Don Nelson vs. Dennis Rodman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Rodman and Don Nelson, 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.

Don Nelson and Dennis Rodman both played 14 years in the NBA. Don Nelson had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Dennis Rodman had his rookie season in 1986-87. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Don Nelson	14	11	1962-63 to 1975-76
Dennis Rodman	14	11	1986-87 to 1999-00

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1962-63	1986-87
Team	Chicago Zephyrs	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf 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		%
Don Nelson	62	17.3	6.8	-	-	4.5	1.2	-	-	-	2.2	2.1	4.7	.440	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.729
Dennis Rodman	77	15.0	6.5	2.1	2.2	4.3	0.7	0.5	0.6	1.2	2.2	2.8	5.1	.545	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.6	.587

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	15	16.3	6.5	2.1	2.6	4.7	0.2	0.4	1.1	1.1	3.2	2.7	4.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.1	.563


Season 2
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1963-64	1987-88
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Pistons Lost NBA 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		%
Don Nelson	80	17.6	5.2	-	-	4.0	1.0	-	-	-	2.3	1.7	4.0	.418	-	-	-	1.9	2.5	.741
Dennis Rodman	82	26.2	11.6	3.9	4.8	8.7	1.3	0.9	0.5	1.9	3.3	4.9	8.6	.561	0.1	0.2	.294	1.9	3.5	.535

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	5	11.2	3.4	-	-	2.6	0.4	-	-	-	2.2	1.4	2.6	.538	-	-	-	0.6	0.6	1.000
Dennis Rodman	23	20.6	7.1	2.2	3.7	5.9	0.9	0.6	0.6	1.3	3.8	3.1	5.9	.522	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	2.3	.407


Season 3
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1964-65	1988-89
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Don Nelson	39	6.1	2.4	-	-	1.9	0.6	-	-	-	1.0	0.9	2.2	.424	-	-	-	0.5	0.7	.769
Dennis Rodman	82	26.9	9.0	4.0	5.4	9.4	1.2	0.7	0.9	1.5	3.6	3.9	6.5	.595	0.1	0.3	.231	1.2	1.9	.626

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	11	19.3	6.1	-	-	5.4	1.7	-	-	-	2.8	2.2	4.8	.453	-	-	-	1.7	2.3	.760
Dennis Rodman	17	24.1	5.8	3.3	6.7	10.0	0.9	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.4	2.2	4.1	.529	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.1	.686


Season 4
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1965-66	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Don Nelson	75	23.5	10.2	-	-	5.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.5	3.6	8.2	.439	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.684
Dennis Rodman	82	29.0	8.8	4.1	5.6	9.7	0.9	0.6	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.5	6.0	.581	0.0	0.1	.111	1.7	2.6	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	17	18.6	8.4	-	-	5.0	0.8	-	-	-	2.9	2.9	6.9	.424	-	-	-	2.5	3.1	.808
Dennis Rodman	19	29.5	6.6	2.9	5.6	8.5	0.9	0.5	0.7	1.6	3.3	2.8	5.0	.568	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.8	.514


Season 5
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1966-67	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	Defensive Player of the Year
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Pistons Lost East Conf 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		%
Don Nelson	79	15.2	7.5	-	-	3.7	0.8	-	-	-	1.8	2.9	6.4	.446	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.742
Dennis Rodman	82	33.5	8.2	4.4	8.1	12.5	1.0	0.8	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.4	6.8	.493	0.1	0.4	.200	1.4	2.1	.631

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	9	15.8	7.1	-	-	4.7	1.0	-	-	-	1.3	3.0	6.6	.458	-	-	-	1.1	1.9	.588
Dennis Rodman	15	33.0	6.3	4.5	7.3	11.8	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	3.7	2.7	6.1	.451	0.1	0.6	.222	0.7	1.6	.417


Season 6
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1967-68	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	82	18.3	10.0	-	-	5.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	3.8	7.7	.494	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.728
Dennis Rodman	82	40.3	9.8	6.4	12.3	18.7	2.3	0.8	0.9	1.7	3.0	4.2	7.7	.539	0.4	1.2	.317	1.0	1.7	.600

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	19	24.6	12.5	-	-	7.5	1.7	-	-	-	2.6	4.8	9.2	.520	-	-	-	2.9	3.9	.743
Dennis Rodman	5	31.2	7.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	3.4	3.2	5.4	.593	0.0	0.4	.000	0.8	1.6	.500


Season 7
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1968-69	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Don Nelson	82	21.6	11.6	-	-	5.6	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	4.6	9.4	.485	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.776
Dennis Rodman	62	38.9	7.5	5.9	12.3	18.3	1.6	0.8	0.7	1.7	3.2	3.0	6.9	.427	0.2	1.2	.205	1.4	2.6	.534

