John Starks vs. Isiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isiah Thomas and John Starks, 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.

John Starks and Isiah Thomas both played 13 years in the NBA. John Starks had the first of his seasons in 1988-89, while Isiah Thomas had his rookie season in 1981-82. 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
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1988-89	1981-82
Team	Golden State Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
John Starks	36	8.8	4.1	0.4	0.7	1.1	0.8	0.6	0.1	1.1	1.0	1.4	3.5	.408	0.3	0.7	.385	0.9	1.4	.654
difference:	+36	+25.0	+12.9	+0.4	+1.4	+1.8	+7.0	+1.5	+0.1	-3.1	-2.5	+4.9	+11.3	+.016	+0.1	+0.1	+.097	+3.3	+4.6	+.050
Isiah Thomas	72	33.8	17.0	0.8	2.1	2.9	7.8	2.1	0.2	4.2	3.5	6.3	14.8	.424	0.2	0.8	.288	4.2	6.0	.704
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher John Starks nor Isiah Thomas played in the postseason in their season 1

Note: John Starks didn't play in 1989-90.

Season 2
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1990-91	1982-83
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
John Starks	61	19.2	7.6	0.5	1.7	2.1	3.3	1.0	0.3	1.2	2.2	3.0	6.7	.439	0.4	1.5	.290	1.3	1.7	.752
difference:	+20	+19.0	+15.3	+0.8	+1.1	+1.9	+4.5	+1.5	+0.1	-2.8	-1.7	+6.0	+12.3	+.033			+.002	+3.2	+4.7	+.042
Isiah Thomas	81	38.2	22.9	1.3	2.8	4.0	7.8	2.5	0.4	4.0	3.9	9.0	19.0	.472	0.4	1.5	.288	4.5	6.4	.710
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	3	9.3	2.0	0.3	0.7	1.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	1.3	0.7	1.7	.400	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.7	1.000
Isiah Thomas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1991-92	1983-84
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
John Starks	82	25.8	13.9	0.5	1.8	2.3	3.4	1.3	0.2	1.8	2.8	4.9	11.0	.449	1.1	3.3	.348	2.9	3.7	.778
difference:		+10.9	+7.4	+0.8	+0.9	+1.7	+7.7	+1.2	+0.2	-1.9	-1.2	+3.3	+6.7	+.013	+0.8	+2.5	+.010	+1.8	+2.8	+.045
Isiah Thomas	82	36.7	21.3	1.3	2.7	4.0	11.1	2.5	0.4	3.7	4.0	8.2	17.7	.462	0.3	0.8	.338	4.7	6.5	.733
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	12	24.6	12.1	0.6	1.9	2.5	3.2	1.4	0.0	1.8	3.8	3.8	10.3	.374	0.9	3.8	.239	3.5	4.3	.808
difference:	+7	+15.0	+9.3	+0.8	+0.5	+1.3	+7.8	+1.2	+1.2	-2.8	-0.6	+4.0	+6.3	+.096	+0.5	+2.6	+.094	+1.9	+2.7	+.037
Isiah Thomas	5	39.6	21.4	1.4	2.4	3.8	11.0	2.6	1.2	4.6	4.4	7.8	16.6	.470	0.4	1.2	.333	5.4	7.0	.771

Season 4
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1992-93	1984-85
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Pistons 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		%
John Starks	80	31.0	17.5	0.7	1.9	2.6	5.1	1.1	0.2	2.2	2.9	6.4	15.0	.428	1.4	4.2	.321	3.3	4.1	.795
difference:	+1	+7.1	+3.7	+0.7	+1.1	+1.9	+8.8	+1.2	+0.1	-1.5	-0.7	+1.6	+2.4	+.030	+1.0	+2.8	+.064	+1.6	+2.0	+.014
Isiah Thomas	81	38.1	21.2	1.4	3.0	4.5	13.9	2.3	0.3	3.7	3.6	8.0	17.4	.458	0.4	1.4	.257	4.9	6.1	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	15	38.3	16.5	0.3	3.2	3.5	6.4	1.0	0.2	3.7	3.8	5.9	13.3	.440	1.9	5.0	.373	2.9	4.0	.717
difference:	+6	+1.1	+7.8	+0.9	+0.8	+1.7	+4.8	+1.1	+0.2	-0.4	-0.5	+3.3	+5.1	+.060	+1.2	+3.3	+.027	+2.3	+2.9	+.041
Isiah Thomas	9	39.4	24.3	1.2	4.0	5.2	11.2	2.1	0.4	3.3	4.3	9.2	18.4	.500	0.7	1.7	.400	5.2	6.9	.758

