Bob Lanier vs. Vern Mikkelsen Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Vern Mikkelsen and Bob Lanier, 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.

Bob Lanier played 14 years in the NBA, 4 more than Vern Mikkelsen, who played 10. Bob Lanier had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Vern Mikkelsen had his rookie season in 1949-50. 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
Rookie Season
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1970-71	1949-50
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
Vern Mikkelsen	68	-	11.6	-	-	-	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	10.6	.399	-	-	-	3.2	4.2	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Mikkelsen	12	-	13.0	-	-	-	1.5	-	-	-	4.3	4.6	12.4	.369	-	-	-	3.8	5.0	.767

Season 2
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1971-72	1950-51
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
Vern Mikkelsen	64	-	14.1	-	-	10.2	2.8	-	-	-	4.1	5.6	14.0	.402	-	-	-	2.9	4.3	.676
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Mikkelsen	7	-	15.6	-	-	9.6	2.4	-	-	-	5.0	5.6	13.7	.406	-	-	-	4.4	6.7	.660

Season 3
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1972-73	1951-52
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
Vern Mikkelsen	66	35.5	15.3	-	-	10.3	2.7	-	-	-	4.3	5.5	13.1	.419	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.761
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Mikkelsen	13	38.1	13.3	-	-	8.5	1.5	-	-	-	5.1	4.6	10.7	.432	-	-	-	4.1	4.9	.828

Season 4
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1973-74	1952-53
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
Vern Mikkelsen	70	35.2	15.0	-	-	9.3	2.1	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	12.4	.435	-	-	-	4.2	5.5	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789
Vern Mikkelsen	12	33.3	12.0	-	-	8.7	2.0	-	-	-	4.9	3.7	11.1	.331	-	-	-	4.7	5.5	.848

Season 5
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1974-75	1953-54
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
Vern Mikkelsen	72	31.2	11.1	-	-	8.5	1.7	-	-	-	3.7	4.0	10.7	.374	-	-	-	3.1	4.1	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750
Vern Mikkelsen	13	28.8	10.2	-	-	5.6	1.3	-	-	-	4.0	3.9	8.5	.459	-	-	-	2.4	2.8	.861

Season 6
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1975-76	1954-55
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
Bob Lanier	64	36.9	21.3	3.4	8.3	11.7	3.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.2	8.5	15.9	.532	-	-	-	4.4	5.8	.768
Vern Mikkelsen	71	36.0	18.7	-	-	10.2	2.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.2	14.7	.422	-	-	-	6.3	8.4	.747
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	9	39.9	26.1	4.3	8.3	12.7	3.3	0.9	2.3	-	3.8	10.6	19.1	.552	-	-	-	5.0	5.6	.900
Vern Mikkelsen	7	29.9	13.7	-	-	11.1	1.9	-	-	-	5.1	4.3	12.1	.353	-	-	-	5.1	6.6	.783

Season 7
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1976-77	1955-56
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
Bob Lanier	64	38.2	25.3	3.1	8.5	11.6	3.3	1.1	2.0	-	2.7	10.6	19.8	.534	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.818
Vern Mikkelsen	72	29.2	13.4	-	-	8.4	2.4	-	-	-	4.4	4.4	11.4	.386	-	-	-	4.6	5.7	.804
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	3	39.3	28.0	4.3	12.3	16.7	2.0	1.0	2.3	-	3.3	11.3	18.0	.630	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.842
Vern Mikkelsen	3	30.0	13.3	-	-	5.7	0.7	-	-	-	4.7	3.7	8.7	.423	-	-	-	6.0	6.7	.900

Season 8
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1977-78	1956-57
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
Bob Lanier	63	36.7	24.5	3.1	8.2	11.3	3.4	1.3	1.5	3.6	2.9	9.9	18.4	.537	-	-	-	4.7	6.1	.772
Vern Mikkelsen	72	30.5	13.7	-	-	8.8	1.7	-	-	-	4.3	4.5	11.9	.377	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.807
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Mikkelsen	5	32.4	17.6	-	-	8.6	3.4	-	-	-	5.8	6.6	16.6	.398	-	-	-	4.4	6.8	.647

Season 9
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1978-79	1957-58
Team	Detroit Pistons	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Bob Lanier	53	34.6	23.6	3.1	6.2	9.3	2.6	0.9	1.4	3.3	3.4	9.2	17.9	.515	-	-	-	5.2	6.9	.749
Vern Mikkelsen	72	33.2	17.3	-	-	11.2	2.3	-	-	-	4.2	6.1	14.9	.410	-	-	-	5.1	6.5	.786
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Bob Lanier	Vern Mikkelsen
Season	1981-82	-
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Bob Lanier	74	26.8	13.5	1.2	4.0	5.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	2.2	2.9	5.5	9.9	.558	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.3	.752
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	6	35.3	16.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	3.7	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.5	6.8	13.3	.513	0.0	0.2	.000	2.3	4.2	.560
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-