Larry Bird vs. Nene Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nene 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

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, 4 less than Nene, who played 17. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Nene had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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
Nene	17	12	2002-03 to 2018-19

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1979-80	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	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
Nene	80	28.2	10.5	2.6	3.5	6.1	1.9	1.6	0.8	2.3	3.7	4.0	7.7	.519	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	4.3	.578

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
Nene	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1980-81	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	77	32.5	11.8	2.0	4.5	6.5	2.2	1.5	0.5	2.4	3.6	4.3	8.2	.530	0.0	0.0	.000	3.1	4.6	.682

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
Nene	5	26.6	7.8	2.4	2.6	5.0	3.0	1.0	0.6	1.8	4.4	3.2	7.2	.444	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.6	.538


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1981-82	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	55	23.9	9.6	1.9	4.0	5.9	1.5	0.9	0.9	1.7	3.0	3.5	7.0	.503	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.9	.660

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
Nene	5	20.0	6.6	1.8	3.2	5.0	0.4	0.4	0.4	1.0	3.2	1.8	4.2	.429	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.6	.652


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1982-83	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Nene	1	3.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

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
Nene	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1983-84	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	64	26.8	12.2	2.3	4.7	7.0	1.2	1.0	0.9	2.0	3.3	4.6	8.1	.570	0.0	0.0	.000	3.0	4.4	.689

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
Nene	5	35.8	15.2	4.4	3.4	7.8	2.4	0.6	0.6	2.6	4.2	6.2	10.6	.585	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	3.6	.778


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1984-85	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	16	16.6	5.3	1.9	3.6	5.4	0.9	0.6	0.9	1.3	2.9	1.8	4.4	.408	0.0	0.1	.000	1.7	3.1	.551

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
Nene	3	10.0	4.3	1.0	1.3	2.3	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.7	1.7	3.0	.556	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.0	1.000


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1985-86	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	77	32.6	14.6	2.4	5.4	7.8	1.4	1.2	1.3	1.9	3.6	5.6	9.2	.604	0.0	0.1	.200	3.5	4.8	.723

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
Nene	16	32.8	11.5	2.3	5.2	7.5	2.6	1.3	0.6	1.9	4.1	4.3	7.9	.548	0.0	0.0	-	2.9	4.4	.657


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1986-87	2009-10
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets 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	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
Nene	82	33.6	13.8	2.0	5.6	7.6	2.5	1.4	1.0	1.5	3.4	5.1	8.7	.587	0.0	0.0	.000	3.6	5.1	.704

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
Nene	5	33.8	11.4	1.6	4.2	5.8	2.2	1.2	0.2	0.8	3.4	3.6	5.8	.621	0.0	0.0	-	4.2	7.2	.583


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1987-88	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Nuggets 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
Nene	75	30.5	14.5	1.9	5.7	7.6	2.0	1.1	1.0	1.8	3.2	5.4	8.7	.615	0.0	0.1	.200	3.8	5.4	.711

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
Nene	5	32.4	14.2	2.8	6.2	9.0	1.6	1.0	0.8	1.6	3.4	4.4	9.2	.478	0.0	0.0	-	5.4	9.6	.563


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1988-89	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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	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
Nene	39	28.5	13.7	1.6	5.8	7.5	2.1	1.1	1.0	2.5	2.4	5.4	10.1	.537	0.0	0.1	.000	2.9	4.3	.673

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


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1989-90	2012-13
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Nene	61	27.2	12.6	1.7	5.0	6.7	2.9	0.9	0.6	2.3	2.8	4.7	9.7	.480	0.0	0.0	.000	3.2	4.4	.729

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
Nene	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1990-91	2013-14
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Wizards 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	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
Nene	53	29.4	14.2	1.2	4.3	5.5	2.9	1.2	0.9	2.2	3.1	5.6	11.2	.503	0.0	0.1	.200	2.9	5.0	.583

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
Nene	10	32.5	13.7	0.8	4.5	5.3	2.6	0.9	1.1	1.7	3.6	6.4	13.8	.464	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	2.6	.346


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	1991-92	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Wizards 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	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
Nene	67	25.3	11.0	1.3	3.9	5.1	1.8	1.0	0.3	1.9	2.7	4.6	9.0	.511	0.0	0.1	.200	1.8	3.0	.604

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
Nene	10	25.7	7.9	2.5	4.1	6.6	1.5	0.9	0.3	1.4	3.2	3.4	7.6	.447	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	2.3	.478


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	-	2015-16
Team	-	Washington Wizards
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	57	19.2	9.2	0.9	3.6	4.5	1.7	0.9	0.5	1.3	2.7	3.7	6.7	.544	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	3.2	.578

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


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	-	2016-17
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	67	17.9	9.1	1.4	2.8	4.2	1.0	0.8	0.6	1.1	2.4	3.7	5.9	.617	0.0	0.1	.333	1.7	2.9	.589

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	9	17.9	10.0	1.2	3.4	4.7	0.6	0.7	0.4	1.0	2.7	4.0	5.7	.706	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	3.4	.581


Season 16
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	52	14.6	6.5	1.0	2.3	3.4	0.9	0.5	0.3	0.7	2.4	2.6	4.6	.569	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.1	.636

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	11	9.7	2.8	0.5	2.0	2.5	0.5	0.2	0.5	0.7	1.6	1.1	1.8	.600	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.0	.636


Season 17
	Larry Bird	Nene
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	42	13.0	3.6	0.8	2.1	2.9	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.3	2.1	1.4	2.8	.517	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.1	.660

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nene	7	7.6	3.9	1.3	0.7	2.0	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	1.0	1.4	1.4	1.000	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.778

Larry Bird vs. Nene Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nene 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

Season 16

Season 17