Season 5
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1993-94	1985-86
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
John Starks	59	34.9	19.0	0.6	2.5	3.1	5.9	1.6	0.1	3.1	3.2	6.9	16.6	.420	1.9	5.7	.335	3.2	4.2	.754
difference:	+18	+1.3	+1.9	+0.5		+0.5	+4.9	+0.6	+0.2	-0.7		+1.0	+0.4	+.068	+1.6	+4.6	+.025	+1.5	+1.8	+.036
Isiah Thomas	77	36.2	20.9	1.1	2.5	3.6	10.8	2.2	0.3	3.8	3.2	7.9	16.2	.488	0.3	1.1	.310	4.7	6.0	.790
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	25	33.6	14.6	0.4	2.0	2.3	4.6	1.4	0.1	2.3	3.4	4.4	11.6	.381	1.9	5.3	.356	3.9	5.0	.770
difference:	+21	+7.2	+11.9	+1.6	+1.5	+3.2	+7.4	+0.9	+0.7	-2.0	-0.9	+5.9	+11.2	+.070	+1.9	+4.0	+.356	+2.1	+4.0	+.103
Isiah Thomas	4	40.8	26.5	2.0	3.5	5.5	12.0	2.3	0.8	4.3	4.3	10.3	22.8	.451	0.0	1.3	.000	6.0	9.0	.667

Season 6
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1994-95	1986-87
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons Lost East Conf 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		%
John Starks	80	34.1	15.3	0.4	2.3	2.7	5.1	1.2	0.1	2.0	3.2	5.2	13.3	.395	2.7	7.6	.355	2.1	2.9	.737
difference:	+1	+3.1	+5.3	+0.6	+0.6	+1.2	+4.9	+0.7	+0.1	-2.2	-0.1	+2.5	+3.4	+.068	+2.5	+6.4	+.161	+2.8	+3.5	+.031
Isiah Thomas	81	37.2	20.6	1.0	2.9	3.9	10.0	1.9	0.2	4.2	3.1	7.7	16.7	.463	0.2	1.2	.194	4.9	6.4	.768
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	11	34.5	15.6	0.2	2.1	2.3	5.2	1.2	0.1	2.4	3.6	5.3	11.7	.450	2.7	6.6	.411	2.4	3.8	.619
difference:	+4	+3.0	+8.5	+1.2	+1.0	+2.2	+3.5	+1.4	+0.2	-0.4	-0.2	+3.6	+8.1	+.001	+2.0	+4.4	+.108	+3.1	+3.5	+.136
Isiah Thomas	15	37.5	24.1	1.4	3.1	4.5	8.7	2.6	0.3	2.8	3.4	8.9	19.8	.451	0.7	2.2	.303	5.5	7.3	.755

Season 7
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1995-96	1987-88
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
John Starks	81	30.8	12.6	0.4	2.5	2.9	3.9	1.3	0.1	1.9	2.8	4.6	10.4	.443	1.8	4.9	.361	1.6	2.1	.753
difference:		+5.3	+6.9	+0.4	+0.1	+0.5	+4.5	+0.4	+0.1	-1.5	-0.1	+3.1	+6.2	+.020	+1.4	+3.7	+.052	+2.2	+2.8	+.021
Isiah Thomas	81	36.1	19.5	0.8	2.6	3.4	8.4	1.7	0.2	3.4	2.7	7.7	16.6	.463	0.4	1.2	.309	3.8	4.9	.774
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	8	39.3	16.0	0.4	3.3	3.6	4.1	1.6	0.1	3.1	3.3	4.9	10.9	.448	2.6	5.6	.467	3.6	4.9	.744
difference:	+15	+0.3	+5.9	+0.7	+0.2	+1.1	+4.6	+1.3	+0.2	-0.6	-0.2	+3.1	+7.3	+.011	+2.0	+3.7	+.172	+1.8	+1.7	+.084
Isiah Thomas	23	39.6	21.9	1.1	3.5	4.7	8.7	2.9	0.3	3.7	3.1	8.0	18.2	.437	0.6	1.9	.295	5.4	6.6	.828

Season 8
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1996-97	1988-89
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
John Starks	77	26.5	13.8	0.5	2.2	2.7	2.8	1.2	0.1	2.1	2.5	4.8	11.1	.431	1.9	5.3	.369	2.2	2.9	.769
difference:	+3	+10.1	+4.4	+0.1	+0.6	+0.7	+5.5	+0.5	+0.2	-1.6	-0.1	+2.3	+4.2	+.033	+1.5	+3.8	+.096	+1.4	+1.5	+.049
Isiah Thomas	80	36.6	18.2	0.6	2.8	3.4	8.3	1.7	0.3	3.7	2.6	7.1	15.3	.464	0.4	1.5	.273	3.6	4.4	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	9	28.3	14.0	0.8	2.7	3.4	2.8	1.1	0.0	2.2	2.8	4.9	11.0	.444	1.4	4.6	.317	2.8	3.4	.806
difference:	+8	+8.9	+4.2	+0.6	+0.2	+0.9	+5.5	+0.5	+0.2	-0.3	-0.5	+1.9	+5.4	+.032	+0.9	+2.8	+.050	+1.4	+2.2	+.066
Isiah Thomas	17	37.2	18.2	1.4	2.9	4.3	8.3	1.6	0.2	2.5	2.3	6.8	16.4	.412	0.5	1.8	.267	4.2	5.6	.740

