Nate Thurmond vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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 played 14 years in the NBA, 2 more than James Worthy, who played 12. Nate Thurmond had the first of his seasons in 1963-64, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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
James Worthy	12	9	1982-83 to 1993-94

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1963-64	1982-83
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	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
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624

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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1964-65	1983-84
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658
James Worthy	82	29.5	14.5	1.9	4.4	6.3	2.5	0.9	0.9	2.2	3.0	6.0	10.9	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.759

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	21	33.7	17.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	2.7	1.3	0.5	1.9	2.7	7.8	13.0	.599	0.0	0.1	.500	2.0	3.3	.609

Season 3
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1965-66	1984-85
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676

Season 4
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1966-67	1985-86
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Lakers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771

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
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681

Season 5
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1967-68	1986-87
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
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		%
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753

Season 6
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1968-69	1987-88
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Div 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		%
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796

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
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758

Season 7
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1969-70	1988-89
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788

Season 8
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1970-71	1989-90
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730
James Worthy	80	37.0	21.1	2.0	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.2	0.6	2.0	2.4	8.9	16.2	.548	0.2	0.6	.306	3.1	4.0	.782

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
James Worthy	9	40.7	24.2	1.2	4.3	5.6	3.0	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.0	10.0	20.1	.497	0.2	0.9	.250	4.0	4.8	.837

Season 9
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1971-72	1990-91
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West 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		%
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743
James Worthy	78	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.5	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.5	9.2	18.7	.492	0.3	1.2	.289	2.7	3.4	.797

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
James Worthy	18	40.7	21.1	1.4	2.7	4.1	3.9	1.1	0.1	2.2	1.9	8.9	19.2	.465	0.2	1.3	.167	2.9	4.0	.736

Season 10
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1972-73	1991-92
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718
James Worthy	54	39.0	19.9	1.8	3.8	5.6	4.7	1.4	0.4	2.4	1.6	8.3	18.6	.447	0.2	0.8	.209	3.1	3.8	.814

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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1973-74	1992-93
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West 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		%
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
James Worthy	82	28.8	14.9	0.9	2.1	3.0	3.4	1.1	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.2	13.9	.447	0.4	1.4	.270	2.1	2.6	.810

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Worthy	5	29.6	13.8	1.4	2.0	3.4	2.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	2.2	6.4	17.2	.372	0.4	1.6	.250	0.6	1.0	.600

Season 12
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1974-75	1993-94
Team	Chicago Bulls	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bulls 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		%
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
James Worthy	80	20.0	10.2	0.6	1.7	2.3	1.9	0.6	0.2	1.2	1.0	4.3	10.5	.406	0.4	1.4	.288	1.3	1.7	.741

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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 13
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1975-76	-
Team	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	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	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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 14
	Nate Thurmond	James Worthy
Season	1976-77	-
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Cavaliers 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		%
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
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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	-
James Worthy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Nate Thurmond vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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