Rudy Gay vs. Don Nelson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Don Nelson and Rudy Gay, 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.

Rudy Gay played 17 years in the NBA, 3 more than Don Nelson, who played 14. Rudy Gay had the first of his seasons in 2006-07, while Don Nelson had his rookie season in 1962-63. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17
Rookie Season
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2006-07	1962-63
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Chicago Zephyrs
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
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		%
Rudy Gay	78	27.0	10.8	1.2	3.3	4.5	1.3	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.5	4.1	9.7	.422	0.7	1.8	.364	1.9	2.7	.727
Don Nelson	62	17.3	6.8	-	-	4.5	1.2	-	-	-	2.2	2.1	4.7	.440	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.729
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2009-10	1965-66
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
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		%
Rudy Gay	80	39.7	19.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	1.9	1.5	0.8	2.1	2.5	7.5	16.1	.466	0.8	2.5	.327	3.8	5.0	.753
Don Nelson	75	23.5	10.2	-	-	5.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.5	3.6	8.2	.439	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.684
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	17	18.6	8.4	-	-	5.0	0.8	-	-	-	2.9	2.9	6.9	.424	-	-	-	2.5	3.1	.808

Season 6
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2011-12	1967-68
Team	Memphis Grizzlies	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Rudy Gay	65	37.3	19.0	2.0	4.4	6.4	2.3	1.5	0.8	2.5	2.1	7.5	16.4	.455	0.8	2.7	.312	3.2	4.0	.791
Don Nelson	82	18.3	10.0	-	-	5.3	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	3.8	7.7	.494	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.728
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	7	39.9	19.0	1.4	5.1	6.6	1.4	1.3	0.3	3.0	2.1	6.9	16.3	.421	0.6	2.7	.211	4.7	5.7	.825
Don Nelson	19	24.6	12.5	-	-	7.5	1.7	-	-	-	2.6	4.8	9.2	.520	-	-	-	2.9	3.9	.743

Season 7
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2012-13	1968-69
Team	Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
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		%
Rudy Gay	75	35.8	18.2	1.3	4.8	6.1	2.7	1.5	0.7	2.6	2.4	6.9	16.7	.416	1.1	3.5	.323	3.2	3.9	.814
Don Nelson	82	21.6	11.6	-	-	5.6	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	4.6	9.4	.485	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	18	19.3	12.4	-	-	4.6	1.2	-	-	-	2.8	4.8	9.3	.518	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.833

Season 12
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2017-18	1973-74
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Rudy Gay	57	21.6	11.5	1.3	3.8	5.1	1.3	0.8	0.7	1.4	1.7	4.4	9.4	.471	0.6	2.1	.314	2.0	2.5	.772
Don Nelson	82	21.3	11.5	1.1	3.1	4.2	2.0	0.2	0.2	-	2.3	4.4	8.7	.508	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	5	32.0	12.2	1.8	3.8	5.6	2.2	1.6	0.2	1.2	3.2	5.2	13.0	.400	0.8	3.6	.222	1.0	1.8	.556
Don Nelson	18	25.9	11.4	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.9	0.4	0.2	-	3.0	4.6	9.1	.500	-	-	-	2.3	2.9	.774

Season 14
	Rudy Gay	Don Nelson
Season	2019-20	1975-76
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
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		%
Rudy Gay	67	21.8	10.8	0.9	4.5	5.4	1.7	0.5	0.5	1.3	1.5	4.0	8.9	.446	1.1	3.3	.336	1.8	2.0	.882
Don Nelson	75	12.6	6.4	0.7	1.7	2.4	1.0	0.2	0.1	-	1.5	2.3	5.1	.462	-	-	-	1.7	2.1	.789
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don Nelson	18	17.5	9.1	0.9	2.0	2.9	0.9	0.2	0.1	-	2.6	2.9	6.0	.481	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	.870