Larry Bird vs. Joe Kleine Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Kleine 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, 2 less than Joe Kleine, who played 15. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Joe Kleine had his rookie season in 1985-86. 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
Joe Kleine	15	10	1985-86 to 1999-00

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Kings 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	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
Joe Kleine	80	14.8	5.2	1.4	3.3	4.7	0.6	0.3	0.4	1.3	2.8	2.0	4.3	.465	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.6	.723

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
Joe Kleine	3	15.0	5.0	2.7	2.0	4.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.7	2.7	1.7	4.3	.385	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.0	.833


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1980-81	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
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
Joe Kleine	79	21.0	7.9	2.2	3.9	6.1	0.9	0.4	0.4	1.1	2.7	3.2	6.9	.471	0.0	0.0	.000	1.4	1.8	.786

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
Joe Kleine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1981-82	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
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	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
Joe Kleine	82	24.4	9.8	2.2	4.9	7.1	1.1	0.3	0.7	1.3	2.8	4.0	8.4	.472	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	2.3	.814

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
Joe Kleine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1982-83	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Celtics 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
Joe Kleine	75	18.8	6.5	1.7	3.4	5.0	0.9	0.4	0.3	1.4	2.6	2.3	5.8	.405	0.0	0.0	.000	1.8	2.0	.882

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
Joe Kleine	3	21.7	6.3	1.3	4.3	5.7	0.7	0.0	0.3	2.0	3.0	2.0	3.7	.545	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.0	.778


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1983-84	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics 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	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
Joe Kleine	81	16.9	5.4	1.4	2.9	4.4	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.8	2.1	2.2	4.5	.480	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.2	.830

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
Joe Kleine	5	15.8	6.2	0.6	2.2	2.8	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.8	2.4	2.6	3.4	.765	0.0	0.2	.000	1.0	1.2	.833


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1984-85	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Celtics 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	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
Joe Kleine	72	11.8	3.6	1.0	2.4	3.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.7	1.5	1.4	3.0	.468	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.0	.783

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
Joe Kleine	5	6.2	1.6	1.0	1.2	2.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.4	1.4	0.8	1.8	.444	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1985-86	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics 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
Joe Kleine	70	14.2	4.7	1.3	2.9	4.2	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.4	1.4	2.1	4.2	.491	0.1	0.1	.500	0.5	0.7	.708

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
Joe Kleine	9	9.1	2.2	0.7	1.8	2.4	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.3	1.2	1.0	2.4	.409	0.0	0.1	.000	0.2	0.2	1.000


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1986-87	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Celtics 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
Joe Kleine	78	14.5	3.3	1.4	3.0	4.4	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.5	1.6	1.4	3.4	.404	0.0	0.1	.000	0.5	0.7	.707

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
Joe Kleine	4	7.3	1.5	0.0	1.3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.0	0.8	1.3	.600	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1987-88	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Suns 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	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
Joe Kleine	74	11.5	3.9	0.7	1.9	2.6	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.5	1.6	1.7	3.5	.488	0.1	0.1	.455	0.4	0.5	.769

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
Joe Kleine	8	10.1	3.5	0.6	1.5	2.1	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.3	1.9	1.5	3.5	.429	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.8	.667


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1988-89	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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
Joe Kleine	75	12.9	3.7	1.1	2.4	3.5	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.5	2.3	1.6	3.5	.449	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.7	.857

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Kleine	10	16.7	6.3	0.8	2.3	3.1	0.8	0.5	0.3	0.6	3.5	3.1	5.4	.574	0.1	0.2	.500	0.0	0.0	-


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1989-90	1995-96
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
Joe Kleine	56	11.8	2.9	0.6	1.7	2.4	0.8	0.2	0.1	0.7	2.0	1.3	3.0	.420	0.0	0.1	.286	0.4	0.4	.800

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
Joe Kleine	2	4.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1990-91	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets
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	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
Joe Kleine	59	14.4	2.8	1.1	2.4	3.4	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.9	1.2	2.9	.406	0.0	0.1	.667	0.5	0.6	.737

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
Joe Kleine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	1991-92	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Joe Kleine	46	8.6	2.0	0.6	1.1	1.7	0.7	0.1	0.1	0.6	1.4	0.8	2.3	.368	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.833

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
Joe Kleine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	-	1998-99
Team	-	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Kleine	31	12.1	2.2	0.9	1.3	2.2	0.4	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.5	1.0	2.4	.405	0.0	0.1	.000	0.3	0.4	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Kleine	1	5.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Joe Kleine
Season	-	1999-00
Team	-	Portland Trail Blazers
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Kleine	7	4.4	1.6	0.0	0.9	0.9	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.3	1.0	0.6	1.6	.364	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.4	1.000

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

Larry Bird vs. Joe Kleine Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Kleine 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