Jeremy Lin vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Jeremy Lin, 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.

Jeremy Lin played 9 years in the NBA, 5 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Jeremy Lin had the first of his seasons in 2010-11, while Nate Thurmond had his rookie season in 1963-64. 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.

Rookie Season
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2010-11	1963-64
Team	Golden State Warriors	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost NBA 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		%
Jeremy Lin	29	9.8	2.6	0.4	0.8	1.2	1.4	1.1	0.3	0.6	1.1	1.0	2.5	.389	0.0	0.2	.200	0.7	0.9	.760
difference:	+47	+16.1	+4.4			+9.2	+0.3				-1.3	+1.9	+4.8	+.006				+0.6	+1.4	+.211
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679

Season 2
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2011-12	1964-65
Team	New York Knicks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	35	26.9	14.6	0.5	2.5	3.1	6.2	1.6	0.3	3.6	2.2	4.9	10.9	.446	0.7	2.1	.320	4.2	5.2	.798
difference:	+42	+14.3	+1.9			+15.0	+4.2				-0.8	+1.8	+5.2	+.027				+1.1	+0.6	+.140
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Jeremy Lin nor Nate Thurmond played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 3
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2012-13	1965-66
Team	Houston Rockets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	82	32.2	13.4	0.4	2.6	3.0	6.1	1.6	0.4	2.9	2.5	4.8	10.9	.441	1.1	3.1	.339	2.6	3.4	.785
difference:	+9	+7.4	+2.9			+15.0	+4.6				-0.6	+1.4	+4.4	+.035				+1.2	+2.5	+.131
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	4	21.0	4.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.3	1.5	6.0	.250	0.5	3.0	.167	0.5	0.5	1.000
Nate Thurmond	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2013-14	1966-67
Team	Houston Rockets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	71	28.9	12.5	0.5	2.2	2.6	4.1	1.0	0.4	2.5	2.3	4.2	9.3	.446	1.2	3.2	.358	3.1	3.7	.823
difference:	+6	+13.6	+6.2			+18.7	+1.5				-0.5	+3.0	+7.1	+.009				+1.2	+3.1	+.194
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	6	29.5	11.3	1.2	2.5	3.7	4.3	0.5	0.2	2.2	2.5	4.2	10.2	.410	0.8	3.8	.217	2.2	2.7	.813
difference:	+9	+16.5	+4.6			+19.4	+1.2				-1.0	+2.0	+4.1	+.023				+1.3	+3.4	+.242
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571

Season 5
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2014-15	1967-68
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	74	25.8	11.2	0.4	2.3	2.6	4.6	1.1	0.4	2.2	2.6	3.7	8.8	.424	0.9	2.4	.369	2.9	3.6	.795
difference:	+23	+17.8	+9.3			+19.4	+0.4				-0.1	+3.8	+9.4	+.013				+2.6	+5.0	+.151
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Jeremy Lin nor Nate Thurmond played in the postseason in their season 5

Season 6
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2015-16	1968-69
Team	Charlotte Hornets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Hornets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West Div Semis

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	78	26.3	11.7	0.5	2.7	3.2	3.0	0.7	0.5	1.9	2.1	3.8	9.3	.412	1.0	2.9	.336	3.1	3.7	.815
difference:	+7	+18.9	+9.8			+16.5	+0.6				-0.3	+4.2	+10.3	+.002				+2.3	+5.0	+.200
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	7	27.0	12.4	0.4	1.9	2.3	2.6	0.7	0.0	1.6	3.0	3.7	9.0	.413	0.4	2.0	.214	4.6	5.6	.821
difference:	+1	+16.8	+4.3			+17.2	+2.1					+3.0	+8.0	+.021				+1.3	+0.1	+.233
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588

Season 7
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2016-17	1969-70
Team	Brooklyn Nets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	36	24.5	14.5	0.3	3.4	3.8	5.1	1.2	0.4	2.4	2.2	4.9	11.1	.438	1.6	4.3	.372	3.2	3.9	.816
difference:	+7	+20.1	+7.4			+13.9	+1.6				-0.4	+3.0	+8.1	+.024				+2.9	+4.1	+.062
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Jeremy Lin nor Nate Thurmond played in the postseason in their season 7

Season 8
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2017-18	1970-71
Team	Brooklyn Nets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	1	25.0	18.0	0.0	0.0	0	4.0	0.0	0.0	3.0	3.0	5.0	12.0	.417	1.0	2.0	.500	7.0	7.0	1.000
difference:	+81	+15.9	+2.0			+13.8	+0.9				-0.7	+2.6	+5.1	+.028				+2.2	+0.4	+.270
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800

Season 9
	Jeremy Lin	Nate Thurmond
Season	2018-19	1971-72
Team	Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Jeremy Lin	74	19.4	9.6	0.3	2.1	2.4	3.1	0.6	0.2	1.7	1.9	3.2	7.3	.440	0.7	2.5	.294	2.4	2.8	.838
difference:	+4	+23.7	+11.8			+13.7	+0.2				-0.8	+4.9	+11.3	+.008				+2.9	+4.4	+.095
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jeremy Lin	8	3.4	1.1	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.1	0.0	0.6	0.3	0.3	1.1	.222	0.1	0.3	.500	0.5	0.5	1.000
difference:	+3	+42.6	+24.3			+17.4	+4.7				-2.1	+10.3	+23.3	+.212				+3.7	+5.1	+.250
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750

Additional Years
* Nate Thurmond played 5 seasons more than Jeremy Lin in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 14, from 1973 to 1977—Nate Thurmond played in 4 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Jeremy Lin, Nate Thurmond got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-Defensive Second Team 2 All-Star Game