Kevin McHale vs. Amen Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Amen Thompson and Kevin McHale, 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.

Kevin McHale played 13 years in the NBA, 10 more than Amen Thompson, who played 3. Kevin McHale had the first of his seasons in 1980-81, while Amen Thompson had his rookie season in 2023-24. 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
	Kevin McHale	Amen Thompson
Season	1980-81	2023-24
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Kevin McHale	82	20.1	10.0	1.9	2.5	4.4	0.7	0.3	1.8	1.3	3.2	4.3	8.1	.533	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	1.9	.679
difference:	+20	+2.3	+0.5	+0.5	+1.7	+2.2	+1.9	+1.0	+1.2	-0.2	-0.9	+0.4	+0.9	+.003	+0.1	+0.9		+0.4	+0.6	+.005
Amen Thompson	62	22.4	9.5	2.4	4.2	6.6	2.6	1.3	0.6	1.5	2.3	3.9	7.2	.536	0.1	0.9	.138	1.7	2.5	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	17	17.4	8.5	1.7	1.8	3.5	0.8	0.2	1.5	0.9	3.0	3.6	6.6	.540	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.1	.639
Amen Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Kevin McHale	Amen Thompson
Season	1981-82	2024-25
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kevin McHale	82	28.4	13.6	2.3	4.5	6.8	1.1	0.4	2.3	1.7	3.2	5.7	10.7	.531	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.0	.754
difference:	+13	+3.8	+0.5	+0.5	+0.9	+1.4	+2.7	+1.0	+1.0	-0.3	-0.8	+0.1	+0.6	+.026	+0.4	+1.3		+0.1	+0.6	+.070
Amen Thompson	69	32.2	14.1	2.8	5.4	8.2	3.8	1.4	1.3	2.0	2.4	5.6	10.1	.557	0.4	1.3	.275	2.4	3.6	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	12	28.7	16.2	3.4	3.7	7.1	0.9	0.4	2.3	1.3	3.7	6.4	11.2	.575	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	4.4	.755
difference:	+5	+4.3	+0.5	+0.7	+0.4	+0.2	+2.4	+1.3	+1.4	-0.4	-1.1	+0.4	+0.9	+.081	+0.1	+0.6		+0.3	+0.7	+.061
Amen Thompson	7	33.0	15.7	2.7	4.1	6.9	3.3	1.7	0.9	1.7	2.6	6.0	12.1	.494	0.1	0.6	.250	3.6	5.1	.694

Season 3
	Kevin McHale	Amen Thompson
Season	1982-83	2025-26
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Kevin McHale	82	28.6	14.1	2.6	4.1	6.7	1.3	0.4	2.3	1.9	2.9	5.9	10.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.3	.717
difference:	+78	+4.9	+0.4	+1.1	+0.3	+1.4	+4.0	+0.6	+2.0	-0.6	-0.6	+0.4	+1.1	+.083		+2.5		+1.1	+1.7	+.017
Amen Thompson	4	33.5	14.5	1.5	3.8	5.3	5.3	1.0	0.3	2.5	3.5	5.5	12.0	.458	0.0	2.5	.000	3.5	5.0	.700
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kevin McHale	7	25.3	11.1	2.1	3.9	6.0	0.7	0.4	1.0	1.4	2.3	4.9	8.9	.548	0.0	0.1	.000	1.4	2.6	.556
Amen Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Kevin McHale played 10 seasons more than Amen Thompson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 4 to 13, from 1984 to 1993—Kevin McHale played in 10 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Amen Thompson, Kevin McHale got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 2 Sixth Man of the Year 7 All-Star Game