Nate Thurmond vs. Anderson Varejao Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Anderson Varejao and Nate Thurmond, 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.

Nate Thurmond and Anderson Varejao both played 14 years in the NBA. Nate Thurmond had the first of his seasons in 1963-64, while Anderson Varejao had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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
Nate Thurmond	14	9	1963-64 to 1976-77
Anderson Varejao	14	6	2004-05 to 2020-21

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


Rookie Season
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1963-64	2004-05
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549
Anderson Varejao	54	16.0	4.9	2.0	2.7	4.8	0.5	0.8	0.7	0.5	2.3	1.8	3.6	.513	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.4	.535

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1964-65	2005-06
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658
Anderson Varejao	48	15.8	4.6	1.6	3.3	4.9	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.6	2.5	1.6	3.1	.527	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	2.5	.513

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	13	18.3	6.8	1.4	3.1	4.5	0.2	0.7	0.2	0.5	3.8	2.4	3.8	.620	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.8	.703


Season 3
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1965-66	2006-07
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654
Anderson Varejao	81	23.9	6.8	2.4	4.4	6.7	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.8	3.3	2.4	5.0	.476	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	3.3	.616

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	20	22.4	6.0	2.3	3.7	6.0	0.6	1.1	0.6	1.0	2.7	2.3	4.5	.511	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.4	.563


Season 4
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1966-67	2007-08
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629
Anderson Varejao	48	27.5	6.7	2.8	5.5	8.3	1.1	0.8	0.5	1.2	2.8	2.8	6.1	.461	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.7	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571
Anderson Varejao	13	18.5	4.1	1.5	3.6	5.2	0.7	0.6	0.1	0.7	2.3	1.7	4.2	.407	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.6	.429


Season 5
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1967-68	2008-09
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644
Anderson Varejao	81	28.5	8.6	2.0	5.1	7.2	1.0	0.9	0.8	1.0	3.0	3.3	6.2	.536	0.0	0.0	.000	1.9	3.1	.616

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	14	30.0	6.9	2.9	3.5	6.4	0.6	1.3	1.1	1.1	3.5	2.9	5.9	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.6	.682


Season 6
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1968-69	2009-10
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Div Semis	Cavaliers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615
Anderson Varejao	76	28.5	8.6	2.5	5.1	7.6	1.1	0.9	0.9	0.9	2.9	3.5	6.1	.572	0.0	0.1	.200	1.5	2.3	.663

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588
Anderson Varejao	11	23.2	5.7	2.0	4.5	6.5	0.6	1.0	0.8	1.1	3.5	1.8	4.4	.417	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	2.8	.742


Season 7
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1969-70	2010-11
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
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		%
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754
Anderson Varejao	31	32.1	9.1	3.2	6.5	9.7	1.5	0.9	1.2	1.3	2.8	3.7	7.0	.528	0.0	0.1	.000	1.7	2.6	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1970-71	2011-12
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730
Anderson Varejao	25	31.4	10.8	4.4	7.1	11.5	1.7	1.4	0.7	1.8	2.5	4.6	8.9	.514	0.0	0.2	.000	1.7	2.6	.672

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1971-72	2012-13
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743
Anderson Varejao	25	36.0	14.1	5.5	8.9	14.4	3.4	1.5	0.6	1.8	2.7	5.5	11.6	.478	0.0	0.2	.000	3.1	4.1	.755

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1972-73	2013-14
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718
Anderson Varejao	65	27.7	8.4	2.9	6.8	9.7	2.2	1.1	0.6	1.1	2.5	3.5	7.1	.495	0.0	0.1	.000	1.4	2.1	.681

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1973-74	2014-15
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Anderson Varejao	26	24.5	9.8	2.2	4.3	6.5	1.3	0.7	0.6	1.3	2.2	4.3	7.7	.555	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	1.7	.733

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1974-75	2015-16
Team	Chicago Bulls	Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
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
Anderson Varejao	53	9.4	2.6	0.7	2.0	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.4	1.3	1.0	2.3	.427	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.9	.640

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Anderson Varejao	17	5.5	1.2	0.7	0.5	1.2	0.8	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.0	0.3	0.8	.357	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.1	.526


Season 13
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1975-76	2016-17
Team	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	78	17.9	4.4	1.5	3.8	5.3	1.2	0.3	1.3	-	2.1	1.8	4.3	.421	-	-	-	0.8	1.6	.504
Anderson Varejao	14	6.6	1.3	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	0.2	0.2	0.6	1.1	0.4	1.0	.357	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.8	.727

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	13	28.8	6.7	2.9	6.1	9.0	2.2	0.5	2.2	-	4.0	2.8	6.1	.468	-	-	-	1.0	2.5	.406
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Anderson Varejao didn't play in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.


Season 14
	Nate Thurmond	Anderson Varejao
Season	1976-77	2020-21
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	49	20.3	5.5	2.5	5.2	7.6	1.7	0.3	1.7	-	2.6	2.0	5.0	.407	-	-	-	1.4	2.2	.642
Anderson Varejao	5	7.2	2.6	1.4	2.6	4.0	0.6	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.6	0.8	3.2	.250	0.0	0.2	.000	1.0	1.8	.556

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	1	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Anderson Varejao	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Nate Thurmond vs. Anderson Varejao Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Anderson Varejao and Nate Thurmond, 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