Bob Lanier vs. David Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of David Thompson and Bob Lanier, 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.

Bob Lanier played 14 years in the NBA, 6 more than David Thompson, who played 8. Bob Lanier had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while David Thompson had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
Rookie Season
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1970-71	1976-77
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets 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		%
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
David Thompson	82	36.6	25.9	1.7	2.4	4.1	4.1	1.4	0.6	-	2.9	10.0	19.8	.507	-	-	-	5.8	7.6	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
David Thompson	6	39.5	24.7	2.2	3.0	5.2	4.0	1.5	0.7	-	3.7	9.3	20.2	.463	-	-	-	6.0	8.8	.679

Season 2
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1971-72	1977-78
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets 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		%
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
David Thompson	80	37.8	27.2	2.0	2.9	4.9	4.5	1.2	1.2	3.1	2.7	10.3	19.8	.521	-	-	-	6.5	8.4	.778
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
David Thompson	13	37.0	25.2	1.4	2.7	4.1	4.0	0.7	1.6	3.0	2.6	10.1	22.4	.450	-	-	-	5.1	6.2	.825

Season 3
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1972-73	1978-79
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets 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		%
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
David Thompson	76	35.1	24.0	1.4	2.2	3.6	3.0	0.9	1.1	2.4	2.4	9.1	17.8	.512	-	-	-	5.8	7.7	.753
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
David Thompson	3	40.7	28.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	4.0	1.3	0.3	4.0	4.0	12.7	23.0	.551	-	-	-	2.7	3.7	.727

Season 4
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1973-74	1979-80
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Pistons 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		%
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
David Thompson	39	31.8	21.5	1.4	3.0	4.5	3.2	1.0	1.0	3.0	2.7	7.4	15.8	.468	0.2	0.5	.368	6.5	8.6	.758
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1974-75	1980-81
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
David Thompson	77	34.0	25.5	1.4	2.3	3.7	3.0	0.7	0.8	3.2	3.0	9.5	18.8	.506	0.1	0.5	.256	6.4	8.0	.795
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Detroit Pistons	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Supersonics 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		%
Bob Lanier	64	38.2	25.3	3.1	8.5	11.6	3.3	1.1	2.0	-	2.7	10.6	19.8	.534	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.818
David Thompson	75	28.7	15.9	1.3	2.3	3.6	3.0	0.6	0.4	2.2	1.9	5.9	12.3	.481	0.0	0.1	.200	4.0	5.1	.784
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	3	39.3	28.0	4.3	12.3	16.7	2.0	1.0	2.3	-	3.3	11.3	18.0	.630	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.842
David Thompson	2	32.5	12.0	0.0	0.0	0	3.5	0.5	0.5	2.0	3.5	4.5	12.5	.360	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	5.0	.600

Season 8
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1977-78	1983-84
Team	Detroit Pistons	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Bob Lanier	63	36.7	24.5	3.1	8.2	11.3	3.4	1.3	1.5	3.6	2.9	9.9	18.4	.537	-	-	-	4.7	6.1	.772
David Thompson	19	18.4	12.6	0.9	1.4	2.3	0.7	0.5	0.7	1.4	1.6	4.7	8.7	.539	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	3.8	.849
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1978-79	-
Team	Detroit Pistons	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Bob Lanier	53	34.6	23.6	3.1	6.2	9.3	2.6	0.9	1.4	3.3	3.4	9.2	17.9	.515	-	-	-	5.2	6.9	.749
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Bob Lanier	David Thompson
Season	1981-82	-
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks 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		%
Bob Lanier	74	26.8	13.5	1.2	4.0	5.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	2.2	2.9	5.5	9.9	.558	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.3	.752
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Lanier	6	35.3	16.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	3.7	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.5	6.8	13.3	.513	0.0	0.2	.000	2.3	4.2	.560
David Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-