Desmond Bane vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Desmond Bane, 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.

Desmond Bane played 5 years in the NBA, 8 less than Larry Bird, who played 13. Desmond Bane had the first of his seasons in 2020-21, while Larry Bird had his rookie season in 1979-80. 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.

Rookie Season
	Desmond Bane	Larry Bird
Season	2020-21	1979-80
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	68	22.3	9.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	1.7	0.6	0.2	0.9	1.8	3.4	7.3	.469	1.7	4.0	.432	0.6	0.7	.816
difference:	+14	+13.7	+12.1	+2.1	+5.2	+7.3	+2.8	+1.1	+0.4	-2.3	-1.6	+5.1	+10.5	+.005	+1.0	+2.3	+.026	+3.1	+3.7	+.020
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	5	19.8	5.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.6	1.2	2.2	3.8	.579	1.2	2.4	.500	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+4	+21.5	+15.7	+2.0	+5.8	+7.8	+2.7	+0.8	+0.5	-3.1	-2.1	+7.0	+15.9	+.110	+0.8	+0.7	+.233	+2.4	+2.8
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880

Season 2
	Desmond Bane	Larry Bird
Season	2021-22	1980-81
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	76	29.8	18.2	0.6	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.4	1.5	2.6	6.7	14.5	.461	3.0	6.9	.436	1.8	2.0	.903
difference:	+6	+9.7	+3.0	+1.7	+4.8	+6.5	+2.8	+0.8	+0.4	-2.0	-0.3	+2.1	+3.8	+.017	+2.8	+6.0	+.166	+1.7	+2.0	+.040
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	12	35.7	18.8	0.4	3.3	3.8	2.2	0.9	0.8	1.3	1.9	6.3	13.3	.478	3.6	7.3	.489	2.5	2.9	.857
difference:	+5	+8.4	+3.1	+2.5	+7.8	+10.2	+3.9	+1.4	+0.2	-2.3	-1.2	+2.3	+5.1	+.008	+3.4	+6.8	+.114	+2.0	+2.1	+.037
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894

Season 3
	Desmond Bane	Larry Bird
Season	2022-23	1981-82
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	58	31.8	21.5	0.7	4.3	5.0	4.4	1.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	7.8	16.2	.479	2.9	7.0	.408	3.1	3.5	.883
difference:	+19	+6.2	+1.4	+1.9	+4.0	+5.9	+1.4	+0.9	+0.5	-1.1	-0.6	+1.4	+2.2	+.024	+2.8	+6.3	+.196	+1.2	+1.4	+.020
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	6	38.5	23.5	1.2	4.8	6.0	3.2	0.5	0.0	2.8	3.2	8.2	19.3	.422	2.7	8.3	.320	4.5	4.8	.931
difference:	+6	+2.3	+5.7	+1.6	+5.0	+6.5	+2.4	+1.4	+1.4	-0.4	-0.4	+0.9	+2.1	+.005	+2.6	+7.8	+.153	+1.4	+1.0	+.109
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822

Season 4
	Desmond Bane	Larry Bird
Season	2023-24	1982-83
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	42	34.4	23.7	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.5	1.0	0.5	2.7	2.9	8.6	18.5	.464	3.3	8.6	.381	3.3	3.8	.870
difference:	+37	+3.3	+0.1	+1.5	+5.1	+6.6	+0.3	+0.9	+0.4	-0.3	-0.4	+0.9	+0.2	+.040	+3.0	+7.6	+.095	+1.1	+1.5	+.030
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828

Season 5
	Desmond Bane	Larry Bird
Season	2024-25	1983-84
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	69	32.0	19.2	0.9	5.2	6.1	5.3	1.2	0.4	2.4	2.4	7.1	14.8	.484	2.4	6.1	.392	2.6	2.9	.894
difference:	+10	+6.3	+5.0	+1.4	+2.6	+4.0	+1.3	+0.6	+0.5	-0.6	-0.1	+2.5	+4.7	+.008	+2.2	+5.2	+.145	+2.1	+2.4	+.006
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Desmond Bane	4	34.8	15.3	1.3	5.5	6.8	3.3	0.8	0.5	3.8	2.3	5.0	15.8	.317	1.8	8.0	.219	3.5	3.8	.933
difference:	+19	+7.0	+12.2	+1.4	+2.8	+4.2	+2.6	+1.5	+0.7		-0.8	+5.0	+3.2	+.207	+1.5	+7.3	+.193	+3.8	+4.5	+.054
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879

Additional Years
* Larry Bird played 8 seasons more than Desmond Bane in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 13, from 1985 to 1992—Larry Bird played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over Desmond Bane, Larry Bird got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 7 All-Star Game