Season 9
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1997-98	1989-90
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
John Starks	82	26.7	12.9	0.6	2.2	2.8	2.7	1.0	0.1	1.7	2.5	4.5	11.5	.393	1.6	4.9	.327	2.3	2.9	.787
difference:	+1	+10.3	+5.5	+0.3	+0.7	+1.0	+6.7	+0.7	+0.1	-2.3		+2.6	+4.8	+.045	+1.1	+3.2	+.018	+1.3	+1.8	+.012
Isiah Thomas	81	37.0	18.4	0.9	2.9	3.8	9.4	1.7	0.2	4.0	2.5	7.1	16.3	.438	0.5	1.7	.309	3.6	4.7	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	10	31.4	16.4	0.4	3.6	4.0	2.3	1.6	0.1	1.1	3.5	5.9	12.5	.472	2.5	5.9	.424	2.1	2.4	.875
difference:	+10	+6.5	+4.1	+0.7	+0.8	+1.5	+5.9	+0.6	+0.3	-2.5	-0.2	+1.5	+3.5	+.009	+0.9	+2.5	+.047	+2.0	+2.7	+.081
Isiah Thomas	20	37.9	20.5	1.1	4.4	5.5	8.2	2.2	0.4	3.6	3.3	7.4	16.0	.463	1.6	3.4	.471	4.1	5.1	.794

Season 10
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1998-99	1990-91
Team	Golden State Warriors	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
John Starks	50	33.7	13.8	0.7	2.6	3.3	4.7	1.4	0.1	1.7	2.7	5.4	14.6	.370	1.6	5.4	.290	1.5	2.0	.740
difference:	+2	+0.8	+2.4				+4.6	+0.2	+0.1	-2.2	-0.2	+0.6	+0.7	+.065	+1.2	+4.0	+.002	+2.2	+2.8	+.042
Isiah Thomas	48	34.5	16.2	0.7	2.6	3.3	9.3	1.6	0.2	3.9	2.5	6.0	13.9	.435	0.4	1.4	.292	3.7	4.8	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	13	33.5	13.5	1.0	3.2	4.2	8.5	1.0	0.2	3.2	3.2	4.6	11.5	.403	0.5	1.7	.273	3.8	5.3	.725

Season 11
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	1999-00	1991-92
Team	Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
John Starks	37	32.2	13.9	0.3	2.5	2.7	4.9	1.1	0.1	1.8	2.8	5.5	14.6	.375	1.6	4.6	.345	1.4	1.6	.847
difference:	+41	+5.2	+4.6	+0.6	+0.2	+0.5	+2.3	+0.4	+0.1	-1.4	-0.3	+1.7	+1.6	+.071	+1.3	+3.5	+.054	+2.3	+3.2	+.075
Isiah Thomas	78	37.4	18.5	0.9	2.3	3.2	7.2	1.5	0.2	3.2	2.5	7.2	16.2	.446	0.3	1.1	.291	3.7	4.8	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	5	40.0	14.0	0.6	4.6	5.2	7.4	1.0	0.0	3.2	3.6	4.4	13.0	.338	0.8	2.2	.364	4.4	5.6	.786

Season 12
	John Starks	Isiah Thomas
Season	2000-01	1992-93
Team	Utah Jazz	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	75	28.3	9.3	0.4	1.7	2.1	2.4	1.0	0.1	1.3	2.9	3.6	9.1	.398	0.9	2.4	.352	1.2	1.5	.802
difference:	+4	+8.7	+8.3	+0.5	+0.3	+0.8	+6.1	+0.6	+0.1	-2.3	-0.1	+3.1	+6.8	+.020	+0.1	+0.1	+.044	+2.3	+3.3	+.065
Isiah Thomas	79	37.0	17.6	0.9	2.0	2.9	8.5	1.6	0.2	3.6	2.8	6.7	15.9	.418	0.8	2.5	.308	3.5	4.8	.737
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	3	12.0	3.7	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.7	1.3	4.0	.333	0.3	1.3	.250	0.7	0.7	1.000
Isiah Thomas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-