Larry Bird vs. Paul Silas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Silas 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, 3 less than Paul Silas, who played 16. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Paul Silas had his rookie season in 1964-65. 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
Paul Silas	16	14	1964-65 to 1979-80

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1979-80	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks Lost West Div 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	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
Paul Silas	79	15.7	4.6	-	-	7.3	0.6	-	-	-	2.0	1.8	4.7	.373	-	-	-	1.1	2.1	.506

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
Paul Silas	4	10.5	2.8	-	-	4.5	0.3	-	-	-	1.5	1.0	2.5	.400	-	-	-	0.8	1.0	.750


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1980-81	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div 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	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
Paul Silas	46	12.7	3.8	-	-	5.1	0.5	-	-	-	1.6	1.5	3.8	.405	-	-	-	0.8	1.3	.574

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
Paul Silas	7	11.4	2.6	-	-	4.9	0.3	-	-	-	1.6	0.7	2.6	.278	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.727


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1981-82	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Hawks Lost West Div 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	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
Paul Silas	77	20.4	6.8	-	-	8.7	1.0	-	-	-	2.7	2.7	6.3	.429	-	-	-	1.5	2.8	.531

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
Paul Silas	8	15.3	3.6	-	-	6.5	0.8	-	-	-	2.1	1.1	4.5	.250	-	-	-	1.4	2.3	.611


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1982-83	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Hawks Lost West Div 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	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
Paul Silas	82	32.3	13.4	-	-	11.7	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	4.9	10.6	.458	-	-	-	3.6	5.2	.705

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
Paul Silas	6	29.7	11.8	-	-	9.5	3.5	-	-	-	2.8	3.7	8.5	.431	-	-	-	4.5	6.3	.711


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1983-84	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost West Div 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	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
Paul Silas	79	23.5	8.7	-	-	9.4	1.8	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	7.3	.419	-	-	-	2.6	4.2	.613

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
Paul Silas	11	23.5	5.5	-	-	8.4	1.9	-	-	-	2.9	1.9	5.3	.362	-	-	-	1.7	3.4	.514


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1984-85	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Suns Lost West Div 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
Paul Silas	78	36.4	12.8	-	-	11.7	2.7	-	-	-	3.4	4.8	10.3	.464	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.607

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
Paul Silas	7	40.9	16.1	-	-	15.9	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	6.6	15.6	.422	-	-	-	3.0	4.6	.656


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1985-86	1970-71
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

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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
Paul Silas	81	36.3	11.9	-	-	12.5	3.0	-	-	-	2.8	4.2	9.7	.428	-	-	-	3.5	5.1	.685

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
Paul Silas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1986-87	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	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
Paul Silas	80	38.5	17.5	-	-	11.9	4.3	-	-	-	2.5	6.1	12.9	.470	-	-	-	5.4	7.0	.773

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
Paul Silas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1987-88	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Celtics 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	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
Paul Silas	80	32.7	13.3	-	-	13.0	3.1	-	-	-	2.5	5.0	10.6	.470	-	-	-	3.3	4.8	.700

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
Paul Silas	13	39.4	9.6	-	-	15.1	3.0	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	9.2	.392	-	-	-	2.4	3.8	.620


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1988-89	1973-74
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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
Paul Silas	82	31.7	11.5	4.1	7.1	11.2	2.3	0.8	0.2	-	3.0	4.1	9.4	.440	-	-	-	3.2	4.1	.783

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	18	31.9	8.0	2.9	7.7	10.6	2.6	0.7	0.5	-	2.8	2.8	7.0	.397	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	.830


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1989-90	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics 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	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
Paul Silas	82	32.5	10.6	4.2	8.3	12.5	2.7	0.7	0.3	-	2.8	3.8	9.1	.417	-	-	-	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	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
Paul Silas	11	36.8	9.1	4.2	7.6	11.8	3.6	1.1	0.2	-	4.1	3.8	8.4	.457	-	-	-	1.5	2.3	.640


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1990-91	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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
Paul Silas	81	32.9	10.7	4.5	8.1	12.7	2.5	0.7	0.4	-	2.8	3.9	9.1	.426	-	-	-	2.9	4.1	.709

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
Paul Silas	18	41.2	10.8	4.3	9.3	13.7	2.3	1.3	0.3	-	3.7	3.8	8.6	.448	-	-	-	3.1	3.8	.812


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	1991-92	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Nuggets 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	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
Paul Silas	81	24.2	7.2	2.9	4.6	7.5	1.6	0.7	0.3	-	2.3	2.5	7.1	.360	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	.667

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
Paul Silas	6	23.5	6.8	2.7	4.0	6.7	2.7	0.3	0.7	-	3.8	2.3	5.5	.424	-	-	-	2.2	4.0	.542


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	-	1977-78
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	26.5	5.8	3.5	4.6	8.1	1.8	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.2	2.2	5.7	.397	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.586

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	22	27.5	4.9	3.3	5.2	8.5	1.6	0.5	0.3	1.4	2.7	1.5	4.3	.351	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.683


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	-	1978-79
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	23.9	5.6	3.2	3.9	7.0	1.4	0.4	0.2	1.2	2.2	2.1	4.9	.423	-	-	-	1.4	2.4	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	17	24.6	4.3	2.4	3.4	5.8	1.1	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.6	1.2	3.2	.389	-	-	-	1.8	2.7	.674


Season 16
	Larry Bird	Paul Silas
Season	-	1979-80
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Supersonics 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	82	19.5	3.8	2.5	2.8	5.3	0.8	0.3	0.1	1.0	1.5	1.4	3.6	.378	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.7	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Silas	15	17.1	2.5	2.2	2.8	5.0	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.6	1.9	0.9	2.9	.302	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.9	.846

Larry Bird vs. Paul Silas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Silas 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