Larry Bird vs. Rudy LaRusso Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rudy LaRusso 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, 3 more than Rudy LaRusso, who played 10. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Rudy LaRusso had his rookie season in 1959-60. 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
Rudy LaRusso	10	9	1959-60 to 1968-69

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1979-80	1959-60
Team	Boston Celtics	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers 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	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
Rudy LaRusso	71	29.5	13.7	-	-	9.6	1.2	-	-	-	3.1	5.0	12.9	.389	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.742

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
Rudy LaRusso	9	35.7	15.4	-	-	7.8	2.4	-	-	-	3.8	6.2	14.7	.424	-	-	-	3.0	3.9	.771


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1980-81	1960-61
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers 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
Rudy LaRusso	79	32.8	14.6	-	-	9.9	1.7	-	-	-	3.5	5.3	12.6	.419	-	-	-	4.1	5.2	.790

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
Rudy LaRusso	12	30.0	12.2	-	-	8.0	2.0	-	-	-	3.6	4.8	12.0	.396	-	-	-	2.7	4.0	.667


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1981-82	1961-62
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA 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
Rudy LaRusso	80	34.4	17.2	-	-	10.4	2.2	-	-	-	3.2	6.5	13.9	.466	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.763

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
Rudy LaRusso	13	35.5	14.1	-	-	9.1	1.7	-	-	-	3.9	4.4	12.0	.365	-	-	-	5.3	7.0	.758


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1982-83	1962-63
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA 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	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
Rudy LaRusso	75	33.4	12.3	-	-	10.0	2.5	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	10.1	.422	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	.718

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
Rudy LaRusso	13	35.8	14.4	-	-	9.8	2.2	-	-	-	4.5	5.0	11.8	.422	-	-	-	4.4	5.8	.760


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1983-84	1963-64
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 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	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
Rudy LaRusso	79	34.8	12.3	-	-	10.1	2.4	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	9.8	.434	-	-	-	3.8	5.0	.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
Rudy LaRusso	5	37.8	9.0	-	-	6.0	2.2	-	-	-	4.6	2.6	6.6	.394	-	-	-	3.8	4.4	.864


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1984-85	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost NBA 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	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
Rudy LaRusso	77	33.6	14.1	-	-	9.4	2.6	-	-	-	3.4	4.9	10.7	.461	-	-	-	4.2	5.4	.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
Rudy LaRusso	11	35.9	15.0	-	-	8.1	2.6	-	-	-	4.7	5.1	12.5	.409	-	-	-	4.8	6.7	.716


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1985-86	1965-66
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 NBA 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
Rudy LaRusso	76	30.5	15.4	-	-	8.7	2.2	-	-	-	3.4	5.4	11.8	.457	-	-	-	4.6	5.9	.787

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
Rudy LaRusso	14	28.4	11.9	-	-	7.1	1.9	-	-	-	3.4	4.1	8.9	.460	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.791


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1986-87	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	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
Rudy LaRusso	45	28.7	12.8	-	-	7.8	1.7	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	11.3	.415	-	-	-	3.5	5.0	.696

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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1987-88	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Warriors Lost West Div Finals

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
Rudy LaRusso	79	35.7	21.8	-	-	9.4	2.3	-	-	-	4.3	7.6	17.6	.433	-	-	-	6.6	8.4	.790

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
Rudy LaRusso	10	38.5	20.3	-	-	9.9	1.7	-	-	-	3.5	7.2	18.2	.396	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.728


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1988-89	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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	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
Rudy LaRusso	75	37.1	20.7	-	-	8.3	2.1	-	-	-	3.6	7.4	18.0	.410	-	-	-	5.9	7.5	.794

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy LaRusso	6	35.8	18.2	-	-	8.5	2.5	-	-	-	3.8	5.7	15.0	.378	-	-	-	6.8	8.8	.774


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1989-90	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	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	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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1990-91	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	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	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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1991-92	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Rudy LaRusso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Rudy LaRusso Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rudy LaRusso 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