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	18	19.3	12.4	-	-	4.6	1.2	-	-	-	2.8	4.8	9.3	.518	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.833
Dennis Rodman	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1969-70	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	82	27.1	15.4	-	-	7.3	1.8	-	-	-	2.9	5.6	11.2	.501	-	-	-	4.1	5.3	.775
Dennis Rodman	79	37.8	4.7	5.7	11.6	17.3	2.3	0.7	0.4	1.7	2.9	2.0	3.7	.534	0.1	0.3	.208	0.7	1.3	.520

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	3	38.0	8.3	8.0	8.0	16.0	0.7	2.0	1.3	2.0	4.7	4.0	8.0	.500	0.0	1.7	.000	0.3	2.0	.167


Season 9
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1970-71	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	82	27.5	13.9	-	-	6.9	1.9	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	10.7	.468	-	-	-	3.9	5.2	.744
Dennis Rodman	49	32.0	7.1	5.6	11.2	16.8	2.0	0.6	0.5	2.0	3.2	2.8	4.9	.571	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.3	.676

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	14	32.8	8.9	4.9	9.9	14.8	1.3	0.9	0.0	1.8	3.6	3.7	6.9	.542	0.0	0.4	.000	1.4	2.5	.571


Season 10
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1971-72	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Don Nelson	82	25.4	13.8	-	-	5.5	2.3	-	-	-	2.7	4.7	9.9	.480	-	-	-	4.3	5.5	.788
Dennis Rodman	64	32.6	5.5	5.6	9.3	14.9	2.5	0.6	0.4	2.2	3.1	2.3	4.8	.480	0.0	0.4	.111	0.9	1.7	.528

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	11	28.0	13.2	-	-	5.5	1.9	-	-	-	2.7	4.7	9.0	.525	-	-	-	3.7	4.4	.854
Dennis Rodman	18	34.4	7.5	5.4	8.3	13.7	2.1	0.8	0.4	2.3	4.2	2.8	5.7	.485	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.593


Season 11
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1972-73	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Don Nelson	72	19.8	10.8	-	-	4.4	1.4	-	-	-	2.2	4.3	9.0	.476	-	-	-	2.2	2.6	.846
Dennis Rodman	55	35.4	5.7	5.8	10.2	16.1	3.1	0.6	0.3	2.0	3.1	2.3	5.2	.448	0.1	0.3	.263	0.9	1.6	.568

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	13	23.3	11.0	-	-	2.9	1.2	-	-	-	2.2	3.6	7.8	.465	-	-	-	3.8	4.3	.875
Dennis Rodman	19	28.1	4.2	3.1	5.3	8.4	1.4	0.5	0.2	1.5	3.9	1.6	4.3	.370	0.2	0.8	.250	0.8	1.4	.577


Season 12
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1973-74	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	82	21.3	11.5	1.1	3.1	4.2	2.0	0.2	0.2	-	2.3	4.4	8.7	.508	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.788
Dennis Rodman	80	35.7	4.7	5.3	9.8	15.0	2.9	0.6	0.2	1.8	3.0	1.9	4.5	.431	0.1	0.3	.174	0.8	1.4	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	18	25.9	11.4	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.9	0.4	0.2	-	3.0	4.6	9.1	.500	-	-	-	2.3	2.9	.774
Dennis Rodman	21	34.4	4.9	4.7	7.1	11.8	2.0	0.7	0.6	1.7	4.2	1.9	5.0	.371	0.0	0.2	.250	1.1	1.8	.605


Season 13
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1974-75	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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 Nelson	79	26.0	14.0	1.6	4.3	5.9	2.3	0.4	0.2	-	3.0	5.4	9.9	.539	-	-	-	3.3	4.0	.827
Dennis Rodman	23	28.6	2.1	2.7	8.5	11.2	1.3	0.4	0.5	1.3	3.1	0.7	2.0	.348	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.7	.436

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	11	24.9	15.4	1.6	2.5	4.1	2.4	0.2	0.2	-	3.3	6.0	10.6	.564	-	-	-	3.4	3.7	.902
Dennis Rodman	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Don Nelson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1975-76	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
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 Nelson	75	12.6	6.4	0.7	1.7	2.4	1.0	0.2	0.1	-	1.5	2.3	5.1	.462	-	-	-	1.7	2.1	.789
Dennis Rodman	12	32.4	2.8	4.0	10.3	14.3	1.2	0.2	0.1	1.6	3.4	1.0	2.6	.387	0.0	0.1	.000	0.8	1.2	.714

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	18	17.5	9.1	0.9	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.2	0.1	-	2.6	2.9	6.0	.481	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	.870
Dennis Rodman	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Don Nelson vs. Dennis Rodman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Rodman and Don Nelson, 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

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14