Tom Sanders vs. Isaiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isaiah Thomas and Tom Sanders, 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.

Tom Sanders played 13 years in the NBA, 1 more than Isaiah Thomas, who played 12. Tom Sanders had the first of his seasons in 1960-61, 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13
Rookie Season
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1960-61	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	68	15.9	5.3	-	-	5.7	0.6	-	-	-	1.9	2.2	5.2	.420	-	-	-	1.0	1.5	.670
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		%
Tom Sanders	10	21.6	8.9	-	-	8.4	0.7	-	-	-	4.2	3.7	7.5	.493	-	-	-	1.5	2.4	.625
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1961-62	2012-13
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	80	29.1	11.2	-	-	9.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.1	.435	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.749
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		%
Tom Sanders	14	31.4	10.1	-	-	8.2	1.0	-	-	-	4.6	4.0	9.3	.431	-	-	-	2.1	2.6	.806
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1962-63	2013-14
Team	Boston Celtics	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	80	26.9	10.8	-	-	7.2	1.2	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	9.3	.456	-	-	-	2.3	3.2	.738
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		%
Tom Sanders	13	29.8	9.8	-	-	7.4	1.5	-	-	-	4.7	4.0	9.2	.437	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.774
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1963-64	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	80	29.6	11.4	-	-	8.3	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.5	.417	-	-	-	2.7	3.5	.761
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		%
Tom Sanders	10	30.2	9.1	-	-	6.8	0.6	-	-	-	4.5	3.4	9.4	.362	-	-	-	2.3	3.4	.676
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
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1964-65	2015-16
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	80	30.7	11.8	-	-	8.3	1.2	-	-	-	4.0	4.7	10.9	.429	-	-	-	2.4	3.2	.745
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		%
Tom Sanders	12	30.4	13.3	-	-	8.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.8	5.3	12.7	.421	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.721
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
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1965-66	2016-17
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	72	26.3	12.6	-	-	7.1	1.3	-	-	-	4.4	4.8	11.3	.428	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.764
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		%
Tom Sanders	17	29.4	13.5	-	-	6.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.1	5.7	11.8	.483	-	-	-	2.1	2.8	.750
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 8
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1967-68	2018-19
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	78	25.4	10.2	-	-	5.8	1.3	-	-	-	3.8	3.8	8.9	.428	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.784
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		%
Tom Sanders	14	20.6	8.3	-	-	4.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.8	3.6	7.1	.505	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.762
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Tom Sanders	Isaiah Thomas
Season	1968-69	2019-20
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Tom Sanders	82	26.6	11.2	-	-	7.0	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	4.4	10.3	.430	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.733
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		%
Tom Sanders	15	13.1	5.8	-	-	3.2	0.5	-	-	-	2.7	2.1	4.9	.438	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.742
Isaiah Thomas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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