Otis Birdsong vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan and Otis Birdsong, 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 / Games against each other

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.

Otis Birdsong played 12 years in the NBA, 3 less than Michael Jordan, who played 15. Otis Birdsong had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Michael Jordan had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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
Otis Birdsong	12	7	1977-78 to 1988-89
Michael Jordan	15	13	1984-85 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15


Rookie Season
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1977-78	1984-85
Team	Kansas City Kings	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	73	25.7	15.8	1.0	1.4	2.4	2.4	1.0	0.2	2.0	2.5	6.4	13.1	.492	-	-	-	3.0	4.2	.697
Michael Jordan	82	38.3	28.2	2.0	4.5	6.5	5.9	2.4	0.8	3.5	3.5	10.2	19.8	.515	0.1	0.6	.173	7.7	9.1	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	4	42.8	29.3	1.8	4.0	5.8	8.5	2.8	1.0	3.8	3.8	8.5	19.5	.436	0.3	2.0	.125	12.0	14.5	.828


Season 2
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1978-79	1985-86
Team	Kansas City Kings	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Semis	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	34.6	21.7	2.1	2.2	4.3	3.4	1.5	0.2	2.4	3.1	9.0	17.8	.509	-	-	-	3.6	5.0	.725
Michael Jordan	18	25.1	22.7	1.3	2.3	3.6	2.9	2.1	1.2	2.5	2.6	8.3	18.2	.457	0.2	1.0	.167	5.8	6.9	.840

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	5	33.6	21.0	1.6	2.0	3.6	1.8	2.0	0.0	2.0	2.6	7.8	15.2	.513	-	-	-	5.4	7.6	.711
Michael Jordan	3	45.0	43.7	1.7	4.7	6.3	5.7	2.3	1.3	4.7	4.3	16.0	31.7	.505	0.3	0.3	1.000	11.3	13.0	.872


Season 3
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1979-80	1986-87
Team	Kansas City Kings	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	35.2	22.7	2.1	2.0	4.0	2.5	1.7	0.3	2.2	2.8	9.5	18.9	.505	0.1	0.4	.278	3.5	5.0	.694
Michael Jordan	82	40.0	37.1	2.0	3.2	5.2	4.6	2.9	1.5	3.3	2.9	13.4	27.8	.482	0.1	0.8	.182	10.2	11.9	.857

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	37.3	22.0	3.7	4.0	7.7	2.3	1.3	0.0	2.0	1.7	10.0	20.7	.484	0.0	1.0	.000	2.0	4.7	.429
Michael Jordan	3	42.7	35.7	2.3	4.7	7.0	6.0	2.0	2.3	2.7	3.7	11.7	28.0	.417	0.7	1.7	.400	11.7	13.0	.897


Season 4
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1980-81	1987-88
Team	Kansas City Kings	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	71	36.5	24.6	1.7	2.0	3.6	3.3	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.4	10.0	18.4	.544	0.1	0.5	.286	4.5	6.4	.697
Michael Jordan	82	40.4	35.0	1.7	3.8	5.5	5.9	3.2	1.6	3.1	3.3	13.0	24.4	.535	0.1	0.6	.132	8.8	10.5	.841

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	8	29.3	15.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	3.4	1.5	0.0	2.5	1.6	7.0	12.3	.571	0.1	0.1	1.000	1.4	2.3	.611
Michael Jordan	10	42.7	36.3	2.3	4.8	7.1	4.7	2.4	1.1	3.9	3.8	13.8	26.0	.531	0.1	0.3	.333	8.6	9.9	.869


Season 5
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1981-82	1988-89
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	37	27.7	14.2	0.8	1.8	2.6	3.4	0.8	0.1	1.7	2.0	6.1	13.0	.469	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	3.4	.583
Michael Jordan	81	40.2	32.5	1.8	6.2	8.0	8.0	2.9	0.8	3.6	3.0	11.9	22.2	.538	0.3	1.2	.276	8.3	9.8	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	17	42.2	34.8	1.5	5.5	7.0	7.6	2.5	0.8	4.0	3.8	11.7	22.9	.510	0.6	2.1	.286	10.8	13.5	.799


Season 6
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1982-83	1989-90
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	62	30.4	15.1	0.9	1.6	2.4	3.9	1.4	0.3	1.8	2.5	6.9	13.5	.511	0.0	0.1	.333	1.3	2.3	.566
Michael Jordan	82	39.0	33.6	1.7	5.1	6.9	6.3	2.8	0.7	3.0	2.9	12.6	24.0	.526	1.1	3.0	.376	7.2	8.5	.848

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	2	18.5	6.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	4.5	1.5	0.0	0.5	1.5	3.0	8.0	.375	0.0	0.5	.000	0.5	1.0	.500
Michael Jordan	16	42.1	36.7	1.5	5.7	7.2	6.8	2.8	0.9	3.5	3.4	13.7	26.6	.514	1.0	3.1	.320	8.3	9.9	.836


