Damian Lillard vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Damian Lillard, 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.

Damian Lillard played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Damian Lillard had the first of his seasons in 2012-13, while Nate Thurmond had his rookie season in 1963-64. 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
Damian Lillard	13	10	2012-13 to 2024-25
Nate Thurmond	14	9	1963-64 to 1976-77

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


Rookie Season
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2012-13	1963-64
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Damian Lillard	82	38.6	19.0	0.5	2.6	3.1	6.5	0.9	0.2	3.0	2.1	6.7	15.7	.429	2.3	6.1	.368	3.3	3.9	.844
difference:	+6	+12.7	+12.0			+7.3	+5.4				-0.3	+3.8	+8.4	+.034				+2.0	+1.6	+.295
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679


Season 2
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2013-14	1964-65
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Damian Lillard	82	35.8	20.7	0.4	3.1	3.5	5.6	0.8	0.3	2.4	2.4	6.7	15.9	.424	2.7	6.8	.394	4.5	5.2	.871
difference:	+5	+5.4	+4.2			+14.6	+3.6				-0.6		+0.2	+.005				+1.4	+0.6	+.213
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	11	42.4	22.9	1.1	4.0	5.1	6.5	1.0	0.1	2.7	2.6	7.5	17.2	.439	2.5	6.4	.386	5.4	6.0	.894
Nate Thurmond	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2014-15	1965-66
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Damian Lillard	82	35.7	21.0	0.6	4.0	4.6	6.2	1.2	0.3	2.7	2.0	7.2	16.6	.434	2.4	7.0	.343	4.2	4.9	.864
difference:	+9	+3.9	+4.7			+13.4	+4.7				-1.1	+1.0	+1.3	+.028				+0.4	+1.0	+.210
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	5	40.2	21.6	0.4	3.6	4.0	4.6	0.4	0.6	2.4	3.0	7.8	19.2	.406	1.0	6.2	.161	5.0	6.4	.781
Nate Thurmond	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2015-16	1966-67
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Damian Lillard	75	35.7	25.1	0.6	3.4	4.0	6.8	0.9	0.4	3.2	2.2	8.2	19.7	.419	3.1	8.1	.375	5.5	6.2	.892
difference:	+10	+6.8	+6.4			+17.3	+4.2				-0.6	+1.0	+3.3	+.018				+1.2	+0.6	+.263
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	11	39.7	26.5	1.1	3.2	4.3	6.3	1.3	0.3	3.0	2.1	8.1	22.0	.368	3.8	9.7	.393	6.5	7.1	.910
difference:	+4	+6.3	+10.6			+18.8	+3.2				-1.4	+1.9	+7.7	+.065				+3.0	+1.0	+.339
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571


Season 5
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2016-17	1967-68
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Damian Lillard	75	35.9	27.0	0.6	4.3	4.9	5.9	0.9	0.3	2.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	2.9	7.7	.370	6.5	7.3	.895
difference:	+24	+7.7	+6.5			+17.1	+1.7				-0.7	+1.3	+1.6	+.033				+1.0	+1.3	+.251
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	4	37.8	27.8	1.0	3.5	4.5	3.3	1.3	0.5	3.3	2.8	9.8	22.5	.433	2.3	8.0	.281	6.0	6.3	.960
Nate Thurmond	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2017-18	1968-69
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West Div 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		%
Damian Lillard	73	36.6	26.9	0.8	3.6	4.5	6.6	1.1	0.4	2.8	1.6	8.5	19.4	.439	3.1	8.6	.361	6.8	7.4	.916
difference:	+2	+8.6	+5.4			+15.2	+3.0				-0.8	+0.5	+0.2	+.029				+1.4	+1.3	+.301
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	4	40.5	18.5	0.8	3.8	4.5	4.8	1.3	0.0	4.0	2.0	6.3	17.8	.352	2.3	7.5	.300	3.8	4.3	.882
difference:	+2	+3.3	+1.8			+15.0	+0.1				-1.0	+0.4	+0.8	+.040				+0.5	+1.4	+.294
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588


Season 7
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2018-19	1969-70
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
Damian Lillard	80	35.5	25.8	0.9	3.8	4.6	6.9	1.1	0.4	2.7	1.9	8.5	19.2	.444	3.0	8.0	.369	5.9	6.4	.912
difference:	+37	+9.1	+3.9			+13.1	+3.4				-0.7	+0.6		+.030				+0.2	+1.6	+.158
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	16	40.6	26.9	0.5	4.3	4.8	6.6	1.7	0.3	3.8	2.5	8.6	20.6	.418	3.7	9.9	.373	5.9	7.1	.833
Nate Thurmond	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2019-20	1970-71
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West 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		%
Damian Lillard	66	37.5	30.0	0.5	3.8	4.3	8.0	1.1	0.3	2.9	1.7	9.5	20.4	.463	4.1	10.2	.401	7.0	7.8	.888
difference:	+16	+3.4	+10.0			+9.5	+4.9				-0.6	+1.9	+3.3	+.018				+2.2	+1.2	+.158
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	4	35.8	24.3	0.3	3.3	3.5	4.3	0.5	0.3	3.5	1.0	6.5	16.0	.406	3.3	8.3	.394	8.0	8.3	.970
difference:	+1	+2.6	+6.7			+6.7	+1.3				-3.0	+0.7	+3.4	+.035				+4.8	+4.3	+.170
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800


