Larry Nance vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Larry Nance, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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 Nance played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Larry Nance had the first of his seasons in 1981-82, while Nate Thurmond had his rookie season in 1963-64. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
Rookie Season
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1963-64
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors 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 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
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679

Season 2
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1964-65
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West 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 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
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1965-66
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West 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 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
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1966-67
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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 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
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571

Season 5
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1967-68
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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 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
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1968-69
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
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 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
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588

Season 7
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1987-88	1969-70
Team	Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers 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 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
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1970-71
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors 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 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
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800

Season 9
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1971-72
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors 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 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
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750

Season 10
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1990-91	1972-73
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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 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
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Nance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800

Season 11
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1991-92	1973-74
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Cavaliers 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 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
Nate Thurmond	62	39.7	13.0	4.0	10.1	14.2	2.7	0.7	2.9	-	2.9	5.0	11.2	.444	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.666
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Larry Nance	Nate Thurmond
Season	1992-93	1974-75
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls 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 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
Nate Thurmond	80	34.5	7.9	3.2	8.1	11.3	4.1	0.6	2.4	-	3.4	3.1	8.6	.364	-	-	-	1.7	2.8	.589
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Nate Thurmond	13	19.5	3.5	1.8	4.8	6.7	2.4	0.4	1.6	-	2.8	1.1	2.9	.368	-	-	-	1.4	2.8	.486