Larry Bird vs. Hot Rod Williams Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Hot Rod Williams 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 Hot Rod Williams both played 13 years in the NBA. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Hot Rod Williams had his rookie season in 1986-87. 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
Hot Rod Williams	13	9	1986-87 to 1998-99

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1979-80	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	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	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
Hot Rod Williams	80	33.9	14.6	2.8	5.1	7.9	1.9	0.7	2.1	1.7	2.5	5.4	11.2	.485	0.0	0.0	.000	3.7	5.0	.745

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
Hot Rod Williams	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1980-81	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	77	27.4	10.9	2.1	4.5	6.6	1.3	0.8	1.9	1.4	2.6	4.1	8.6	.477	0.0	0.0	.000	2.7	3.6	.756

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
Hot Rod Williams	5	26.6	9.2	2.6	3.2	5.8	0.8	0.6	1.4	0.8	2.6	4.0	8.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.6	.462


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1981-82	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Cavaliers 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	82	25.9	11.6	2.1	3.7	5.8	1.3	0.9	1.6	1.2	2.3	4.3	8.5	.509	0.0	0.0	.250	2.9	3.8	.748

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
Hot Rod Williams	5	32.2	11.0	1.4	5.4	6.8	2.0	0.4	1.4	2.2	2.4	4.2	9.0	.467	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.6	.722


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1982-83	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	82	33.9	16.8	2.7	5.4	8.1	2.0	1.0	2.0	1.7	2.6	6.4	13.0	.493	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	5.4	.739

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
Hot Rod Williams	5	34.8	19.0	2.8	6.4	9.2	2.2	0.4	1.0	1.4	4.6	7.8	14.0	.557	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	4.4	.773


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1983-84	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	43	30.1	11.7	2.6	4.2	6.7	2.3	0.8	1.6	1.5	2.9	4.6	10.0	.463	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.8	.652

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
Hot Rod Williams	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1984-85	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	80	30.4	11.9	2.9	4.7	7.6	2.5	0.8	2.3	1.0	2.4	4.3	8.5	.503	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	4.5	.752

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
Hot Rod Williams	17	33.4	15.0	2.9	4.7	7.6	2.5	1.4	1.0	1.8	3.4	4.9	9.1	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	6.4	.798


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1985-86	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	67	30.7	11.0	1.9	4.3	6.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	1.7	2.6	3.9	8.4	.470	0.0	0.0	-	3.2	4.4	.716

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
Hot Rod Williams	9	26.3	9.0	1.3	3.2	4.6	1.9	0.6	1.6	1.2	2.9	3.3	8.3	.400	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.1	.750


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1986-87	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	76	35.0	13.7	2.7	4.8	7.6	2.5	1.0	1.7	1.8	2.9	5.2	10.9	.478	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	4.6	.728

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
Hot Rod Williams	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1987-88	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Cavaliers Lost East 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	74	35.7	12.6	2.3	4.5	6.9	2.6	1.1	1.4	2.0	2.9	4.9	10.9	.452	0.0	0.1	.200	2.6	3.9	.685

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
Hot Rod Williams	4	36.0	6.8	0.8	5.5	6.3	2.8	2.3	0.8	2.5	2.8	3.0	10.5	.286	0.0	0.3	.000	0.8	2.0	.375


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1988-89	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	62	26.6	7.3	2.1	3.9	6.0	1.0	0.7	1.5	1.0	2.7	2.9	6.4	.453	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.1	.731

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hot Rod Williams	4	28.8	9.0	2.8	3.8	6.5	0.3	0.0	1.8	1.5	4.3	3.5	8.0	.438	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.0	.667


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1989-90	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Suns 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	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
Hot Rod Williams	68	31.4	8.0	2.6	5.6	8.3	1.5	1.0	1.3	1.0	2.6	3.0	6.1	.490	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.9	.672

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
Hot Rod Williams	5	20.6	4.0	2.0	2.6	4.6	0.6	0.4	1.6	1.0	2.4	1.6	3.0	.533	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	2.0	.400


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1990-91	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Suns 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
Hot Rod Williams	71	18.8	3.6	1.5	2.9	4.4	0.7	0.5	0.8	0.4	1.9	1.3	2.8	.470	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.3	.699

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
Hot Rod Williams	3	11.0	2.0	0.7	0.7	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.7	0.0	2.7	0.7	2.3	.286	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.0	.667


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Hot Rod Williams
Season	1991-92	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Hot Rod Williams	25	16.1	1.2	1.4	1.9	3.3	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.5	2.0	0.4	1.3	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.700

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
Hot Rod Williams	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Hot Rod Williams Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Hot Rod Williams 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