Season 9
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2020-21	1971-72
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West 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		%
Damian Lillard	67	35.8	28.8	0.5	3.7	4.2	7.5	0.9	0.3	3.0	1.5	9.0	19.9	.451	4.1	10.5	.391	6.7	7.2	.928
difference:	+11	+7.3	+7.4			+11.9	+4.6				-1.2	+0.9	+1.3	+.019				+1.4		+.185
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	6	41.3	34.3	0.2	4.2	4.3	10.2	1.0	0.7	2.2	1.5	10.3	22.3	.463	5.8	13.0	.449	7.8	8.3	.940
difference:	+1	+4.7	+8.9			+13.5	+5.0				-0.9	+0.3	+2.1	+.029				+3.6	+2.7	+.190
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750


Season 10
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2021-22	1972-73
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Damian Lillard	29	36.4	24.0	0.4	3.7	4.1	7.3	0.6	0.4	2.9	1.3	7.7	19.0	.402	3.2	9.8	.324	5.5	6.2	.878
difference:	+50	+6.9	+6.9			+13.0	+3.8				-1.7	+1.2	+4.3	+.044				+1.5	+0.6	+.160
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800


Season 11
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2022-23	1973-74
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Damian Lillard	58	36.3	32.2	0.8	4.0	4.8	7.3	0.9	0.3	3.3	1.9	9.6	20.7	.463	4.2	11.3	.371	8.8	9.6	.914
difference:	+4	+3.4	+19.2	+3.2	+6.1	+9.4	+4.6	+0.2	+2.6		-1.0	+4.6	+9.5	+.019				+5.7	+5.0	+.248
Nate Thurmond	62	39.7	13.0	4.0	10.1	14.2	2.7	0.7	2.9	-	2.9	5.0	11.2	.444	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.666

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Damian Lillard nor Nate Thurmond played in the postseason in their season 11


Season 12
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2023-24	1974-75
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bulls Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Damian Lillard	73	35.3	24.3	0.5	3.9	4.4	7.0	1.0	0.2	2.6	1.8	7.4	17.5	.424	3.0	8.5	.354	6.5	7.0	.920
difference:	+7	+0.8	+16.4	+2.7	+4.2	+6.9	+2.9	+0.4	+2.2		-1.6	+4.3	+8.9	+.060				+4.8	+4.2	+.331
Nate Thurmond	80	34.5	7.9	3.2	8.1	11.3	4.1	0.6	2.4	-	3.4	3.1	8.6	.364	-	-	-	1.7	2.8	.589

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	4	39.0	31.3	0.5	2.8	3.3	5.0	1.0	0.0	2.3	2.0	8.5	20.3	.420	5.0	12.0	.417	9.3	9.5	.974
difference:	+9	+19.5	+27.8	+1.3	+2.0	+3.4	+2.6	+0.6	+1.6		-0.8	+7.4	+17.4	+.052				+7.9	+6.7	+.488
Nate Thurmond	13	19.5	3.5	1.8	4.8	6.7	2.4	0.4	1.6	-	2.8	1.1	2.9	.368	-	-	-	1.4	2.8	.486


Season 13
	Damian Lillard	Nate Thurmond
Season	2024-25	1975-76
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Cup All-Tournament Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals
Others	NBA Cup Champion	-

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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		%
Damian Lillard	58	36.1	24.9	0.5	4.2	4.7	7.1	1.2	0.2	2.8	1.7	7.7	17.1	.448	3.4	9.0	.376	6.2	6.8	.921
difference:	+20	+18.2	+20.5	+1.0	+0.4	+0.6	+5.9	+0.9	+1.1		-0.4	+5.9	+12.8	+.027				+5.4	+5.2	+.417
Nate Thurmond	78	17.9	4.4	1.5	3.8	5.3	1.2	0.3	1.3	-	2.1	1.8	4.3	.421	-	-	-	0.8	1.6	.504

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Damian Lillard	3	25.0	7.0	0.3	2.3	2.7	4.7	0.7	0.7	1.0	2.7	2.0	9.0	.222	1.0	5.3	.188	2.0	2.3	.857
difference:	+10	+3.8	+0.3	+2.6	+3.8	+6.3	+2.5	+0.2	+1.5		-1.3	+0.8	+2.9	+.246				+1.0	+0.2	+.451
Nate Thurmond	13	28.8	6.7	2.9	6.1	9.0	2.2	0.5	2.2	-	4.0	2.8	6.1	.468	-	-	-	1.0	2.5	.406

Additional Years

* Nate Thurmond played 1 season more than Damian Lillard in the NBA.

In that period—his season 14 in 1977—Nate Thurmond played in the Playoffs.

Damian Lillard vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Damian Lillard, 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

Additional Years