Don Nelson vs. Derrick Rose Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Derrick Rose 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.

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 played 14 years in the NBA, 1 less than Derrick Rose, who played 15. Don Nelson had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Derrick Rose had his rookie season in 2008-09. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15
Rookie Season
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1962-63	2008-09
Team	Chicago Zephyrs	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls 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	62	17.3	6.8	-	-	4.5	1.2	-	-	-	2.2	2.1	4.7	.440	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.729
Derrick Rose	81	37.0	16.8	1.2	2.7	3.9	6.3	0.8	0.2	2.5	1.5	7.1	14.9	.475	0.2	0.9	.222	2.4	3.1	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Derrick Rose	7	44.7	19.7	1.7	4.6	6.3	6.4	0.6	0.7	5.0	3.6	8.4	17.1	.492	0.0	0.6	.000	2.9	3.6	.800

Season 2
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1963-64	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Bulls 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	80	17.6	5.2	-	-	4.0	1.0	-	-	-	2.3	1.7	4.0	.418	-	-	-	1.9	2.5	.741
Derrick Rose	78	36.8	20.8	0.8	2.9	3.8	6.0	0.7	0.3	2.8	1.2	8.6	17.6	.489	0.2	0.8	.267	3.3	4.3	.766
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
Derrick Rose	5	42.4	26.8	0.8	2.6	3.4	7.2	0.8	0.0	2.6	1.6	11.4	25.0	.456	0.4	1.2	.333	3.6	4.4	.818

Season 3
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1964-65	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Bulls 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	39	6.1	2.4	-	-	1.9	0.6	-	-	-	1.0	0.9	2.2	.424	-	-	-	0.5	0.7	.769
Derrick Rose	81	37.4	25.0	1.0	3.1	4.1	7.7	1.0	0.6	3.4	1.7	8.8	19.7	.445	1.6	4.8	.332	5.9	6.9	.858
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
Derrick Rose	16	40.6	27.1	1.3	3.1	4.3	7.7	1.4	0.7	3.7	2.1	9.3	23.5	.396	1.6	6.3	.248	6.9	8.4	.828

Season 4
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1965-66	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls 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	75	23.5	10.2	-	-	5.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.5	3.6	8.2	.439	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.684
Derrick Rose	39	35.3	21.8	0.7	2.7	3.4	7.9	0.9	0.7	3.1	1.3	7.7	17.8	.435	1.4	4.4	.312	5.0	6.1	.812
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
Derrick Rose	1	37.0	23.0	3.0	6.0	9.0	9.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	1.0	9.0	23.0	.391	3.0	6.0	.500	2.0	2.0	1.000

Note: Derrick Rose didn't play in 2012-13.

Season 6
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1967-68	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls 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		%
Don Nelson	82	18.3	10.0	-	-	5.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	3.8	7.7	.494	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.728
Derrick Rose	51	30.0	17.7	0.7	2.5	3.2	4.9	0.7	0.3	3.2	1.2	6.6	16.4	.405	1.5	5.3	.280	3.0	3.7	.813
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
Derrick Rose	12	37.8	20.3	1.1	3.8	4.8	6.5	1.2	0.5	3.2	1.8	7.8	19.6	.396	1.9	5.5	.348	2.9	3.3	.897

Season 7
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1968-69	2015-16
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
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
Derrick Rose	66	31.8	16.4	0.7	2.7	3.4	4.7	0.7	0.2	2.7	1.3	6.8	15.9	.427	0.7	2.3	.293	2.2	2.7	.793
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
Derrick Rose	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1973-74	2020-21
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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	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
Derrick Rose	50	25.6	14.7	0.4	2.2	2.6	4.2	1.0	0.4	1.6	1.1	5.7	12.2	.470	1.0	2.6	.388	2.2	2.5	.866
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
Derrick Rose	5	35.0	19.4	0.8	3.2	4.0	5.0	0.4	0.2	1.6	1.0	8.0	16.8	.476	1.6	3.4	.471	1.8	1.8	1.000

Season 14
	Don Nelson	Derrick Rose
Season	1975-76	2022-23
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks 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		%
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
Derrick Rose	27	12.5	5.6	0.3	1.2	1.5	1.7	0.3	0.2	0.8	0.7	2.3	5.9	.384	0.7	2.3	.302	0.4	0.4	.917
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
Derrick Rose	1	3.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-