Gilbert Arenas vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Gilbert Arenas, 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 / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

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.

Gilbert Arenas played 11 years in the NBA, 2 less than Larry Bird, who played 13. Gilbert Arenas had the first of his seasons in 2001-02, 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Gilbert Arenas	11	5	2001-02 to 2011-12
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92

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


Rookie Season
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2001-02	1979-80
Team	Golden State Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	47	24.6	10.9	0.9	1.9	2.8	3.7	1.5	0.2	2.1	2.4	3.7	8.2	.453	0.8	2.4	.345	2.6	3.4	.775
difference:	+35	+11.4	+10.4	+1.7	+5.9	+7.6	+0.8	+0.2	+0.4	-1.1	-1.0	+4.8	+9.6	+.021	+0.1	+0.7	+.061	+1.1	+1.0	+.061
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2002-03	1980-81
Team	Golden State Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	Most Improved Player	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	82	35.0	18.3	1.2	3.5	4.7	6.3	1.5	0.2	3.5	3.2	6.2	14.4	.431	1.3	3.8	.348	4.5	5.7	.791
difference:		+4.5	+2.9	+1.1	+5.1	+6.2	+0.8	+0.5	+0.6		-0.3	+2.6	+3.9	+.047	+1.1	+2.9	+.078	+1.0	+1.7	+.072
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2003-04	1981-82
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	55	37.6	19.6	1.0	3.6	4.6	5.0	1.9	0.2	4.1	3.2	6.5	16.6	.392	2.3	6.1	.375	4.3	5.8	.748
difference:	+22	+0.4	+3.3	+1.6	+4.7	+6.3	+0.8		+0.7	-0.8		+2.7	+1.8	+.111	+2.2	+5.4	+.163		+0.9	+.115
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2004-05	1982-83
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	80	40.9	25.5	1.0	3.7	4.7	5.1	1.7	0.3	3.0	3.1	8.2	19.0	.431	2.6	7.0	.365	6.5	8.0	.814
difference:	+1	+3.2	+1.9	+1.4	+4.9	+6.3	+0.7	+0.2	+0.6		-0.6	+1.3	+0.3	+.073	+2.3	+6.0	+.079	+2.1	+2.7	+.026
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	10	45.1	23.6	0.8	4.4	5.2	6.2	2.1	0.6	3.9	3.4	7.3	19.4	.376	1.8	7.7	.234	7.2	9.4	.766
difference:	+4	+5.1	+3.1	+2.5	+4.8	+7.3	+0.6	+0.1	+0.1	-0.7	-0.9	+0.9	+0.1	+.046	+1.6	+7.0	+.016	+3.2	+4.6	+.062
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
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2005-06	1983-84
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	80	42.3	29.3	0.7	2.8	3.5	6.1	2.0	0.3	3.7	3.6	9.3	20.9	.447	2.5	6.8	.369	8.2	10.0	.820
difference:	+1	+4.0	+5.1	+1.6	+5.0	+6.6	+0.5	+0.2	+0.6	-0.7	-1.1	+0.3	+1.4	+.045	+2.3	+5.9	+.122	+3.5	+4.7	+.068
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		%
Gilbert Arenas	6	47.3	34.0	1.2	4.3	5.5	5.3	2.2	0.7	3.3	3.5	10.8	23.3	.464	3.3	7.7	.435	9.0	11.7	.771
difference:	+17	+5.5	+6.5	+1.5	+4.0	+5.5	+0.6	+0.1	+0.5	-0.5	-0.4	+0.8	+4.3	+.060	+3.0	+7.0	+.023	+1.7	+3.4	+.108
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


Season 6
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2006-07	1984-85
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	74	39.8	28.4	0.8	3.7	4.6	6.0	1.9	0.2	3.2	3.4	8.7	20.9	.418	2.8	7.9	.351	8.2	9.7	.844
difference:	+6	+0.3	+0.3	+1.3	+4.8	+5.9	+0.6	+0.3	+1.0	-0.1	-0.8	+2.8	+1.1	+.104	+2.1	+6.3	+.076	+3.2	+4.0	+.038
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890


