Larry Bird vs. Doc Rivers Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Doc Rivers 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 and Doc Rivers both played 13 years in the NBA. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Doc Rivers had his rookie season in 1983-84. 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
Doc Rivers	13	10	1983-84 to 1995-96

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1979-80	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks 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		%
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
Doc Rivers	81	23.9	9.3	0.9	1.8	2.7	3.9	1.6	0.4	2.1	3.5	3.1	6.7	.462	0.0	0.1	.167	3.1	4.0	.785

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
Doc Rivers	5	26.0	13.6	1.4	0.6	2.0	3.2	2.4	0.8	1.8	3.2	3.2	6.4	.500	0.0	0.6	.000	7.2	8.2	.878


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1980-81	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
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
Doc Rivers	69	30.8	14.1	1.0	2.1	3.1	5.9	2.4	0.8	2.6	3.6	4.8	10.2	.476	0.2	0.5	.417	4.2	5.5	.770

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
Doc Rivers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1981-82	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks Lost East 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	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
Doc Rivers	53	29.6	11.5	0.9	2.1	3.1	8.4	2.3	0.2	2.7	3.5	4.2	8.8	.474	0.0	0.3	.000	3.2	5.3	.608

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
Doc Rivers	9	29.1	12.7	1.1	3.6	4.7	8.7	2.0	0.0	2.9	4.2	4.4	10.2	.435	0.3	0.7	.500	3.4	4.7	.738


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1982-83	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East 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	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
Doc Rivers	82	31.6	12.8	1.0	2.6	3.6	10.0	2.1	0.4	2.6	3.5	4.2	9.2	.451	0.0	0.3	.190	4.5	5.4	.828

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
Doc Rivers	8	30.6	7.8	0.8	2.6	3.4	11.3	1.1	0.4	3.1	4.0	2.3	5.9	.383	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	6.5	.500


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1983-84	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost East 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
Doc Rivers	80	31.3	14.2	1.0	3.5	4.6	9.3	1.8	0.5	2.6	3.4	5.0	11.1	.453	0.1	0.4	.273	4.0	5.3	.758

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
Doc Rivers	12	34.1	15.7	0.7	4.3	4.9	9.6	2.1	0.2	2.1	3.3	5.9	11.6	.511	0.6	1.8	.318	3.3	3.6	.907


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1984-85	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Hawks 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		%
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
Doc Rivers	76	32.4	13.6	1.2	2.6	3.8	6.9	2.4	0.5	2.1	3.5	4.9	10.7	.455	0.6	1.6	.347	3.3	3.8	.861

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
Doc Rivers	5	38.2	13.4	0.8	4.0	4.8	6.8	1.4	0.4	2.4	4.4	4.4	11.4	.386	1.2	3.8	.316	3.4	4.8	.708


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1985-86	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	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	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
Doc Rivers	48	31.8	12.5	1.0	3.2	4.2	5.5	2.4	0.5	2.0	3.1	4.5	10.0	.454	0.5	1.4	.364	2.9	3.5	.812

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
Doc Rivers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1986-87	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Hawks 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		%
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
Doc Rivers	79	32.7	15.2	0.6	2.6	3.2	4.3	1.9	0.6	1.6	2.7	5.6	12.9	.435	1.1	3.3	.336	2.8	3.3	.844

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
Doc Rivers	5	34.6	15.6	1.2	2.8	4.0	3.0	1.0	0.4	0.8	2.8	6.0	12.8	.469	0.2	2.2	.091	3.4	3.8	.895


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1987-88	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Clippers 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	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
Doc Rivers	59	28.1	10.9	0.4	2.1	2.5	3.9	1.9	0.3	1.6	2.8	3.8	9.0	.424	0.4	1.6	.283	2.8	3.3	.832

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
Doc Rivers	5	37.4	15.2	0.8	3.0	3.8	4.2	1.2	0.0	0.6	3.2	5.0	11.2	.446	0.8	1.6	.500	4.4	5.4	.815


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1988-89	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks 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		%
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
Doc Rivers	77	24.5	7.8	0.3	2.2	2.5	5.3	1.6	0.1	1.5	2.8	2.8	6.4	.437	0.5	1.6	.317	1.7	2.1	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Doc Rivers	15	30.5	10.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	5.7	1.9	0.1	2.0	2.9	3.2	7.1	.453	0.7	2.1	.355	3.1	4.0	.767


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1989-90	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Doc Rivers	19	26.3	7.5	0.2	1.8	2.1	5.3	1.3	0.3	1.5	2.3	2.9	6.7	.433	1.0	2.7	.365	0.7	1.2	.636

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
Doc Rivers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1990-91	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Doc Rivers	63	15.7	5.1	0.2	1.5	1.7	2.6	1.0	0.3	1.0	2.4	1.7	4.8	.358	0.7	2.0	.354	1.0	1.3	.732

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
Doc Rivers	15	21.2	7.8	0.2	1.7	1.9	1.6	0.9	0.6	1.2	2.7	2.5	6.3	.389	1.1	3.1	.370	1.7	2.1	.839


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Doc Rivers
Season	1991-92	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Doc Rivers	78	15.8	4.0	0.4	1.4	1.8	1.6	0.9	0.3	0.7	2.2	1.4	3.7	.372	0.6	1.8	.343	0.6	0.8	.750

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
Doc Rivers	2	10.0	1.5	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.5	0.5	1.5	.333	0.5	1.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-

Larry Bird vs. Doc Rivers Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Doc Rivers 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