John Starks vs. Klay Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Klay Thompson 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / 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.

John Starks played 13 years in the NBA, 1 more than Klay Thompson, who played 12. John Starks had the first of his seasons in 1988-89, while Klay Thompson 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 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
John Starks	13	9	1988-89 to 2001-02
Klay Thompson	12	9	2011-12 to 2024-25

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


Rookie Season
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1988-89	2011-12
Team	Golden State Warriors	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
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:	+30	+15.6	+8.4		+1.4	+1.3	+1.2	+0.1	+0.2	-0.5	-1.3	+3.4	+7.4	+.035	+1.4	+3.4	+.029	+0.3		+.214
Klay Thompson	66	24.4	12.5	0.4	2.1	2.4	2.0	0.7	0.3	1.6	2.3	4.8	10.9	.443	1.7	4.1	.414	1.2	1.4	.868

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher John Starks nor Klay Thompson played in the postseason in their season 1

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


Season 2
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1990-91	2012-13
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+21	+16.6	+9.0	+0.1	+1.6	+1.6	+1.1		+0.2	-0.7	-0.7	+3.2	+8.0	+.017	+2.2	+4.9	+.111	+0.3	+0.2	+.089
Klay Thompson	82	35.8	16.6	0.4	3.3	3.7	2.2	1.0	0.5	1.9	2.9	6.2	14.7	.422	2.6	6.4	.401	1.6	1.9	.841

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
difference:	+9	+32.0	+13.2	+0.5	+3.1	+3.6	+0.2	+1.0	+0.6		-2.4	+5.6	+12.8	+.037	+2.1	+4.9		+0.3	+0.2	+.167
Klay Thompson	12	41.3	15.2	0.8	3.8	4.6	1.8	1.0	0.6	2.0	3.7	6.3	14.5	.437	2.1	4.9	.424	0.4	0.5	.833


Season 3
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1991-92	2013-14
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Warriors Lost West 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:	+1	+9.6	+4.5		+0.8	+0.8	+1.2	+0.4	+0.3	-0.1	-0.1	+2.0	+4.5	+.005	+1.7	+3.3	+.069	+1.1	+1.4	+.017
Klay Thompson	81	35.4	18.4	0.5	2.6	3.1	2.2	0.9	0.5	1.7	2.9	6.9	15.5	.444	2.8	6.6	.417	1.8	2.3	.795

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:	+5	+12.1	+4.3		+1.0	+0.9	+0.4	+0.4	+0.7	-0.3	-0.4	+1.9	+3.7	+.034	+1.4	+2.5	+.125	+0.8	+0.9	+.016
Klay Thompson	7	36.7	16.4	0.6	2.9	3.4	3.6	1.0	0.7	2.1	3.4	5.7	14.0	.408	2.3	6.3	.364	2.7	3.4	.792


Season 4
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1992-93	2014-15
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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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:	+3	+0.9	+4.2	+0.3	+1.0	+0.6	+2.2		+0.6	-0.3	-1.3	+1.4	+1.9	+.035	+1.7	+2.9	+.118	+0.4	+0.8	+.084
Klay Thompson	77	31.9	21.7	0.4	2.9	3.2	2.9	1.1	0.8	1.9	1.6	7.8	16.9	.463	3.1	7.1	.439	2.9	3.3	.879

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	+2.1	+2.1	+0.1	+0.2	+0.4	+3.8	+0.2	+0.7	-1.7	-0.8	+1.2	+2.6	+.006	+0.8	+2.0	+.017	+1.2	+1.9	+.083
Klay Thompson	21	36.2	18.6	0.4	3.4	3.9	2.6	0.8	0.9	2.0	3.0	7.1	15.9	.446	2.7	7.0	.390	1.7	2.1	.800


Season 5
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1993-94	2015-16
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+21	+1.6	+3.1	+0.2	+0.9	+0.7	+3.8	+0.8	+0.5	-1.4	-1.3	+1.2	+0.7	+.050	+1.6	+2.4	+.090	+0.8	+1.4	+.119
Klay Thompson	80	33.3	22.1	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.1	0.8	0.6	1.7	1.9	8.1	17.3	.470	3.5	8.1	.425	2.4	2.8	.873

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:	+1	+1.8	+9.7	+0.2	+1.0	+1.4	+2.3	+0.3	+0.3	-0.3	-1.2	+4.0	+7.3	+.063	+2.2	+4.3	+.068	+0.5	+1.0	+.084
Klay Thompson	24	35.4	24.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.3	1.1	0.4	2.0	2.2	8.4	18.9	.444	4.1	9.6	.424	3.4	4.0	.854


Season 6
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1994-95	2016-17
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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:	+2	+0.1	+7.0	+0.2	+0.7	+1.0	+3.0	+0.4	+0.4	-0.4	-1.4	+3.1	+4.3	+.073	+0.7	+0.7	+.059	+0.3	+0.1	+.116
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	22.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.1	0.8	0.5	1.6	1.8	8.3	17.6	.468	3.4	8.3	.414	2.4	2.8	.853

