Fred Saunders vs. Russell Westbrook Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Russell Westbrook and Fred Saunders, 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.

Fred Saunders played 4 years in the NBA, 12 less than Russell Westbrook, who played 16. Fred Saunders had the first of his seasons in 1974-75, while Russell Westbrook 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Fred Saunders	4	1	1974-75 to 1977-78
Russell Westbrook	16	13	2008-09 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	1974-75	2008-09
Team	Phoenix Suns	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Fred Saunders	69	15.3	6.1	1.2	2.5	3.7	1.2	0.6	0.2	-	2.2	2.6	5.9	.433	-	-	-	1.0	1.4	.695
Russell Westbrook	82	32.5	15.3	2.2	2.7	4.9	5.3	1.3	0.2	3.3	2.3	5.3	13.4	.398	0.4	1.6	.271	4.3	5.2	.815

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	1975-76	2009-10
Team	Phoenix Suns	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder 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		%
Fred Saunders	17	8.6	3.6	0.6	1.5	2.2	0.8	0.3	0.1	-	1.4	1.6	3.8	.438	-	-	-	0.4	0.6	.545
Russell Westbrook	82	34.3	16.1	1.7	3.1	4.9	8.0	1.3	0.4	3.3	2.5	5.9	14.1	.418	0.3	1.3	.221	4.0	5.1	.780

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	35.3	20.5	1.7	4.3	6.0	6.0	1.7	0.2	2.3	2.2	7.2	15.2	.473	0.8	2.0	.417	5.3	6.3	.842


Season 3
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	1976-77	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder Lost West 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		%
Fred Saunders	68	15.5	5.9	1.1	2.2	3.3	1.3	0.4	0.1	-	2.8	2.7	5.8	.466	-	-	-	0.5	0.8	.660
Russell Westbrook	82	34.7	21.9	1.5	3.1	4.6	8.2	1.9	0.4	3.9	2.5	7.5	17.0	.442	0.4	1.3	.330	6.5	7.7	.842

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	9	7.3	3.2	0.1	0.9	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.0	-	2.3	1.3	3.7	.364	-	-	-	0.6	0.7	.833
Russell Westbrook	17	37.5	23.8	2.1	3.2	5.4	6.4	1.4	0.4	4.6	3.3	7.9	20.2	.394	0.8	2.8	.292	7.1	8.4	.852


Season 4
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	1977-78	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics, New Orleans Jazz	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder 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		%
Fred Saunders	56	11.5	4.0	0.7	1.3	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.8	1.9	1.8	4.2	.423	-	-	-	0.5	0.6	.722
Russell Westbrook	66	35.3	23.6	1.5	3.1	4.6	5.5	1.7	0.3	3.6	2.2	8.8	19.2	.457	0.9	3.0	.316	5.2	6.3	.823

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	20	38.4	23.1	1.1	4.4	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.4	2.3	2.5	8.9	20.4	.435	0.9	3.3	.277	4.5	5.6	.802


Season 5
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2012-13
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Thunder Lost West 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	82	34.9	23.2	1.4	3.9	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.3	3.3	2.3	8.2	18.7	.438	1.2	3.7	.323	5.6	7.0	.800

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	2	34.0	24.0	0.5	6.0	6.5	7.0	3.0	0.0	4.0	2.5	8.5	20.5	.415	1.0	4.5	.222	6.0	7.0	.857


Season 6
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2013-14
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Thunder Lost West 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	46	30.7	21.8	1.2	4.5	5.7	6.9	1.9	0.2	3.8	2.3	7.5	17.2	.437	1.5	4.7	.318	5.3	6.4	.826

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	19	38.7	26.7	2.4	4.9	7.3	8.1	2.2	0.3	4.4	3.3	8.8	20.9	.420	1.5	5.3	.280	7.6	8.6	.884


Season 7
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2014-15
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	-	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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	67	34.4	28.1	1.9	5.4	7.3	8.6	2.1	0.2	4.4	2.7	9.4	22.0	.426	1.3	4.3	.299	8.1	9.8	.835

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2015-16
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	-	Thunder Lost West 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	80	34.4	23.5	1.8	6.0	7.8	10.4	2.0	0.3	4.3	2.5	8.2	18.1	.454	1.3	4.3	.296	5.8	7.2	.812

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	18	37.4	26.0	2.3	4.6	6.9	11.0	2.6	0.1	4.3	2.4	8.8	21.8	.405	1.9	5.8	.324	6.4	7.8	.829


Season 9
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2016-17
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Thunder 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	81	34.6	31.6	1.7	9.0	10.7	10.4	1.6	0.4	5.4	2.3	10.2	24.0	.425	2.5	7.2	.343	8.8	10.4	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	38.8	37.4	1.8	9.8	11.6	10.8	2.4	0.4	6.0	3.2	11.8	30.4	.388	2.6	9.8	.265	11.2	14.0	.800


Season 10
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Thunder 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	80	36.4	25.4	1.9	8.2	10.1	10.3	1.8	0.3	4.8	2.5	9.5	21.1	.449	1.2	4.1	.298	5.2	7.1	.737

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	39.2	29.3	1.8	10.2	12.0	7.5	1.5	0.0	5.2	3.5	10.7	26.8	.398	2.5	7.0	.357	5.5	6.7	.825


Season 11
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Thunder 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	73	36.0	22.9	1.5	9.6	11.1	10.7	1.9	0.5	4.5	3.4	8.6	20.2	.428	1.6	5.6	.290	4.1	6.2	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	39.4	22.8	1.4	7.6	9.0	10.6	1.0	0.6	4.6	3.8	8.0	22.2	.360	2.2	6.8	.324	4.6	5.2	.885


Season 12
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Rockets Lost West 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	57	35.9	27.2	1.8	6.2	7.9	7.0	1.6	0.4	4.5	3.5	10.6	22.5	.472	1.0	3.7	.258	5.1	6.7	.763

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	8	32.8	17.9	1.4	5.6	7.0	4.6	1.5	0.3	3.8	2.9	7.4	17.5	.421	1.0	4.1	.242	2.1	4.0	.531


Season 13
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
Playoffs	-	Wizards 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	65	36.4	22.2	1.7	9.9	11.5	11.7	1.4	0.4	4.8	2.9	8.4	19.0	.439	1.3	4.2	.315	4.2	6.4	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	37.2	19.0	2.8	7.6	10.4	11.8	0.4	0.2	4.2	3.4	5.6	16.8	.333	1.0	4.0	.250	6.8	8.6	.791


Season 14
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	78	34.3	18.5	1.4	6.0	7.4	7.1	1.0	0.3	3.8	3.0	7.0	15.8	.444	1.0	3.4	.298	3.4	5.1	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	73	29.1	15.9	1.2	4.6	5.8	7.5	1.0	0.5	3.5	2.2	5.9	13.6	.436	1.2	3.9	.311	2.8	4.3	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	38.4	23.6	1.8	5.8	7.6	7.4	1.2	1.4	4.0	3.0	8.6	21.0	.410	2.0	5.6	.357	4.4	5.0	.880


Season 16
	Fred Saunders	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers 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		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	68	22.5	11.1	1.4	3.7	5.0	4.5	1.1	0.3	2.1	1.8	4.4	9.8	.454	0.6	2.3	.273	1.6	2.4	.688

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Fred Saunders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	19.0	6.3	1.0	3.2	4.2	1.7	1.2	0.5	1.7	1.8	2.2	8.3	.260	0.7	2.8	.235	1.3	2.2	.615

Fred Saunders vs. Russell Westbrook Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Russell Westbrook and Fred Saunders, 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

Season 15

Season 16