David Lee vs. Tristan Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tristan Thompson and David Lee, 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.

David Lee played 12 years in the NBA, 1 less than Tristan Thompson, who played 13. David Lee had the first of his seasons in 2005-06, while Tristan Thompson 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
David Lee	12	5	2005-06 to 2016-17
Tristan Thompson	13	8	2011-12 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2005-06	2011-12
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
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		%
David Lee	67	16.9	5.1	1.6	2.9	4.5	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.8	1.9	2.0	3.4	.596	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.8	.577
Tristan Thompson	60	23.7	8.2	3.1	3.4	6.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	1.4	2.2	3.2	7.4	.439	0.0	0.0	.000	1.8	3.2	.552

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2006-07	2012-13
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
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		%
David Lee	58	29.8	10.7	3.4	7.0	10.4	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.6	2.7	4.1	6.9	.600	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.0	.815
Tristan Thompson	82	31.3	11.7	3.7	5.7	9.4	1.3	0.7	0.9	1.5	2.9	4.8	9.7	.488	0.0	0.0	.000	2.2	3.5	.608

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2007-08	2013-14
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
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		%
David Lee	81	29.1	10.8	3.0	6.0	8.9	1.2	0.7	0.4	1.2	2.6	4.2	7.6	.552	0.0	0.0	.000	2.4	2.9	.819
Tristan Thompson	82	31.6	11.7	3.3	5.9	9.2	0.9	0.5	0.4	1.3	2.3	4.4	9.3	.477	0.0	0.0	.000	2.9	4.1	.693

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2008-09	2014-15
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
David Lee	81	34.9	16.0	3.2	8.6	11.7	2.1	1.0	0.3	1.9	3.2	6.4	11.7	.549	0.0	0.0	.000	3.1	4.1	.755
Tristan Thompson	82	26.8	8.5	3.3	4.7	8.0	0.5	0.4	0.7	1.0	2.3	3.3	6.0	.547	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.0	.641

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	20	36.4	9.6	4.4	6.4	10.8	0.5	0.3	1.2	0.8	2.5	3.6	6.5	.558	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	4.1	.585


Season 5
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2009-10	2015-16
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
David Lee	81	37.3	20.2	2.8	8.9	11.7	3.6	1.0	0.5	2.3	3.2	8.5	15.5	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.1	.812
Tristan Thompson	82	27.7	7.8	3.3	5.7	9.0	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.7	2.5	3.0	5.1	.588	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	3.0	.616

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	21	29.6	6.7	4.1	4.9	9.0	0.7	0.4	0.9	0.8	2.6	2.3	4.4	.527	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.5	.575


Season 6
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2010-11	2016-17
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
David Lee	73	36.1	16.5	3.0	6.8	9.8	3.2	1.0	0.4	2.3	2.9	6.8	13.4	.507	0.0	0.0	.333	2.9	3.7	.787
Tristan Thompson	78	29.9	8.1	3.7	5.5	9.2	1.0	0.5	1.1	0.8	2.3	3.4	5.6	.600	0.0	0.0	.000	1.4	2.7	.498

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	18	31.2	8.2	3.8	4.5	8.3	1.4	0.5	0.7	1.2	2.0	3.0	5.1	.587	0.0	0.0	-	2.2	3.3	.667


Season 7
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2011-12	2017-18
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Cavaliers 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		%
David Lee	57	37.2	20.1	3.0	6.6	9.6	2.8	0.9	0.4	2.6	3.1	8.1	16.2	.503	0.0	0.1	.000	3.8	4.9	.782
Tristan Thompson	53	20.2	5.8	2.4	4.3	6.6	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.9	2.5	4.4	.562	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.5	.544

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	19	21.9	6.2	2.3	3.6	5.9	0.6	0.1	0.4	0.6	1.4	2.6	4.4	.590	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.4	.741


Season 8
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2012-13	2018-19
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
David Lee	79	36.8	18.5	2.8	8.5	11.2	3.5	0.8	0.3	2.6	3.1	7.6	14.7	.519	0.0	0.1	.000	3.2	4.1	.797
Tristan Thompson	43	27.9	10.9	4.0	6.2	10.2	2.0	0.7	0.4	1.4	2.1	4.7	8.8	.529	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.5	.642

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	6	10.8	5.0	1.0	3.7	4.7	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.8	0.8	2.2	5.5	.394	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.0	.667
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2013-14	2019-20
Team	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
David Lee	69	33.2	18.2	2.6	6.7	9.3	2.1	0.7	0.4	2.2	3.0	7.4	14.2	.523	0.0	0.0	.000	3.3	4.3	.780
Tristan Thompson	57	30.2	12.0	4.0	6.2	10.1	2.1	0.6	0.9	1.8	2.2	5.1	9.9	.512	0.2	0.4	.391	1.7	2.8	.615

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	7	31.0	13.9	3.4	5.7	9.1	2.6	0.6	0.0	2.4	4.0	5.9	11.0	.532	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	2.7	.789
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2014-15	2020-21
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
David Lee	49	18.4	7.9	1.7	3.6	5.2	1.7	0.6	0.5	1.0	1.7	3.3	6.4	.511	0.0	0.0	.000	1.4	2.1	.654
Tristan Thompson	54	23.8	7.6	3.1	5.0	8.1	1.2	0.4	0.6	1.1	2.2	3.1	6.0	.518	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	2.2	.592

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	13	8.2	3.1	0.8	1.8	2.6	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.3	1.2	3.1	.400	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.2	.533
Tristan Thompson	5	26.4	10.4	5.8	4.0	9.8	1.0	0.8	1.2	1.0	2.4	4.0	6.8	.588	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	3.4	.706


Season 11
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2015-16	2021-22
Team	Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks	Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
David Lee	55	16.4	7.8	1.8	3.7	5.5	1.5	0.4	0.5	1.2	2.1	3.2	6.1	.531	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	1.7	.763
Tristan Thompson	57	15.7	6.0	2.1	2.9	5.1	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.8	1.7	2.5	4.7	.528	0.0	0.1	.333	1.1	2.0	.526

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	2	16.5	6.0	0.5	2.5	3.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.5	3.0	4.0	.750	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Tristan Thompson	5	7.6	0.8	0.4	1.2	1.6	0.4	0.2	0.0	1.0	0.8	0.4	1.0	.400	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 12
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	2016-17	2022-23
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers 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		%
David Lee	79	18.7	7.3	1.9	3.7	5.6	1.6	0.4	0.5	1.0	1.6	3.1	5.3	.590	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.708
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	15	16.3	4.1	1.3	2.5	3.8	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.4	1.3	1.7	3.2	.521	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.1	.647
Tristan Thompson	6	5.3	1.8	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.8	1.8	.455	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.8	.200


Season 13
	David Lee	Tristan Thompson
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Cavaliers 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		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	49	11.2	3.3	1.5	2.1	3.6	1.0	0.2	0.3	0.6	1.2	1.5	2.4	.608	0.0	0.0	.000	0.3	1.1	.288

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
David Lee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	10	8.7	1.5	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	0.1	0.5	0.2	0.9	0.7	1.6	.438	0.0	0.0	-	0.1	0.2	.500

David Lee vs. Tristan Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tristan Thompson and David Lee, 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