Nathaniel Clifton vs. Bob Lanier Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Lanier and Nathaniel Clifton, 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.

Nathaniel Clifton played 8 years in the NBA, 6 less than Bob Lanier, who played 14. Nathaniel Clifton had the first of his seasons in 1950-51, while Bob Lanier had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1950-51	1970-71
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	65	-	8.6	-	-	7.6	2.5	-	-	-	4.1	3.2	10.1	.322	-	-	-	2.2	4.0	.532
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	-	7.1	-	-	9.8	3.3	-	-	-	4.4	2.9	8.4	.347	-	-	-	1.3	3.3	.391
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1951-52	1971-72
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	62	33.9	10.6	-	-	11.8	3.4	-	-	-	3.7	3.9	11.8	.335	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.664
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	33.0	9.4	-	-	9.5	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	2.8	9.5	.293	-	-	-	3.9	5.4	.711
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1952-53	1972-73
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	70	35.7	10.6	-	-	10.9	3.3	-	-	-	3.9	3.9	11.3	.343	-	-	-	2.9	4.9	.583
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	11	36.8	12.0	-	-	12.7	3.5	-	-	-	4.4	4.6	11.7	.395	-	-	-	2.7	4.3	.638
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1953-54	1973-74
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost E Div Round Robin	Pistons 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	30.3	9.6	-	-	7.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	9.7	.368	-	-	-	2.4	3.8	.628
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	4	31.3	6.3	-	-	9.8	1.5	-	-	-	3.8	2.0	6.8	.296	-	-	-	2.3	4.3	.529
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789

Season 5
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1954-55	1974-75
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Semis	Pistons 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	33.2	13.1	-	-	8.5	2.8	-	-	-	3.1	5.0	12.9	.386	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.683
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	3	36.7	19.7	-	-	7.7	4.3	-	-	-	4.0	6.7	17.3	.385	-	-	-	6.3	8.0	.792
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750

Season 7
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1956-57	1976-77
Team	New York Knicks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	71	31.4	10.7	-	-	7.8	2.3	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	11.5	.377	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	.673
Bob Lanier	64	38.2	25.3	3.1	8.5	11.6	3.3	1.1	2.0	-	2.7	10.6	19.8	.534	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	3	39.3	28.0	4.3	12.3	16.7	2.0	1.0	2.3	-	3.3	11.3	18.0	.630	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.842

Season 8
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	1957-58	1977-78
Team	Detroit Pistons	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	68	21.1	7.7	-	-	5.9	1.1	-	-	-	3.0	3.2	8.8	.363	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.623
Bob Lanier	63	36.7	24.5	3.1	8.2	11.3	3.4	1.3	1.5	3.6	2.9	9.9	18.4	.537	-	-	-	4.7	6.1	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	7	10.6	4.0	-	-	3.3	0.6	-	-	-	1.6	1.6	4.3	.367	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.750
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1978-79
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	53	34.6	23.6	3.1	6.2	9.3	2.6	0.9	1.4	3.3	3.4	9.2	17.9	.515	-	-	-	5.2	6.9	.749
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Nathaniel Clifton	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1981-82
Team	-	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bucks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	74	26.8	13.5	1.2	4.0	5.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	2.2	2.9	5.5	9.9	.558	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.3	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	6	35.3	16.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	3.7	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.5	6.8	13.3	.513	0.0	0.2	.000	2.3	4.2	.560