Marques Johnson vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Marques Johnson, 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.

Marques Johnson played 11 years in the NBA, 3 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Marques Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, 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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1977-78	1963-64
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Marques Johnson	80	34.6	19.5	3.7	6.9	10.6	2.4	1.2	1.3	2.2	2.8	7.9	15.1	.522	-	-	-	3.8	5.1	.736
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		%
Marques Johnson	9	35.7	24.0	3.9	8.6	12.4	3.4	1.1	1.9	1.6	2.8	9.3	17.0	.549	-	-	-	5.3	7.1	.750
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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1978-79	1964-65
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	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		%
Marques Johnson	77	36.1	25.6	2.8	4.9	7.6	3.0	1.5	1.2	2.2	2.4	10.6	19.4	.550	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.760
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1979-80	1965-66
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West 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		%
Marques Johnson	77	34.9	21.7	2.8	4.5	7.4	3.5	1.3	0.9	2.4	2.2	8.9	16.5	.544	0.0	0.1	.222	3.8	4.8	.791
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		%
Marques Johnson	7	43.3	19.9	2.4	4.4	6.9	2.9	0.7	0.9	1.1	2.9	7.7	18.3	.422	0.1	0.4	.333	4.3	5.7	.750
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1980-81	1966-67
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East 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		%
Marques Johnson	76	33.4	20.3	3.0	3.9	6.8	4.6	1.5	0.5	2.5	2.6	8.4	15.2	.552	0.0	0.1	.000	3.5	5.0	.706
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		%
Marques Johnson	7	38.0	24.7	5.9	3.6	9.4	4.9	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.0	10.7	19.3	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.6	.719
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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1967-68
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Marques Johnson	60	31.7	16.5	2.6	3.5	6.1	3.6	1.0	0.6	2.4	2.4	6.7	12.7	.532	0.0	0.1	.000	3.0	4.3	.700
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		%
Marques Johnson	6	39.2	18.8	3.8	3.5	7.3	3.3	1.0	0.3	2.0	4.2	7.3	16.7	.440	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	7.0	.571
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1968-69
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Marques Johnson	80	35.7	21.4	2.5	4.6	7.0	4.5	1.3	0.7	2.5	2.6	9.0	17.8	.509	0.1	0.3	.200	3.3	4.5	.735
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		%
Marques Johnson	9	42.4	22.0	3.1	4.9	8.0	4.2	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.4	9.4	19.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	3.1	4.8	.651
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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1969-70
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Marques Johnson	74	36.7	20.7	2.3	4.1	6.5	4.3	1.6	0.6	2.4	2.6	8.7	17.4	.502	0.0	0.2	.154	3.3	4.6	.709
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		%
Marques Johnson	16	37.8	20.3	1.8	3.5	5.3	3.4	1.1	0.4	2.7	3.1	8.1	17.1	.473	0.1	0.3	.250	4.1	5.6	.722
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1970-71
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	72	34.0	16.4	2.6	3.3	5.9	3.4	1.0	0.4	2.4	2.7	6.9	15.2	.452	0.0	0.2	.231	2.6	3.6	.731
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1971-72
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	75	34.7	20.3	2.1	3.5	5.5	3.8	1.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	8.2	16.0	.510	0.0	0.2	.067	4.0	5.2	.760
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1972-73
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	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		%
Marques Johnson	10	30.2	16.6	0.9	2.4	3.3	2.8	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.4	6.8	15.5	.439	0.0	0.6	.000	3.0	4.2	.714
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800

Note: Marques Johnson didn't play in 1987-88 and 1988-89.

Season 11
	Marques Johnson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1973-74
Team	Golden State Warriors	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	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		%
Marques Johnson	10	9.9	4.0	0.8	0.9	1.7	0.9	0.0	0.1	1.0	1.2	1.2	3.2	.375	0.2	0.3	.667	1.4	1.7	.824
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-