John Lucas vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and John Lucas, 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.

John Lucas played 14 years in the NBA, 2 more than Isaiah Thomas, who played 12. John Lucas had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Isaiah Thomas had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
John Lucas	14	6	1976-77 to 1989-90
Isaiah Thomas	12	4	2011-12 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1976-77	2011-12
Team	Houston Rockets	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
John Lucas	82	30.9	11.1	0.7	2.0	2.7	5.6	1.5	0.2	-	2.1	4.7	9.9	.477	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	.789
Isaiah Thomas	65	25.5	11.5	0.7	1.8	2.6	4.1	0.8	0.1	1.6	1.9	3.9	8.8	.448	1.3	3.4	.379	2.4	2.8	.832

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	12	35.8	14.7	0.3	2.4	2.8	6.9	2.0	0.3	-	2.8	6.3	11.6	.540	-	-	-	2.2	2.8	.765
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1977-78	2012-13
Team	Houston Rockets	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	82	35.8	12.4	0.6	2.5	3.1	9.4	2.0	0.1	2.6	2.5	5.0	11.5	.435	-	-	-	2.4	3.0	.772
Isaiah Thomas	79	26.9	13.9	0.4	1.7	2.0	4.0	0.8	0.0	1.8	2.1	4.6	10.5	.440	1.5	4.1	.358	3.2	3.6	.882

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1978-79	2013-14
Team	Golden State Warriors	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	82	37.7	16.1	0.8	2.2	3.0	9.3	1.9	0.1	3.1	2.8	6.5	14.0	.462	-	-	-	3.2	3.9	.822
Isaiah Thomas	72	34.7	20.3	0.7	2.3	2.9	6.3	1.3	0.1	3.0	2.6	6.9	15.2	.453	1.8	5.1	.349	4.8	5.7	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1979-80	2014-15
Team	Golden State Warriors	Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
John Lucas	80	34.5	12.6	0.8	2.0	2.8	7.5	1.7	0.0	2.3	2.5	4.9	10.4	.467	0.2	0.5	.286	2.8	3.6	.768
Isaiah Thomas	67	25.8	16.4	0.5	1.8	2.3	4.2	0.9	0.1	2.1	2.2	5.0	11.9	.420	1.9	5.2	.373	4.5	5.2	.868

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	4	29.8	17.5	0.3	2.8	3.0	7.0	0.8	0.0	3.5	2.5	4.5	13.5	.333	0.8	4.5	.167	7.8	8.0	.969


Season 5
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1980-81	2015-16
Team	Golden State Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
John Lucas	66	29.1	8.4	0.5	1.8	2.3	7.0	1.3	0.0	2.8	2.1	3.4	7.7	.439	0.1	0.4	.167	1.6	2.2	.738
Isaiah Thomas	82	32.2	22.2	0.6	2.4	3.0	6.2	1.1	0.1	2.7	2.0	7.2	16.9	.428	2.0	5.7	.359	5.8	6.6	.871

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	6	36.7	24.2	0.3	2.7	3.0	5.0	0.7	0.8	2.3	3.0	7.8	19.8	.395	2.2	7.7	.283	6.3	7.8	.809


Season 6
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1981-82	2016-17
Team	Washington Bullets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics 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		%
John Lucas	79	24.6	8.4	0.5	1.6	2.1	7.0	1.2	0.1	2.0	1.3	3.3	7.8	.426	0.0	0.3	.091	1.7	2.2	.784
Isaiah Thomas	76	33.8	28.9	0.6	2.1	2.7	5.9	0.9	0.2	2.8	2.2	9.0	19.4	.463	3.2	8.5	.379	7.8	8.5	.909

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	7	10.6	4.4	0.0	1.1	1.1	2.9	0.4	0.1	0.6	0.9	2.0	3.7	.538	0.1	0.4	.333	0.3	0.4	.667
Isaiah Thomas	15	34.7	23.3	0.3	2.8	3.1	6.7	0.9	0.1	3.3	2.3	7.4	17.4	.425	2.4	7.2	.333	6.1	7.4	.820