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:	+6	+0.6	+0.6	+0.4	+1.1	+1.6	+3.1	+0.4	+0.2	-1.0	-1.0	+0.2	+2.2	+.053	+0.3	+0.4	+.024	+0.9	+1.9	+.169
Klay Thompson	17	35.1	15.0	0.6	3.2	3.9	2.1	0.8	0.3	1.4	2.6	5.5	13.9	.397	2.4	6.2	.387	1.5	1.9	.788


Season 7
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1995-96	2017-18
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
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:	+8	+3.5	+7.4		+0.9	+0.9	+1.4	+0.5	+0.4	-0.1	-1.2	+3.3	+5.8	+.045	+1.3	+2.2	+.079	+0.5	+0.8	+.084
Klay Thompson	73	34.3	20.0	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.5	0.8	0.5	1.8	1.6	7.9	16.2	.488	3.1	7.1	.440	1.1	1.3	.837

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:	+13	+1.5	+3.6	+0.1	+0.3	+0.5	+2.3	+0.8	+0.2	-1.6	-1.0	+2.7	+5.4	+.017	+0.6	+1.9	+.040	+2.3	+3.4	+.127
Klay Thompson	21	37.8	19.6	0.5	3.6	4.1	1.8	0.8	0.3	1.5	2.3	7.6	16.3	.465	3.2	7.5	.427	1.3	1.5	.871


Season 8
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1996-97	2018-19
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Warriors 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		%
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:	+1	+7.5	+7.7		+1.2	+1.1	+0.4	+0.1	+0.5	-0.6	-0.5	+3.6	+6.9	+.036	+1.2	+2.4	+.033	+0.5	+0.9	+.047
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	21.5	0.5	3.4	3.8	2.4	1.1	0.6	1.5	2.0	8.4	18.0	.467	3.1	7.7	.402	1.7	2.0	.816

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:	+12	+10.7	+6.7	+0.2	+0.8	+0.7	+0.7	+0.2	+0.7	-0.4		+2.9	+6.1	+.012	+1.9	+2.9	+.126	+1.0	+1.4	+.096
Klay Thompson	21	39.0	20.7	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.1	1.3	0.7	1.8	2.8	7.8	17.1	.456	3.3	7.5	.443	1.8	2.0	.902

Note: Klay Thompson didn't play in 2019-20 and 2020-21.


Season 9
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1997-98	2021-22
Team	New York Knicks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
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:	+50	+2.7	+7.5	+0.1	+1.2	+1.1	+0.1	+0.5	+0.4	-0.4	-0.8	+3.2	+6.4	+.036	+2.0	+4.4	+.058	+0.9	+1.3	+.115
Klay Thompson	32	29.4	20.4	0.5	3.4	3.9	2.8	0.5	0.5	1.3	1.7	7.7	17.9	.429	3.6	9.3	.385	1.4	1.6	.902

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:	+12	+4.6	+2.6	+0.1		+0.1		+0.5	+0.6	-0.2	-1.4	+1.3	+4.2	+.043	+1.0	+3.2	+.039	+0.9	+1.0	+.008
Klay Thompson	22	36.0	19.0	0.3	3.6	3.9	2.3	1.1	0.7	1.3	2.1	7.2	16.7	.429	3.5	9.1	.385	1.2	1.4	.867


Season 10
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1998-99	2022-23
Team	Golden State Warriors	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+19	+0.7	+8.1	+0.1	+1.0	+0.8	+2.3	+0.7	+0.3	-0.1	-0.8	+2.5	+3.5	+.066	+2.8	+5.2	+.122	+0.2	+0.1	+.139
Klay Thompson	69	33.0	21.9	0.6	3.6	4.1	2.4	0.7	0.4	1.8	1.9	7.9	18.1	.436	4.4	10.6	.412	1.7	1.9	.879

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Starks	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Klay Thompson	13	36.0	18.5	0.1	4.1	4.2	2.2	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.2	6.5	16.8	.388	3.8	10.5	.368	1.6	1.8	.875


Season 11
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	1999-00	2023-24
Team	Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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:	+40	+2.5	+4.0	+0.2	+0.3	+0.6	+2.6	+0.5	+0.4	-0.3	-1.2	+0.9	+0.1	+.057	+1.9	+4.4	+.042	+0.2	+0.2	+.080
Klay Thompson	77	29.7	17.9	0.5	2.8	3.3	2.3	0.6	0.5	1.5	1.6	6.4	14.7	.432	3.5	9.0	.387	1.6	1.8	.927

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher John Starks nor Klay Thompson played in the postseason in their season 11


Season 12
	John Starks	Klay Thompson
Season	2000-01	2024-25
Team	Utah Jazz	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
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:	+3	+1.0	+4.7	+0.2	+1.1	+1.3	+0.4	+0.3	+0.3	-0.1	-1.8	+1.4	+3.1	+.014	+2.1	+5.3	+.039	+0.3	+0.5	+.103
Klay Thompson	72	27.3	14.0	0.6	2.8	3.4	2.0	0.7	0.4	1.2	1.1	5.0	12.2	.412	3.0	7.7	.391	0.9	1.0	.905

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
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years

* John Starks played 1 season more than Klay Thompson in the NBA.

In that period—his season 13 in 2002—John Starks didn't play in the postseason.

John Starks vs. Klay Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Klay Thompson 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.

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

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years