	3.1	9.0	12.1	3.9	0.6	0.1	-	2.1	4.4	9.0	.492	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.600


Season 7
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1962-63	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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7th 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	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
difference:	+5	+5.1	+7.6			+8.8	+0.4				-0.1	+2.9	+7.7	+.070				+2.0	+4.1	+.130
Wes Unseld	73	39.8	9.2	4.4	10.4	14.8	4.1	1.6	0.9	-	2.5	3.7	7.5	.502	-	-	-	1.7	2.5	.685

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
difference:	+4	+4.3	+9.6			+8.9	+1.3				-0.5	+3.2	+8.7	+.093				+3.1	+4.8	+.005
Wes Unseld	17	43.2	10.7	3.8	12.4	16.2	3.8	0.9	1.2	-	2.3	4.2	7.6	.546	-	-	-	2.4	3.6	.656


Season 8
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1963-64	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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8th 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	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
difference:		+7.1	+5.4			+11.4	+0.5				-0.2	+1.9	+6.5	+.128				+1.5	+3.0	+.035
Wes Unseld	78	37.5	9.6	3.5	9.8	13.3	5.2	1.1	0.8	-	2.6	4.1	7.3	.561	-	-	-	1.5	2.5	.585

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
difference:	+3	+0.8	+6.1			+15.1	+0.4				-0.6	+2.1	+7.6	+.106				+1.8	+3.3	+.010
Wes Unseld	7	44.3	7.0	3.7	8.4	12.1	4.0	0.9	0.6	-	2.7	2.6	5.6	.462	-	-	-	1.9	3.4	.542


Season 9
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1964-65	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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9th 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	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
difference:	+4	+9.5	+6.3			+13.4	+0.9				-0.5	+2.2	+5.9	+.052				+1.9	+3.5	+.029
Wes Unseld	82	34.9	7.8	3.0	7.7	10.7	4.4	1.1	0.5	-	3.1	3.3	6.7	.490	-	-	-	1.2	2.0	.602

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
difference:	+3	+5.9	+9.1			+13.5	+1.4					+3.3	+6.5	+.029				+2.5	+5.0	+.057
Wes Unseld	9	40.9	7.4	2.7	9.0	11.7	4.9	0.9	0.7	-	3.6	3.3	6.0	.556	-	-	-	0.8	1.3	.583


Season 10
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1965-66	1977-78
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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10th 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	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
difference:	+2	+10.3	+5.3			+10.9	+0.7				-0.1	+1.8	+6.0	+.108				+1.7	+3.0	+.013
Wes Unseld	80	33.1	7.6	3.6	8.4	11.9	4.1	1.2	0.6	2.2	2.9	3.2	6.1	.523	-	-	-	1.2	2.2	.538

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
difference:	+1	+10.3	+9.7			+13.2	+0.6				-0.1	+3.4	+8.0	+.055				+3.0	+4.6	+.031
Wes Unseld	18	37.6	9.4	4.0	8.0	12.0	4.4	0.9	0.4	2.0	3.4	3.9	7.4	.530	-	-	-	1.5	2.6	.587


Season 11
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1966-67	1978-79
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

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11th 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	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610
difference:	+4	+9.5	+2.4			+10.2	+1.7				-0.6	+0.4	+2.9	+.123				+1.5	+2.7	+.033
Wes Unseld	77	31.2	10.9	3.6	7.2	10.8	4.1	0.9	0.5	2.0	2.6	4.5	7.8	.577	-	-	-	2.0	3.1	.643

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
difference:	+10	+4.6	+0.3			+8.7	+2.2				-0.1	+0.7	+1.3	+.134				+1.6	+2.4	+.026
Wes Unseld	19	38.7	10.3	4.7	8.6	13.3	3.4	0.9	0.7	1.6	3.5	4.1	8.3	.494	-	-	-	2.1	3.4	.609


Season 12
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1967-68	1979-80
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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12th 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	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537
difference:	+4	+1.6	+2.8			+5.3	+0.1				-0.1	+0.7	+3.2	+.088				+1.5	+3.4	+.128
Wes Unseld	82	36.3	9.7	4.1	9.3	13.3	4.5	0.8	0.7	1.9	3.0	4.0	7.8	.513	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.5	.665

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
difference:	+17	+2.2	+5.4			+8.8	+1.7				-1.3	+1.7	+5.7	+.091				+2.0	+3.8	+.082
Wes Unseld	2	43.5	9.0	3.5	10.5	14.0	3.5	0.0	1.5	1.5	2.5	3.5	7.0	.500	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	3.0	.667


Season 13
	Bill Russell	Wes Unseld
Season	1968-69	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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13th 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	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526
difference:	+14	+10.4	+1.9			+8.6	+2.2				-0.3		+1.6	+.091				+1.7	+3.6	+.114
Wes Unseld	63	32.3	8.0	3.3	7.4	10.7	2.7	0.8	0.6	1.5	2.7	3.6	6.8	.524	0.0	0.1	.500	0.9	1.4	.640

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
Wes Unseld	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Bill Russell vs. Wes Unseld Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wes Unseld 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

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Season 13

13th Season Stats Comparison