Thurl Bailey vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Thurl Bailey, 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.

Thurl Bailey played 12 years in the NBA, 1 less than Larry Bird, who played 13. Thurl Bailey had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, 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 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
Thurl Bailey	12	9	1983-84 to 1998-99
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92

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


Rookie Season
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1983-84	1979-80
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	24.8	8.5	1.4	4.3	5.7	1.6	0.5	1.5	1.3	2.4	3.7	7.3	.512	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.4	.752
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		%
Thurl Bailey	11	30.9	10.6	1.4	4.2	5.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	1.5	3.0	4.5	8.8	.515	0.0	0.2	.000	1.5	1.9	.810
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
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1984-85	1980-81
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West 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		%
Thurl Bailey	80	31.0	15.2	1.9	4.7	6.6	1.7	0.6	1.3	1.9	2.7	6.3	12.9	.490	0.0	0.0	1.000	2.5	2.9	.842
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		%
Thurl Bailey	10	37.5	16.9	2.1	7.1	9.2	2.7	0.5	1.8	2.1	3.0	6.2	15.2	.408	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	5.5	.818
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
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1985-86	1981-82
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	28.8	14.6	1.8	4.2	6.0	1.9	0.5	1.4	1.8	2.0	5.9	13.1	.448	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	3.4	.830
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		%
Thurl Bailey	4	36.8	16.0	2.8	5.3	8.0	3.3	0.5	0.5	1.3	3.3	7.0	19.3	.364	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	2.8	.727
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
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1986-87	1982-83
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics 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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	26.6	13.8	1.8	3.5	5.3	1.3	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.9	5.7	12.8	.447	0.0	0.0	.000	2.3	2.9	.805
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		%
Thurl Bailey	5	30.2	15.6	2.8	3.2	6.0	1.8	0.6	1.2	2.4	2.4	6.0	12.6	.476	0.0	0.0	-	3.6	3.6	1.000
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
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1987-88	1983-84
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	34.2	19.6	1.6	4.8	6.5	1.9	0.6	1.5	2.3	2.3	7.7	15.7	.492	0.0	0.0	.333	4.1	5.0	.826
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		%
Thurl Bailey	11	40.8	23.2	1.9	3.8	5.7	1.6	0.5	2.1	1.9	2.9	9.0	18.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	6.2	.838
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


Season 6
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1988-89	1984-85
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	33.9	19.5	1.4	4.0	5.5	1.7	0.6	1.1	2.5	2.3	7.5	15.5	.483	0.0	0.1	.400	4.4	5.4	.825
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	3	40.7	12.0	3.3	5.0	8.3	1.0	0.3	1.3	3.0	3.7	4.0	11.3	.353	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	5.0	.800
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890


Season 7
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1989-90	1985-86
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	31.5	14.2	1.4	3.6	5.0	1.7	0.4	1.2	1.7	2.1	5.7	11.9	.481	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	3.5	.779
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	5	38.0	21.0	1.6	4.8	6.4	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.0	3.8	8.6	17.6	.489	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	4.8	.792
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927


Season 8
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1990-91	1986-87
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	82	30.3	12.4	1.2	3.7	5.0	1.5	0.6	1.1	1.6	2.0	4.9	10.6	.458	0.0	0.0	.000	2.7	3.3	.808
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	9	25.3	7.6	1.2	2.3	3.6	1.0	0.3	0.7	1.3	3.0	2.6	7.1	.359	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	2.8	.880
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912


Season 9
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1991-92	1987-88
Team	Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Thurl Bailey	84	25.0	11.3	1.5	4.3	5.8	0.9	0.4	1.4	1.3	1.9	4.4	10.0	.440	0.0	0.0	.000	2.6	3.2	.796
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894


Season 10
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1992-93	1988-89
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Boston Celtics
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		%
Thurl Bailey	70	18.2	7.5	0.8	2.3	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.9	1.3	2.9	6.4	.455	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.0	.838
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1993-94	1989-90
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	79	16.4	7.4	0.8	1.9	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.7	1.2	2.9	5.8	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	1.9	.799
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906

Note: Thurl Bailey didn't play in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98.


Season 12
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	1998-99	1990-91
Team	Utah Jazz	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	43	12.6	4.2	0.8	1.3	2.2	0.6	0.2	0.7	0.6	1.8	1.8	4.1	.446	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.8	.735
Larry Bird	60	38.0	19.4	0.9	7.6	8.5	7.2	1.8	1.0	3.1	2.0	7.7	17.0	.454	1.3	3.3	.389	2.7	3.1	.891

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	11	10.5	3.4	0.5	0.9	1.4	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.7	1.7	1.5	3.0	.515	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.750
Larry Bird	10	39.6	17.1	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.8	6.2	15.2	.408	0.3	2.1	.143	4.4	5.1	.863


Season 13
	Thurl Bailey	Larry Bird
Season	-	1991-92
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	45	36.9	20.2	1.0	8.6	9.6	6.8	0.9	0.7	2.8	1.8	7.8	16.8	.466	1.2	2.8	.406	3.3	3.6	.926

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Larry Bird	4	26.8	11.3	0.5	4.0	4.5	5.3	0.3	0.5	1.5	1.8	5.3	10.5	.500	0.0	1.3	.000	0.8	1.0	.750

Thurl Bailey vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Thurl Bailey, 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