Scottie Barnes vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Scottie Barnes, 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.

Scottie Barnes played 5 years in the NBA, 8 less than Larry Bird, who played 13. Scottie Barnes had the first of his seasons in 2021-22, while Larry Bird had his rookie season in 1979-80. 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Scottie Barnes	Larry Bird
Season	2021-22	1979-80
Team	Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Raptors Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	74	35.4	15.3	2.6	4.9	7.5	3.5	1.1	0.7	1.8	2.6	6.2	12.6	.492	0.8	2.6	.301	2.1	2.9	.735
difference:	+8	+0.6	+6.0		+2.9	+2.9	+1.0	+0.6	+0.1	-1.4	-0.8	+2.3	+5.2	+.018	+0.1	+0.9	+.105	+1.6	+1.5	+.101
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	4	33.3	12.8	1.8	7.3	9.0	4.3	1.0	0.3	1.3	3.0	4.5	10.5	.429	0.5	3.0	.167	3.3	4.0	.813
difference:	+5	+8.0	+8.5	+0.6	+1.5	+2.2	+0.4	+0.6	+0.6	-2.4	-0.3	+4.7	+9.2	+.040	+0.1	+1.3	+.100	+0.9	+1.2	+.067
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880

Season 2
	Scottie Barnes	Larry Bird
Season	2022-23	1980-81
Team	Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	77	34.8	15.3	2.3	4.3	6.6	4.8	1.1	0.8	2.0	2.2	6.0	13.2	.456	0.8	2.9	.281	2.5	3.2	.772
difference:	+5	+4.7	+5.9		+4.3	+4.3	+0.7	+0.9		-1.5	-0.7	+2.8	+5.1	+.022	+0.6	+2.0	+.011	+1.0	+0.8	+.091
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894

Season 3
	Scottie Barnes	Larry Bird
Season	2023-24	1981-82
Team	Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	60	34.9	19.9	2.4	5.9	8.2	6.1	1.3	1.5	2.8	2.0	7.5	15.7	.475	1.7	4.9	.341	3.3	4.2	.781
difference:	+17	+3.1	+3.0	+0.2	+2.4	+2.7	+0.3	+0.6	+0.6	-0.5	-1.2	+1.7	+2.7	+.028	+1.6	+4.2	+.129	+1.0	+0.7	+.082
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822

Season 4
	Scottie Barnes	Larry Bird
Season	2024-25	1982-83
Team	Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	65	32.8	19.3	1.7	6.0	7.7	5.8	1.4	1.0	2.8	1.7	7.3	16.4	.446	1.2	4.3	.271	3.5	4.6	.755
difference:	+14	+4.9	+4.3	+0.7	+2.6	+3.3		+0.5	+0.1	-0.2	-0.8	+2.2	+2.3	+.058	+0.9	+3.3	+.015	+0.9	+0.7	+.085
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828

Season 5
	Scottie Barnes	Larry Bird
Season	2025-26	1983-84
Team	Toronto Raptors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	26	33.9	19.7	2.0	5.8	7.8	5.3	1.4	1.6	2.4	3.1	7.6	15.1	.501	1.4	3.6	.383	3.2	3.8	.847
difference:	+53	+4.4	+4.5	+0.3	+2.0	+2.3	+1.3	+0.4	+0.7	-0.6	-0.6	+2.0	+4.4	+.009	+1.2	+2.7	+.136	+1.5	+1.5	+.041
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Scottie Barnes	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879

Additional Years
* Larry Bird played 8 seasons more than Scottie Barnes in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 13, from 1985 to 1992—Larry Bird played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over Scottie Barnes, Larry Bird got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 2 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 7 All-Star Game