Larry Bird vs. Avery Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Avery Johnson and Larry Bird, 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 / Games against each other

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.

Larry Bird played 13 years in the NBA, 3 less than Avery Johnson, who played 16. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Avery Johnson had his rookie season in 1988-89. 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
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92
Avery Johnson	16	10	1988-89 to 2003-04

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1979-80	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Avery Johnson	43	6.8	1.6	0.3	0.3	0.6	1.7	0.5	0.1	0.4	0.8	0.7	1.9	.349	0.0	0.2	.111	0.2	0.4	.563

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880
Avery Johnson	6	5.2	1.8	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.8	2.0	.417	0.0	0.7	.000	0.2	0.3	.500


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1980-81	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Avery Johnson	53	10.8	2.6	0.4	0.4	0.8	3.1	0.5	0.0	0.9	1.0	1.0	2.7	.387	0.0	0.1	.250	0.5	0.8	.725

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1981-82	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Spurs 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		%
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Avery Johnson	68	14.1	4.7	0.3	0.8	1.1	3.4	0.7	0.1	1.1	0.9	1.9	4.1	.469	0.0	0.1	.111	0.9	1.3	.678

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822
Avery Johnson	3	6.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	0	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.7	.000	0.0	0.3	.000	0.7	0.7	1.000


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1982-83	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Avery Johnson	69	17.9	5.6	0.2	1.0	1.2	3.9	0.9	0.1	1.6	1.3	2.3	4.8	.479	0.1	0.2	.267	1.0	1.5	.653

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1983-84	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs 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		%
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Avery Johnson	75	27.1	8.7	0.3	1.7	1.9	7.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	1.9	3.4	6.8	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.4	.791

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879
Avery Johnson	10	31.4	8.2	0.8	2.3	3.1	8.1	1.0	0.1	2.3	2.7	3.6	7.0	.514	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	1.4	.714


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1984-85	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Warriors 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		%
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882
Avery Johnson	82	28.4	10.9	0.5	1.6	2.1	5.3	1.4	0.1	2.1	2.0	4.3	8.8	.492	0.0	0.1	.000	2.2	3.1	.704

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890
Avery Johnson	3	13.7	6.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	3.3	1.3	0.3	1.0	0.7	3.0	5.7	.529	0.0	0.3	.000	0.0	0.0	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1985-86	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs Lost West 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		%
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896
Avery Johnson	82	36.7	13.4	0.6	1.9	2.5	8.2	1.4	0.2	2.5	1.9	5.5	10.5	.519	0.0	0.3	.136	2.5	3.6	.685

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927
Avery Johnson	15	38.3	14.5	0.6	1.5	2.1	8.3	1.3	0.4	2.0	1.9	6.1	11.7	.517	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.9	.621


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1986-87	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910
Avery Johnson	82	37.6	13.1	0.5	2.1	2.5	9.6	1.5	0.3	2.4	2.2	5.3	10.8	.494	0.1	0.4	.194	2.3	3.2	.721

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912
Avery Johnson	10	40.7	12.3	0.6	3.0	3.6	9.4	2.0	0.1	2.4	2.1	5.2	12.1	.430	0.0	0.2	.000	1.9	2.7	.704


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1987-88	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916
Avery Johnson	76	32.5	10.5	0.4	1.5	1.9	6.8	1.3	0.2	1.9	2.1	4.3	9.0	.477	0.1	0.3	.231	1.8	2.7	.690

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1988-89	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs 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		%
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Avery Johnson	75	35.7	10.2	0.4	1.6	2.0	7.9	1.1	0.2	2.2	1.9	4.3	8.9	.478	0.0	0.2	.154	1.6	2.2	.726

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	9	38.1	17.3	0.3	1.1	1.4	6.1	1.0	0.0	2.3	3.0	6.8	11.2	.604	0.0	0.2	.000	3.8	5.7	.667


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1989-90	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930
Avery Johnson	50	33.4	9.7	0.4	1.9	2.4	7.4	1.0	0.2	2.2	2.0	4.4	9.2	.473	0.0	0.2	.083	1.0	1.8	.568

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906
Avery Johnson	17	38.5	12.6	0.5	1.9	2.5	7.4	1.2	0.1	2.9	1.8	5.4	11.0	.487	0.1	0.2	.333	1.9	2.8	.681


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1990-91	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	60	38.0	19.4	0.9	7.6	8.5	7.2	1.8	1.0	3.1	2.0	7.7	17.0	.454	1.3	3.3	.389	2.7	3.1	.891
Avery Johnson	82	31.4	11.2	0.4	1.5	1.9	6.0	0.9	0.2	1.7	1.8	4.9	10.4	.473	0.0	0.1	.111	1.4	1.9	.735

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	10	39.6	17.1	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.8	6.2	15.2	.408	0.3	2.1	.143	4.4	5.1	.863
Avery Johnson	4	36.3	12.0	0.5	1.8	2.3	5.3	1.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	4.8	10.5	.452	0.0	0.0	-	2.5	3.5	.714


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	1991-92	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	45	36.9	20.2	1.0	8.6	9.6	6.8	0.9	0.7	2.8	1.8	7.8	16.8	.466	1.2	2.8	.406	3.3	3.6	.926
Avery Johnson	55	23.5	5.6	0.4	1.2	1.5	4.3	0.6	0.1	1.1	1.6	2.4	5.5	.447	0.0	0.1	.167	0.7	1.1	.683

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	4	26.8	11.3	0.5	4.0	4.5	5.3	0.3	0.5	1.5	1.8	5.3	10.5	.500	0.0	1.3	.000	0.8	1.0	.750
Avery Johnson	13	21.7	5.8	0.2	1.0	1.2	3.2	0.8	0.1	0.8	1.8	2.6	6.8	.386	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	1.2	.533


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	-	2001-02
Team	-	Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks
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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	68	19.9	7.9	0.2	0.8	1.0	4.2	0.6	0.1	1.1	1.3	3.0	6.4	.479	0.0	0.1	.000	1.8	2.4	.742

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	-	2002-03
Team	-	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	48	9.0	3.3	0.2	0.4	0.6	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.6	0.5	1.3	3.1	.420	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.8	.769

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Larry Bird	Avery Johnson
Season	-	2003-04
Team	-	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	46	13.8	4.6	0.1	0.7	0.7	2.4	0.6	0.1	1.1	0.7	1.7	4.3	.402	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.7	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Avery Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Avery Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Avery Johnson and Larry Bird, 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

Season 15

Season 16