Season 7
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2007-08	1985-86
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	13	32.7	19.4	0.5	3.5	3.9	5.1	1.8	0.1	3.8	2.3	6.0	15.1	.398	1.7	6.0	.282	5.7	7.4	.771
difference:	+69	+5.3	+6.4	+1.8	+4.0	+5.9	+1.7	+0.2	+0.5	-0.6	-0.1	+3.7	+4.5	+.098	+0.7	+3.6	+.141	+0.3	+1.4	+.125
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	4	23.5	10.8	0.0	1.8	1.8	2.8	0.5	0.0	2.0	3.3	3.5	9.0	.389	1.3	3.0	.417	2.5	3.0	.833
difference:	+14	+19.3	+15.1	+1.9	+5.6	+7.5	+5.4	+1.6	+0.6	-0.6	-0.2	+6.0	+9.4	+.128		+0.1	+.006	+3.1	+3.1	+.094
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927


Season 8
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2008-09	1986-87
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	2	31.5	13.0	0.5	4.0	4.5	10.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	2.0	3.0	11.5	.261	1.0	3.5	.286	6.0	8.0	.750
difference:	+72	+9.1	+15.1	+1.2	+3.5	+4.7	+2.4	+1.8	+0.4	-2.7	-0.5	+7.6	+8.7	+.264	+0.2	+0.5	+.114	+0.4	+1.9	+.160
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912


Season 9
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2009-10	1987-88
Team	Washington Wizards	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	32	36.5	22.6	0.5	3.6	4.2	7.2	1.3	0.3	3.7	3.0	7.9	19.3	.411	2.0	5.7	.348	4.8	6.5	.739
difference:	+44	+2.5	+7.3	+0.9	+4.2	+5.1	+1.1	+0.3	+0.5	-0.9	-0.9	+3.7	+2.7	+.116	+0.7	+2.6	+.066	+0.7	+0.5	+.177
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894


Season 10
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2010-11	1988-89
Team	Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	70	25.7	10.8	0.3	2.4	2.7	3.9	1.1	0.3	2.5	2.7	3.8	10.5	.366	1.4	4.7	.297	1.7	2.2	.784
difference:	+64	+5.8	+8.5	+0.1	+3.6	+3.5	+0.9	+0.1	+0.5	-0.7	-0.3	+4.4	+6.8	+.105	+1.4	+4.7		+1.3	+1.0	+.163
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	5	16.2	8.6	0.8	2.0	2.8	2.4	0.2	0.2	1.2	2.8	3.6	8.4	.429	0.6	2.4	.250	0.8	1.2	.667
Larry Bird	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Gilbert Arenas	Larry Bird
Season	2011-12	1989-90
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	17	12.4	4.2	0.1	0.9	1.1	1.1	0.6	0.1	0.7	2.1	1.5	3.8	.406	0.8	2.3	.333	0.4	0.6	.700
difference:	+58	+26.9	+20.1	+1.1	+7.4	+8.4	+6.4	+0.8	+0.7	-2.5	-0.2	+8.1	+16.4	+.067	+0.1	+0.3		+3.9	+4.0	+.230
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gilbert Arenas	6	3.8	0.7	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.2	1.0	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+1	+37.6	+23.7	+1.4	+7.6	+9.0	+8.6	+1.0	+1.0	-3.4	-1.0	+8.5	+18.5	+.194	+1.0	+3.1	+.263	+5.8	+6.4
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906


Additional Years
* Larry Bird played 2 seasons more than Gilbert Arenas in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 13, from 1991 to 1992—Larry Bird played in two Playoffs. In those 2 extra years over Gilbert Arenas, Larry Bird got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-Star Game

Gilbert Arenas vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Gilbert Arenas, 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

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years