Season 7
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1983-84	1990-91
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 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		%
Otis Birdsong	69	31.4	19.8	1.1	1.4	2.5	3.9	1.2	0.2	2.5	2.6	8.4	16.6	.508	0.1	0.3	.250	2.8	4.6	.608
Michael Jordan	82	37.0	31.5	1.4	4.6	6.0	5.5	2.7	1.0	2.5	2.8	12.1	22.4	.539	0.4	1.1	.312	7.0	8.2	.851

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	11	35.2	15.2	0.6	1.7	2.4	3.7	1.8	0.1	2.0	3.5	6.5	15.5	.415	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	4.4	.521
Michael Jordan	17	40.5	31.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	8.4	2.4	1.4	2.5	3.1	11.6	22.1	.524	0.6	1.5	.385	7.4	8.7	.845


Season 8
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1984-85	1991-92
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	56	32.9	20.6	1.1	1.6	2.6	4.1	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.6	8.8	17.3	.511	0.1	0.4	.190	2.9	4.6	.622
Michael Jordan	80	38.8	30.1	1.1	5.3	6.4	6.1	2.3	0.9	2.5	2.5	11.8	22.7	.519	0.3	1.3	.270	6.1	7.4	.832

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	22	41.8	34.5	1.7	4.5	6.2	5.8	2.0	0.7	3.7	2.8	13.2	26.4	.499	0.8	2.0	.386	7.4	8.6	.857


Season 9
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1985-86	1992-93
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	77	31.1	15.8	1.1	1.5	2.6	3.4	1.1	0.2	2.3	3.0	7.0	13.7	.513	0.1	0.3	.364	1.6	2.7	.581
Michael Jordan	78	39.3	32.6	1.7	5.0	6.7	5.5	2.8	0.8	2.7	2.4	12.7	25.7	.495	1.0	2.9	.352	6.1	7.3	.837

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	44.0	23.0	1.7	2.3	4.0	3.3	2.0	1.0	3.0	4.7	9.7	18.3	.527	0.0	1.0	.000	3.7	6.3	.579
Michael Jordan	19	41.2	35.1	1.7	5.1	6.7	6.0	2.1	0.9	2.4	3.1	13.2	27.8	.475	1.5	3.8	.389	7.2	8.9	.805

Note: Michael Jordan didn't play in 1993-94.


Season 10
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1986-87	1994-95
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bulls 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		%
Otis Birdsong	7	18.1	6.3	0.4	0.6	1.0	2.4	0.4	0.0	1.3	2.3	2.7	6.0	.452	0.0	0.1	.000	0.9	1.3	.667
Michael Jordan	17	39.3	26.9	1.5	5.4	6.9	5.3	1.8	0.8	2.1	2.8	9.8	23.8	.411	0.9	1.9	.500	6.4	8.0	.801

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	10	42.0	31.5	2.0	4.5	6.5	4.5	2.3	1.4	4.1	3.0	12.0	24.8	.484	1.1	3.0	.367	6.4	7.9	.810


Season 11
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1987-88	1995-96
Team	New Jersey Nets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	67	28.1	10.9	1.1	1.4	2.5	3.3	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.1	5.0	11.0	.458	0.1	0.4	.360	0.7	1.4	.511
Michael Jordan	82	37.7	30.4	1.8	4.8	6.6	4.3	2.2	0.5	2.4	2.4	11.2	22.6	.495	1.4	3.2	.427	6.7	8.0	.834

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	18	40.7	30.7	1.7	3.2	4.9	4.1	1.8	0.3	2.3	2.7	10.4	22.6	.459	1.4	3.4	.403	8.5	10.4	.818


Season 12
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	1988-89	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	13	8.3	2.8	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.9	0.8	1.4	2.8	.500	0.1	0.2	.333	0.0	0.2	.000
Michael Jordan	82	37.9	29.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	4.3	1.7	0.5	2.0	1.9	11.2	23.1	.486	1.4	3.6	.374	5.9	7.0	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	6.7	0.7	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.0	0.3	1.7	.200	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-
Michael Jordan	19	42.3	31.1	2.2	5.7	7.9	4.8	1.6	0.9	2.6	2.4	11.9	26.2	.456	0.7	3.5	.194	6.5	7.8	.831


Season 13
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	-	1997-98
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	38.8	28.7	1.6	4.2	5.8	3.5	1.7	0.5	2.3	1.8	10.7	23.1	.465	0.4	1.5	.238	6.9	8.8	.784

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	21	41.5	32.4	1.6	3.5	5.1	3.5	1.5	0.6	2.1	2.2	11.6	25.0	.462	0.6	2.0	.302	8.6	10.6	.812

Note: Michael Jordan didn't play in 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01.


Season 14
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	-	2001-02
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	60	34.9	22.9	0.8	4.8	5.7	5.2	1.4	0.4	2.7	2.0	9.2	22.1	.416	0.2	0.9	.189	4.4	5.6	.790

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Otis Birdsong	Michael Jordan
Season	-	2002-03
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	82	37.0	20.0	0.9	5.2	6.1	3.8	1.5	0.5	2.1	2.1	8.3	18.6	.445	0.2	0.7	.291	3.2	4.0	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Michael Jordan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Otis Birdsong vs. Michael Jordan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Jordan and Otis Birdsong, 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

Season 15