Larry Bird vs. Jamaal Wilkes Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jamaal Wilkes 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.

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, 1 more than Jamaal Wilkes, who played 12. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Jamaal Wilkes had his rookie season in 1974-75. 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
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1979-80	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
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
difference:		+5.3	+7.1	+0.1	+2.1	+2.2	+2.3	+0.4	+0.3		-0.7	+2.4	+4.0	+.032				+1.7	+1.7	+.102
Jamaal Wilkes	82	30.7	14.2	2.5	5.7	8.2	2.2	1.3	0.3	-	2.7	6.1	13.8	.442	-	-	-	2.0	2.7	.734
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
difference:	+8	+11.7	+6.3	+0.6	+3.6	+4.2	+3.1	+0.1	+0.1		-0.2	+2.7	+5.1	+.023				+0.5		+.178
Jamaal Wilkes	17	29.6	15.0	1.8	5.2	7.0	1.6	1.5	0.8	-	3.1	6.5	14.6	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.8	.702

Season 2
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1980-81	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:		+6.4	+3.4	+0.1	+2.2	+2.1	+3.5	+0.8	+0.4		-0.2	+1.3	+2.0	+.015				+0.7	+0.4	+.091
Jamaal Wilkes	82	33.1	17.8	2.4	6.4	8.8	2.0	1.2	0.4	-	2.7	7.5	16.3	.463	-	-	-	2.8	3.6	.772
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
difference:	+4	+9.5	+6.0	+1.0	+5.1	+6.1	+3.9	+1.4	+0.4		-0.6	+2.0	+3.0	+.040				+1.8	+1.5	+.116
Jamaal Wilkes	13	34.6	15.9	1.9	6.0	7.9	2.2	0.9	0.6	-	2.5	6.6	15.4	.430	-	-	-	2.7	3.5	.778

Season 3
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1981-82	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+1	+4.1	+5.2	+0.6	+2.7	+3.3	+3.0	+0.2	+0.7		-0.3	+2.0	+3.3	+.025				+1.0	+0.8	+.066
Jamaal Wilkes	76	33.9	17.7	2.0	5.6	7.6	2.8	1.7	0.2	-	2.9	7.2	15.1	.478	-	-	-	3.3	4.1	.797
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
difference:	+2	+6.2	+2.3	+1.0	+3.6	+4.5	+4.0	+0.3	+0.8		-1.3	+0.7	+1.8	+.002				+0.8	+1.0	+.001
Jamaal Wilkes	10	34.6	15.5	1.8	6.2	8.0	1.6	1.6	0.6	-	2.3	6.6	15.4	.429	-	-	-	2.3	2.8	.821

Season 4
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1982-83	1977-78
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+28	+8.5	+10.7	+0.2	+3.4	+3.5	+2.2	+0.4	+0.5	-0.9	-0.7	+4.1	+6.3	+.064				+2.3	+2.4	+.124
Jamaal Wilkes	51	29.2	12.9	2.2	5.2	7.5	3.6	1.5	0.4	2.1	3.2	5.4	12.4	.440	-	-	-	2.1	2.9	.716
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
difference:	+3	+4.0	+8.5	+0.3	+3.5	+3.8	+4.1	+1.2	+0.2	-0.5	-2.2	+3.2	+8.6	+.047				+2.0	+1.1	+.283
Jamaal Wilkes	3	36.0	12.0	3.0	5.7	8.7	2.7	1.0	0.3	3.7	4.7	5.0	10.7	.469	-	-	-	2.0	3.7	.545

Season 5
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1983-84	1978-79
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+3	+2.8	+5.6	+0.3	+2.4	+2.7	+3.8	+0.2	+0.6	-0.3	-0.9	+2.0	+4.4	+.012				+1.4	+0.9	+.137
Jamaal Wilkes	82	35.5	18.6	2.0	5.4	7.4	2.8	1.6	0.3	2.7	3.4	7.6	15.1	.504	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.751
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
difference:	+15	+3.4	+9.1	+0.2	+2.3	+2.5	+3.9	+0.4	+0.9	-1.9	-0.5	+2.4	+3.0	+.047				+4.2	+3.7	+.203
Jamaal Wilkes	8	38.4	18.4	2.5	6.0	8.5	2.0	1.9	0.3	1.9	2.6	7.6	16.0	.477	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.676

