Russ Lee vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and Russ Lee, 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.

Russ Lee played 3 years in the NBA, 9 less than Isaiah Thomas, who played 12. Russ Lee had the first of his seasons in 1972-73, while Isaiah Thomas had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Russ Lee	3	2	1972-73 to 1974-75
Isaiah Thomas	12	4	2011-12 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1972-73	2011-12
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Russ Lee	46	6.0	2.8	-	-	0.9	0.8	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	2.8	.386	-	-	-	0.7	0.9	.744
Isaiah Thomas	65	25.5	11.5	0.7	1.8	2.6	4.1	0.8	0.1	1.6	1.9	3.9	8.8	.448	1.3	3.4	.379	2.4	2.8	.832

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	5	2.6	3.2	-	-	0.8	0.4	-	-	-	0.2	1.6	2.8	.571	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1973-74	2012-13
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Russ Lee	36	4.6	2.4	0.4	0.7	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.0	-	0.8	1.1	2.6	.404	-	-	-	0.3	0.4	.688
Isaiah Thomas	79	26.9	13.9	0.4	1.7	2.0	4.0	0.8	0.0	1.8	2.1	4.6	10.5	.440	1.5	4.1	.358	3.2	3.6	.882

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	6	2.0	1.8	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.5	0.2	-	0.0	0.8	1.3	.625	-	-	-	0.2	0.7	.250
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1974-75	2013-14
Team	New Orleans Jazz	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	15	9.3	4.3	1.0	1.1	2.1	0.5	0.7	0.2	-	1.1	1.9	5.1	.382	-	-	-	0.5	0.9	.500
Isaiah Thomas	72	34.7	20.3	0.7	2.3	2.9	6.3	1.3	0.1	3.0	2.6	6.9	15.2	.453	1.8	5.1	.349	4.8	5.7	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2014-15
Team	-	Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	67	25.8	16.4	0.5	1.8	2.3	4.2	0.9	0.1	2.1	2.2	5.0	11.9	.420	1.9	5.2	.373	4.5	5.2	.868

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	4	29.8	17.5	0.3	2.8	3.0	7.0	0.8	0.0	3.5	2.5	4.5	13.5	.333	0.8	4.5	.167	7.8	8.0	.969


Season 5
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2015-16
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	82	32.2	22.2	0.6	2.4	3.0	6.2	1.1	0.1	2.7	2.0	7.2	16.9	.428	2.0	5.7	.359	5.8	6.6	.871

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	6	36.7	24.2	0.3	2.7	3.0	5.0	0.7	0.8	2.3	3.0	7.8	19.8	.395	2.2	7.7	.283	6.3	7.8	.809


Season 6
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2016-17
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	76	33.8	28.9	0.6	2.1	2.7	5.9	0.9	0.2	2.8	2.2	9.0	19.4	.463	3.2	8.5	.379	7.8	8.5	.909

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	15	34.7	23.3	0.3	2.8	3.1	6.7	0.9	0.1	3.3	2.3	7.4	17.4	.425	2.4	7.2	.333	6.1	7.4	.820


Season 7
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	32	26.9	15.2	0.5	1.6	2.1	4.8	0.5	0.1	3.0	1.8	4.9	13.2	.373	1.7	5.9	.293	3.7	4.1	.893

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	12	15.1	8.1	0.4	0.7	1.1	1.9	0.4	0.1	1.5	1.4	2.8	8.3	.343	1.0	3.6	.279	1.4	2.3	.630

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	40	23.1	12.2	0.3	1.4	1.7	3.7	0.3	0.2	1.9	1.9	4.4	10.7	.408	2.0	4.7	.413	1.6	1.9	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	3	16.0	7.7	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.7	0.3	0.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	9.0	.333	1.0	4.0	.250	0.7	0.7	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets
Honors & Awards
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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	22	15.2	8.4	0.2	1.1	1.3	1.5	0.3	0.2	0.7	1.5	3.0	7.6	.401	1.3	3.8	.337	1.0	1.2	.846

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Isaiah Thomas didn't play in 2022-23.


Season 12
	Russ Lee	Isaiah Thomas
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Suns 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		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	6	3.2	1.3	0.0	0.0	0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.7	.300	0.3	0.7	.500	0.0	0.0	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Russ Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isaiah Thomas	1	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Russ Lee vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and Russ Lee, 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