Dale Ellis vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Dale Ellis, 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.

Dale Ellis played 17 years in the NBA, 3 more than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Dale Ellis had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, while Nate Thurmond had his rookie season in 1963-64. 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
Dale Ellis	17	10	1983-84 to 1999-00
Nate Thurmond	14	9	1963-64 to 1976-77

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17


Rookie Season
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1963-64
Team	Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors 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		%
Dale Ellis	67	15.8	8.2	1.6	2.1	3.7	0.8	0.6	0.1	1.2	1.8	3.4	7.4	.456	0.2	0.4	.414	1.3	1.8	.719
Nate Thurmond	76	25.9	7.0	-	-	10.4	1.1	-	-	-	2.4	2.9	7.3	.395	-	-	-	1.3	2.3	.549

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	8	22.3	7.4	2.4	2.9	5.3	0.5	1.3	0.3	0.6	2.1	3.3	10.0	.325	0.1	1.5	.083	0.8	1.0	.750
Nate Thurmond	12	34.2	10.0	-	-	12.3	0.8	-	-	-	3.8	3.5	8.0	.438	-	-	-	3.0	4.4	.679


Season 2
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1964-65
Team	Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks 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		%
Dale Ellis	72	18.3	9.3	1.4	1.9	3.3	0.8	0.6	0.1	0.8	1.8	3.8	8.4	.454	0.6	1.5	.385	1.1	1.4	.740
Nate Thurmond	77	41.2	16.5	-	-	18.1	2.0	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	16.1	.419	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.658

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	4	17.0	5.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	0.8	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.8	2.5	5.8	.435	0.5	1.3	.400	0.3	0.5	.500
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1965-66
Team	Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks 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		%
Dale Ellis	72	15.1	7.1	1.2	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.6	0.1	0.5	1.1	2.7	6.5	.411	0.9	2.4	.364	0.8	1.1	.720
Nate Thurmond	73	39.6	16.3	-	-	18.0	1.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	15.3	.406	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	7	9.6	4.3	0.4	0.6	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.3	3.1	.409	1.0	1.7	.583	0.7	0.7	1.000
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1966-67
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	Most Improved Player	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	Warriors 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		%
Dale Ellis	82	37.5	24.9	2.3	3.2	5.5	2.9	1.3	0.4	2.9	3.3	9.6	18.5	.516	1.0	2.9	.358	4.7	6.0	.787
Nate Thurmond	65	42.5	18.7	-	-	21.3	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.2	16.4	.437	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	.629

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	14	37.9	25.2	2.6	3.8	6.4	2.6	0.7	0.4	2.4	3.9	10.6	21.7	.487	0.9	2.6	.361	3.1	3.9	.815
Nate Thurmond	15	46.0	15.9	-	-	23.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.5	6.2	14.3	.433	-	-	-	3.5	6.1	.571


Season 5
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1987-88	1967-68
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics 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		%
Dale Ellis	75	37.2	25.8	2.2	2.3	4.5	2.6	1.0	0.1	2.3	2.9	10.2	20.3	.503	1.4	3.5	.413	4.0	5.3	.767
Nate Thurmond	51	43.6	20.5	-	-	22.0	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	7.5	18.2	.411	-	-	-	5.5	8.6	.644

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	5	34.4	20.8	2.2	2.4	4.6	3.0	0.6	0.4	2.4	3.4	8.0	16.6	.482	0.6	2.4	.250	4.2	5.8	.724
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1968-69
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors Lost West Div 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		%
Dale Ellis	82	38.9	27.5	1.9	2.3	4.2	2.0	1.3	0.3	2.7	2.4	10.5	20.9	.501	2.0	4.1	.478	4.6	5.6	.816
Nate Thurmond	71	45.2	21.5	-	-	19.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.4	8.0	19.6	.410	-	-	-	5.4	8.7	.615

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	8	38.0	22.9	1.8	2.3	4.0	1.3	1.4	0.1	2.6	2.4	9.0	20.0	.450	1.9	4.6	.405	3.0	4.1	.727
Nate Thurmond	6	43.8	16.7	-	-	19.5	4.7	-	-	-	3.0	6.7	17.0	.392	-	-	-	3.3	5.7	.588


Season 7
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1969-70
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
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		%
Dale Ellis	55	37.0	23.5	1.6	2.7	4.3	2.0	1.1	0.1	2.2	2.3	9.1	18.4	.497	1.7	4.7	.375	3.5	4.3	.818
Nate Thurmond	43	44.6	21.9	-	-	17.7	3.5	-	-	-	2.6	7.9	19.2	.414	-	-	-	6.1	8.0	.754

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1990-91	1970-71
Team	Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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		%
Dale Ellis	51	27.9	16.8	1.3	2.1	3.4	1.9	1.0	0.2	1.6	2.2	6.7	14.1	.474	1.1	3.1	.363	2.4	3.3	.723
Nate Thurmond	82	40.9	20.0	-	-	13.8	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	7.6	17.1	.445	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.730