Season 6
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1984-85	1979-80
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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		%
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
difference:	+2	+1.6	+8.7		+4.2	+4.1	+3.6		+0.9	-1.2	-0.1	+2.6	+5.4	+.013	+0.7	+1.4	+.251	+2.7	+2.8	+.074
Jamaal Wilkes	82	37.9	20.0	2.1	4.3	6.4	3.0	1.6	0.3	1.9	2.7	8.9	16.6	.535	0.0	0.2	.176	2.3	2.9	.808
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
difference:	+4		+5.7	+0.6	+1.8	+1.1	+2.8	+0.2	+0.7	-0.7	-0.5	+1.0	+2.9	+.015	+0.4	+1.2	+.280	+3.3	+3.4	+.075
Jamaal Wilkes	16	40.8	20.3	3.3	4.7	8.0	3.0	1.5	0.3	2.2	3.2	8.8	18.4	.476	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	3.4	.815

Season 7
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1985-86	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+1	+0.6	+3.2	+0.5	+3.9	+4.4	+3.9	+0.5	+0.2	-0.6	-0.6		+1.1	+.030	+1.0	+2.2	+.346	+2.3	+1.9	+.138
Jamaal Wilkes	81	37.4	22.6	1.8	3.6	5.4	2.9	1.5	0.4	2.6	2.8	9.7	18.5	.526	0.0	0.2	.077	3.1	4.1	.758
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
difference:	+15	+5.1	+7.9	+0.6	+6.1	+6.6	+6.9	+1.8	+0.3	-1.3	-0.2	+2.5	+2.4	+.079	+1.3	+2.8	+.411	+1.6	+0.1	+.260
Jamaal Wilkes	3	37.7	18.0	1.3	1.3	2.7	1.3	0.3	0.3	1.3	3.3	7.0	16.0	.438	0.0	0.3	.000	4.0	6.0	.667

Season 8
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1986-87	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
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
difference:	+8	+5.2	+7.0	+0.2	+4.6	+4.4	+5.9	+0.7	+0.6	-1.2	-0.4	+1.5	+2.9		+1.2	+3.0		+2.6	+2.0	+.178
Jamaal Wilkes	82	35.4	21.1	1.9	2.9	4.8	1.7	1.1	0.3	2.0	2.9	9.1	17.3	.525	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.1	.732
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
difference:	+9	+5.9	+7.0	+1.1	+6.2	+5.0	+4.6	+0.1	+0.6	-0.2	-0.7	+0.8	+2.5	+.026	+0.6	+1.7	+.341	+5.0	+4.9	+.136
Jamaal Wilkes	14	38.2	20.0	2.9	2.1	5.0	2.6	1.1	0.2	2.9	3.1	8.6	17.2	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	3.5	.776

Season 9
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1987-88	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+4	+7.1	+10.3	+0.4	+5.3	+5.0	+3.8	+0.8	+0.6	-0.9	-0.7	+3.0	+5.9	+.003	+1.3	+3.0	+.414	+3.0	+2.6	+.159
Jamaal Wilkes	80	31.9	19.6	1.8	2.5	4.3	2.3	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.8	8.6	16.1	.530	0.0	0.1	.000	2.5	3.4	.757
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
difference:	+2	+5.6	+4.6	+1.1	+3.9	+2.8	+3.4	+0.8	+0.1	-0.7	-0.8	+0.2	+1.7	+.048	+0.7	+1.8	+.375	+4.1	+3.7	+.280
Jamaal Wilkes	15	39.3	19.9	2.8	3.2	6.0	3.4	1.3	0.7	2.2	3.4	9.1	18.2	.498	0.0	0.1	.000	1.8	2.9	.614

Season 11
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1989-90	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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		%
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
difference:	+33	+21.2	+16.0	+0.4	+6.9	+7.3	+6.5	+0.9	+0.7	-2.0	-0.8	+6.1	+13.0	+.015	+0.9	+2.6		+3.1	+3.0	+.157
Jamaal Wilkes	42	18.1	8.3	0.8	1.4	2.2	1.0	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.5	3.5	7.2	.488	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.6	.773
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
Jamaal Wilkes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Larry Bird	Jamaal Wilkes
Season	1990-91	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
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
difference:	+47	+23.0	+13.6	+0.1	+6.4	+6.3	+6.0	+1.3	+0.8	-1.9	-0.5	+5.7	+12.0	+.054	+1.2	+3.1	+.056	+1.0	+1.0	+.076
Jamaal Wilkes	13	15.0	5.8	1.0	1.2	2.2	1.2	0.5	0.2	1.2	1.5	2.0	5.0	.400	0.1	0.2	.333	1.7	2.1	.815
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
Jamaal Wilkes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Larry Bird played 1 season more than Jamaal Wilkes in the NBA. In that period—his season 13 in 1992—Larry Bird played in the Playoffs. In that extra year over Jamaal Wilkes, Larry Bird got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game