Bill Russell vs. Steve Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Steve Smith and Bill Russell, 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.

Bill Russell played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Steve Smith, who played 14. Bill Russell had the first of his seasons in 1956-57, while Steve Smith had his rookie season in 1991-92. 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
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69
Steve Smith	14	13	1991-92 to 2004-05

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1956-57	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Heat 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		%
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492
Steve Smith	61	29.6	12.0	1.3	1.8	3.1	4.6	1.0	0.3	2.5	2.7	4.9	10.7	.454	0.7	2.0	.320	1.6	2.1	.748

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508
Steve Smith	3	33.3	16.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	5.0	1.3	0.3	1.0	0.7	6.0	11.3	.529	2.3	3.7	.636	1.7	2.0	.833


Season 2
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1957-58	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519
Steve Smith	48	33.5	16.0	1.2	2.9	4.1	5.6	1.0	0.3	2.7	3.1	5.8	12.9	.451	1.1	2.8	.402	3.2	4.1	.787

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606
Steve Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1958-59	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Heat 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		%
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598
Steve Smith	78	35.6	17.3	2.0	2.5	4.5	5.1	1.1	0.4	2.6	2.8	6.3	13.8	.456	1.2	3.4	.347	3.5	4.2	.835

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612
Steve Smith	5	38.4	19.2	3.4	2.6	6.0	2.2	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.4	6.6	16.0	.413	1.8	4.4	.409	4.2	5.0	.840


Season 4
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1959-60	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks 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		%
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612
Steve Smith	80	33.3	16.3	1.3	2.2	3.5	3.4	0.8	0.4	1.9	2.8	5.4	12.6	.426	1.7	5.2	.329	3.9	4.6	.841

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707
Steve Smith	3	36.0	19.0	0.3	2.3	2.7	2.0	2.0	0.3	1.0	4.7	5.7	14.3	.395	2.3	6.0	.389	5.3	6.3	.842


Season 5
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1960-61	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550
Steve Smith	80	35.7	18.1	1.6	2.5	4.1	2.8	0.9	0.2	1.9	2.6	6.2	14.3	.432	1.8	5.3	.331	4.0	4.8	.826

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523
Steve Smith	10	42.1	21.7	1.5	2.6	4.1	3.2	1.3	1.3	1.6	3.1	7.5	17.1	.439	2.5	6.1	.410	4.2	5.2	.808


Season 6
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1961-62	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks 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		%
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595
Steve Smith	72	39.1	20.1	1.3	2.1	3.3	4.2	0.9	0.3	2.4	2.4	6.8	15.9	.429	1.8	5.4	.335	4.6	5.5	.847

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726
Steve Smith	10	42.0	18.9	1.2	2.7	3.9	1.7	0.4	0.1	2.8	3.8	5.5	13.9	.396	1.8	5.5	.327	6.1	7.4	.824


Season 7
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1962-63	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555
Steve Smith	73	39.1	20.1	1.8	2.4	4.2	4.0	1.0	0.4	2.4	3.0	6.7	15.1	.444	1.3	3.8	.351	5.3	6.2	.855

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661
Steve Smith	4	40.0	24.8	0.5	2.3	2.8	2.3	0.5	0.8	1.3	4.3	9.8	17.0	.574	2.5	5.0	.500	2.8	4.0	.688


Season 8
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1963-64	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550
Steve Smith	36	36.5	18.7	1.4	2.8	4.2	3.3	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.8	6.0	15.0	.402	1.3	3.9	.338	5.3	6.3	.849

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	10	45.1	13.1	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	13.2	.356	-	-	-	3.7	6.7	.552
Steve Smith	9	39.6	17.3	1.6	1.9	3.4	3.3	1.6	0.2	2.3	3.6	6.0	17.0	.353	1.0	3.7	.273	4.3	4.8	.907


Season 9
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1964-65	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Trail Blazers Lost West 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		%
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573
Steve Smith	82	32.8	14.9	1.5	2.3	3.8	2.5	0.9	0.4	1.4	2.6	5.1	11.0	.467	1.2	2.9	.398	3.5	4.1	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	12	46.8	16.5	-	-	25.2	6.3	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	12.5	.527	-	-	-	3.3	6.3	.526
Steve Smith	16	37.8	17.1	0.8	1.7	2.5	2.8	1.2	0.3	1.7	2.8	5.5	11.3	.486	1.8	3.3	.547	4.3	4.9	.885


Season 10
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1965-66	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Trail Blazers 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		%
Bill Russell	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551
Steve Smith	81	31.4	13.6	1.1	2.3	3.4	2.6	0.6	0.3	1.7	2.5	4.4	9.7	.456	1.0	2.8	.339	3.8	4.3	.890

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	17	47.9	19.1	-	-	25.2	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.3	15.4	.475	-	-	-	4.5	7.2	.618
Steve Smith	3	40.7	17.0	1.7	2.7	4.3	2.3	0.7	0.3	3.3	1.0	5.3	11.3	.471	1.3	3.7	.364	5.0	5.3	.938


Season 11
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1966-67	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Finals	Spurs Lost West 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		%
Bill Russell	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610
Steve Smith	77	28.7	11.6	0.6	1.9	2.5	2.0	0.7	0.2	1.4	2.1	4.0	8.9	.455	1.5	3.2	.472	2.1	2.4	.878

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	9	43.3	10.6	-	-	22.0	5.6	-	-	-	3.6	3.4	9.6	.360	-	-	-	3.7	5.8	.635
Steve Smith	10	29.8	10.3	1.4	2.0	3.4	1.7	0.8	0.1	0.7	2.0	3.2	8.7	.368	1.0	3.8	.263	2.9	3.0	.967


Season 12
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1967-68	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Bill Russell	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537
Steve Smith	53	19.5	6.8	0.4	1.5	1.9	1.3	0.5	0.2	0.8	1.5	2.1	5.5	.388	0.7	2.2	.331	1.8	2.2	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	19	45.7	14.4	-	-	22.8	5.2	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	12.7	.409	-	-	-	4.0	6.8	.585
Steve Smith	9	7.4	1.8	0.1	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.3	0.6	2.7	.208	0.2	1.3	.167	0.4	0.4	1.000


Season 13
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	1968-69	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hornets 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		%
Bill Russell	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526
Steve Smith	71	13.1	5.0	0.4	0.8	1.1	0.8	0.2	0.1	0.6	1.3	1.7	4.1	.406	0.6	1.5	.402	1.1	1.2	.928

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	18	46.1	10.8	-	-	20.5	5.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.3	10.1	.423	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	.506
Steve Smith	5	9.0	6.4	0.4	1.2	1.6	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.0	2.4	5.2	.462	1.2	2.2	.545	0.4	0.6	.667


Season 14
	Bill Russell	Steve Smith
Season	-	2004-05
Team	-	Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Heat 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		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Smith	50	15.0	6.3	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.4	0.3	0.1	0.5	1.6	2.0	5.0	.411	0.8	2.1	.390	1.4	1.6	.863

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Smith	3	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Bill Russell vs. Steve Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Steve Smith and Bill Russell, 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

Season 14