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	5	38.4	17.6	-	-	10.2	3.0	-	-	-	4.0	7.2	19.4	.371	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.800


Season 9
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1991-92	1971-72
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors 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		%
Dale Ellis	81	27.0	15.7	1.1	2.0	3.1	1.3	0.7	0.2	1.5	1.9	6.0	12.8	.469	1.7	4.1	.419	2.0	2.6	.774
Nate Thurmond	78	43.1	21.4	-	-	16.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.7	8.1	18.6	.432	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.743

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750


Season 10
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1992-93	1972-73
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors 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		%
Dale Ellis	82	33.3	16.7	1.0	2.8	3.8	1.3	1.0	0.2	1.4	2.2	6.6	13.3	.499	1.5	3.6	.401	1.9	2.4	.797
Nate Thurmond	79	43.3	17.1	-	-	17.1	3.5	-	-	-	3.0	6.5	14.7	.446	-	-	-	4.0	5.6	.718

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	10	30.5	12.5	0.9	2.6	3.5	1.1	0.4	0.0	1.0	2.5	5.1	11.3	.451	1.0	3.2	.313	1.3	1.6	.813
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800


Season 11
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1993-94	1973-74
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	77	33.6	15.2	0.9	2.4	3.3	1.0	0.9	0.1	1.0	1.8	6.2	12.6	.494	1.7	4.3	.395	1.1	1.4	.776
Nate Thurmond	62	39.7	13.0	4.0	10.1	14.2	2.7	0.7	2.9	-	2.9	5.0	11.2	.444	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.666

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	4	28.5	10.5	0.8	1.8	2.5	0.3	0.8	0.0	1.0	1.5	4.3	10.8	.395	1.3	4.3	.294	0.8	1.3	.600
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1994-95	1974-75
Team	Denver Nuggets	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
Dale Ellis	81	24.6	11.3	0.7	2.0	2.7	0.7	0.5	0.1	1.0	1.8	4.3	9.6	.453	1.3	3.2	.403	1.4	1.6	.866
Nate Thurmond	80	34.5	7.9	3.2	8.1	11.3	4.1	0.6	2.4	-	3.4	3.1	8.6	.364	-	-	-	1.7	2.8	.589

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	3	24.3	12.0	2.0	2.7	4.7	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.0	3.3	9.3	.357	1.3	4.3	.308	4.0	4.3	.923
Nate Thurmond	13	19.5	3.5	1.8	4.8	6.7	2.4	0.4	1.6	-	2.8	1.1	2.9	.368	-	-	-	1.4	2.8	.486


Season 13
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1995-96	1975-76
Team	Denver Nuggets	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	81	32.4	14.9	1.1	2.8	3.9	1.7	0.7	0.1	1.2	2.4	5.7	11.8	.479	1.9	4.5	.412	1.7	2.2	.760
Nate Thurmond	78	17.9	4.4	1.5	3.8	5.3	1.2	0.3	1.3	-	2.1	1.8	4.3	.421	-	-	-	0.8	1.6	.504

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	13	28.8	6.7	2.9	6.1	9.0	2.2	0.5	2.2	-	4.0	2.8	6.1	.468	-	-	-	1.0	2.5	.406


Season 14
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1996-97	1976-77
Team	Denver Nuggets	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
Dale Ellis	82	35.9	16.6	1.2	2.4	3.6	2.0	0.7	0.1	1.8	2.2	5.8	14.0	.414	2.3	6.4	.364	2.6	3.2	.817
Nate Thurmond	49	20.3	5.5	2.5	5.2	7.6	1.7	0.3	1.7	-	2.6	2.0	5.0	.407	-	-	-	1.4	2.2	.642

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	1	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 15
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1997-98	-
Team	Seattle Supersonics	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	79	24.5	11.8	0.6	1.7	2.3	1.1	0.8	0.1	0.9	1.6	4.4	8.9	.497	1.6	3.5	.464	1.4	1.8	.782
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	10	17.2	5.6	0.4	0.9	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.0	0.2	1.0	2.0	5.3	.377	1.1	2.6	.423	0.5	0.6	.833
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1998-99	-
Team	Seattle Supersonics	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	48	25.7	10.3	0.5	1.9	2.4	0.8	0.5	0.1	0.9	1.6	3.6	8.2	.441	2.0	4.5	.433	1.1	1.5	.757
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 17
	Dale Ellis	Nate Thurmond
Season	1999-00	-
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	42	13.4	4.2	0.3	1.0	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.5	1.1	1.6	3.8	.415	0.9	2.4	.370	0.2	0.3	.692
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dale Ellis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Dale Ellis vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Dale Ellis, 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

Season 15

Season 16

Season 17