Don Carlson vs. Bob Lanier Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Lanier and Don Carlson, 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.

Don Carlson played 4 years in the NBA, 10 less than Bob Lanier, who played 14. Don Carlson had the first of his seasons in 1946-47, while Bob Lanier had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	1946-47	1970-71
Team	Chicago Stags	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Stags Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	59	-	10.7	-	-	-	1.0	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	14.3	.322	-	-	-	1.5	2.7	.541
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	11	-	12.3	-	-	-	0.5	-	-	-	2.8	4.9	18.2	.270	-	-	-	2.5	4.0	.614
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Don Carlson didn't play in 1947-48.

Season 2
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	1948-49	1971-72
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	55	-	9.2	-	-	-	3.1	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	11.5	.334	-	-	-	1.6	2.4	.662
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	10	-	6.0	-	-	-	2.8	-	-	-	3.0	2.3	9.5	.242	-	-	-	1.4	2.5	.560
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	1949-50	1972-73
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	57	-	4.7	-	-	-	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	1.7	5.1	.341	-	-	-	1.2	1.7	.726
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	10	-	5.4	-	-	-	1.1	-	-	-	1.9	2.1	3.7	.568	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.800
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	1950-51	1973-74
Team	Baltimore Bullets (1st)	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	9	-	4.7	-	-	1.7	2.1	-	-	-	2.6	1.9	5.1	.370	-	-	-	0.9	1.8	.500
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 5
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1974-75
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 7
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1976-77
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 8
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1977-78
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1978-79
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Don Carlson	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1981-82
Team	-	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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