Season 7
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1982-83	2017-18
Team	Washington Bullets	Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	35	11.0	4.1	0.2	0.6	0.8	2.9	0.7	0.0	1.3	0.5	1.8	3.7	.473	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	1.2	.500
Isaiah Thomas	32	26.9	15.2	0.5	1.6	2.1	4.8	0.5	0.1	3.0	1.8	4.9	13.2	.373	1.7	5.9	.293	3.7	4.1	.893

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1983-84	2018-19
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	63	28.7	10.9	0.4	2.5	2.9	10.7	1.5	0.1	2.3	2.0	4.4	9.4	.462	0.3	1.1	.275	1.9	2.5	.764
Isaiah Thomas	12	15.1	8.1	0.4	0.7	1.1	1.9	0.4	0.1	1.5	1.4	2.8	8.3	.343	1.0	3.6	.279	1.4	2.3	.630

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1984-85	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
John Lucas	47	24.6	11.4	0.4	1.4	1.8	6.8	1.3	0.0	2.2	1.7	4.4	9.5	.462	0.4	1.4	.318	2.2	2.7	.798
Isaiah Thomas	40	23.1	12.2	0.3	1.4	1.7	3.7	0.3	0.2	1.9	1.9	4.4	10.7	.408	2.0	4.7	.413	1.6	1.9	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	5	30.4	13.6	1.4	2.8	4.2	5.4	1.2	0.0	1.4	2.8	5.2	16.0	.325	0.4	2.8	.143	2.8	4.4	.636
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1985-86	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	65	32.6	15.5	0.5	1.7	2.2	8.8	1.2	0.1	2.3	1.9	5.6	12.6	.446	0.7	2.2	.308	3.6	4.6	.775
Isaiah Thomas	3	16.0	7.7	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.7	0.3	0.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	9.0	.333	1.0	4.0	.250	0.7	0.7	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1986-87	2021-22
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
John Lucas	43	31.6	17.5	0.7	2.2	2.9	6.7	1.7	0.1	2.1	1.9	6.6	14.5	.457	1.1	2.9	.365	3.2	4.0	.787
Isaiah Thomas	22	15.2	8.4	0.2	1.1	1.3	1.5	0.3	0.2	0.7	1.5	3.0	7.6	.401	1.3	3.8	.337	1.0	1.2	.846

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	12	30.2	15.6	0.3	1.8	2.1	5.2	1.2	0.1	1.7	1.4	5.7	12.5	.453	1.0	3.0	.333	3.3	4.0	.813
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Isaiah Thomas didn't play in 2022-23.


Season 12
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1987-88	2023-24
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Suns 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		%
John Lucas	81	21.8	9.2	0.4	1.6	2.0	4.8	1.1	0.0	1.5	1.3	3.5	7.8	.445	0.6	1.9	.338	1.6	2.0	.802
Isaiah Thomas	6	3.2	1.3	0.0	0.0	0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.7	.300	0.3	0.7	.500	0.0	0.0	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	5	16.0	5.8	1.0	0.6	1.6	3.8	1.0	0.0	1.2	1.0	2.0	5.4	.370	0.6	2.6	.231	1.2	1.8	.667
Isaiah Thomas	1	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-


Season 13
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1988-89	-
Team	Seattle Supersonics	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics 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		%
John Lucas	74	11.4	4.2	0.3	0.8	1.1	3.5	0.8	0.0	0.9	0.7	1.6	4.0	.398	0.2	0.9	.265	0.7	1.0	.701
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	4	9.3	2.8	0.0	0.3	0.3	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.3	1.3	4.3	.294	0.0	0.8	.000	0.3	0.5	.500
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	John Lucas	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1989-90	-
Team	Houston Rockets	-
Honors & Awards
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		%
John Lucas	49	19.1	5.8	0.4	1.4	1.8	4.9	0.9	0.0	1.7	1.2	2.2	5.9	.375	0.5	1.8	.299	0.9	1.1	.764
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Lucas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

John Lucas vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and John Lucas, 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