Larry Bird vs. Larry Nance Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Nance 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 Larry Nance both played 13 years in the NBA. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Larry Nance had his rookie season in 1981-82. 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
Larry Nance	13	8	1981-82 to 1993-94

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1979-80	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Suns 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	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
Larry Nance	80	14.8	6.6	1.2	2.0	3.2	1.0	0.5	0.9	1.3	2.1	2.8	5.5	.521	0.0	0.0	.000	0.9	1.5	.641

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
Larry Nance	7	18.3	7.7	1.9	2.7	4.6	1.0	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.1	3.6	5.9	.610	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.1	.500


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1980-81	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
Larry Nance	82	35.5	16.7	2.9	5.7	8.7	2.4	1.2	2.6	2.3	3.1	7.2	13.0	.550	0.0	0.0	.333	2.4	3.5	.672

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
Larry Nance	3	34.3	12.0	3.3	5.0	8.3	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	4.7	11.7	.400	0.0	0.0	-	2.7	3.3	.800


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1981-82	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Suns 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	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
Larry Nance	82	35.4	17.7	2.8	5.5	8.3	2.6	1.0	2.1	2.2	3.3	7.3	12.7	.576	0.0	0.1	.000	3.0	4.3	.707

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
Larry Nance	17	37.2	16.9	3.0	5.7	8.7	2.4	0.9	2.0	1.8	3.5	6.9	11.8	.590	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.5	.671


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1982-83	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	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	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
Larry Nance	61	36.1	19.9	3.2	5.6	8.8	2.6	1.4	1.7	2.2	3.0	8.4	14.4	.587	0.0	0.0	.500	3.0	4.2	.709

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
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1983-84	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
Larry Nance	73	34.0	20.2	2.3	6.2	8.5	3.3	1.0	1.8	2.9	3.4	8.0	13.7	.581	0.0	0.1	.000	4.2	6.1	.698

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
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1984-85	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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	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
Larry Nance	69	37.2	22.5	2.7	6.0	8.7	3.4	1.2	2.1	2.2	3.2	8.5	15.4	.551	0.0	0.1	.200	5.5	7.1	.773

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
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1985-86	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
Larry Nance	67	35.6	19.1	2.9	6.2	9.1	3.1	0.9	2.4	2.3	3.6	7.3	13.7	.529	0.0	0.1	.333	4.5	5.8	.779

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
Larry Nance	5	40.0	16.8	2.0	5.2	7.2	3.6	0.4	2.2	2.8	2.6	6.8	12.8	.531	0.0	0.0	-	3.2	3.6	.889


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1986-87	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA 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	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
Larry Nance	73	34.6	17.2	2.1	5.8	8.0	2.2	0.8	2.8	1.6	2.5	6.8	12.6	.539	0.0	0.1	.000	3.7	4.6	.799

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
Larry Nance	5	39.0	19.4	3.2	4.6	7.8	3.2	0.6	2.4	1.8	2.4	7.6	13.8	.551	0.0	0.0	-	4.2	6.4	.656


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1987-88	1989-90
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
Larry Nance	62	33.3	16.3	2.6	5.7	8.3	2.6	0.9	2.0	1.8	3.0	6.6	13.0	.511	0.0	0.0	1.000	3.0	3.9	.778

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
Larry Nance	5	31.8	12.2	0.8	4.0	4.8	2.4	0.6	2.0	0.8	4.0	5.2	9.0	.578	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.4	.750


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1988-89	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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	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
Larry Nance	80	36.6	19.2	2.5	6.1	8.6	3.0	0.8	2.5	1.6	2.7	7.9	15.1	.524	0.0	0.1	.250	3.3	4.1	.803

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


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1989-90	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Cavaliers Lost East 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	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
Larry Nance	81	35.6	17.0	2.6	5.6	8.3	2.9	1.0	3.0	1.1	2.5	6.9	12.7	.539	0.0	0.1	.000	3.2	4.0	.822

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
Larry Nance	17	40.1	18.0	2.6	6.6	9.2	2.5	0.8	2.7	1.5	3.3	7.3	14.8	.494	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	4.1	.829


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1990-91	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Cavaliers Lost East 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	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
Larry Nance	77	35.8	16.5	2.4	6.3	8.7	2.9	0.7	2.6	1.4	2.9	6.9	12.6	.549	0.0	0.1	.000	2.6	3.2	.818

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
Larry Nance	9	36.6	16.1	3.9	4.3	8.2	2.3	0.9	1.6	0.7	3.7	6.8	12.0	.565	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.3	.767


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Larry Nance
Season	1991-92	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
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
Larry Nance	33	27.5	11.2	2.3	4.5	6.9	1.5	0.8	1.7	1.2	2.9	4.6	9.5	.487	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	2.6	.753

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
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Larry Nance Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Nance 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