Don Buse vs. Tristan Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tristan Thompson and Don Buse, 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.

Don Buse played 9 years in the NBA, 4 less than Tristan Thompson, who played 13. Don Buse had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, 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
Don Buse	9	6	1976-77 to 1984-85
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1976-77	2011-12
Team	Indiana Pacers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	Steals Leader	-
	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		%
Don Buse	81	36.4	8.0	0.8	2.5	3.3	8.5	3.5	0.2	-	1.6	3.3	7.9	.416	-	-	-	1.4	1.8	.786
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1977-78	2012-13
Team	Phoenix Suns	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns 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		%
Don Buse	82	31.1	8.4	0.7	2.3	3.0	4.8	2.3	0.2	1.5	1.8	3.5	7.6	.458	-	-	-	1.4	1.7	.824
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		%
Don Buse	2	38.0	4.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	2.0	2.0	0.0	0.5	1.5	2.0	5.5	.364	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1978-79	2013-14
Team	Phoenix Suns	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 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		%
Don Buse	82	31.0	7.8	0.5	2.1	2.6	4.3	1.9	0.2	1.2	1.8	3.5	7.0	.495	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.769
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		%
Don Buse	15	34.1	7.9	1.1	2.5	3.7	3.5	1.5	0.3	1.0	2.1	3.1	7.7	.405	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.727
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1979-80	2014-15
Team	Phoenix Suns	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Don Buse	81	30.9	7.7	0.9	2.0	2.9	4.0	1.6	0.1	1.1	1.4	3.2	7.3	.443	0.2	1.0	.241	1.0	1.6	.664
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		%
Don Buse	8	29.5	8.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	5.5	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	3.5	8.0	.438	0.6	1.6	.385	0.9	1.4	.636
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1980-81	2015-16
Team	Indiana Pacers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Don Buse	58	18.9	5.1	0.3	1.1	1.4	2.4	1.3	0.1	0.7	1.1	2.0	4.9	.397	0.3	1.0	.328	0.9	1.1	.769
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		%
Don Buse	2	17.5	2.5	0.0	2.5	2.5	3.5	1.5	0.0	1.0	2.0	0.5	4.0	.125	0.5	2.0	.250	1.0	1.0	1.000
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1981-82	2016-17
Team	Indiana Pacers	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		%
Don Buse	82	30.8	9.7	0.6	2.2	2.7	5.0	2.0	0.3	1.2	2.1	3.8	8.4	.455	0.9	2.3	.386	1.2	1.5	.813
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1982-83	2017-18
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Don Buse	41	15.7	4.7	0.5	0.9	1.3	2.8	1.1	0.0	0.6	1.5	1.8	4.4	.396	0.2	0.9	.257	1.0	1.1	.891
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		%
Don Buse	5	6.2	1.4	0.0	0.4	0.4	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.4	1.6	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.8	.750
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1983-84	2018-19
Team	Kansas City Kings	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Kings 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		%
Don Buse	76	17.5	5.0	0.4	1.1	1.5	4.0	1.1	0.0	1.1	0.8	2.0	4.6	.426	0.2	0.8	.305	0.8	1.1	.788
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		%
Don Buse	3	16.7	7.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	3.7	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.7	2.3	5.3	.438	1.0	2.0	.500	1.3	2.0	.667
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	1984-85	2019-20
Team	Kansas City Kings	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		%
Don Buse	65	14.4	3.4	0.3	0.6	0.9	3.1	0.6	0.0	0.7	1.2	1.3	3.1	.404	0.5	1.3	.356	0.4	0.5	.767
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tristan Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Don Buse	Tristan Thompson
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Don Buse	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Don Buse vs. Tristan Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tristan Thompson and Don Buse, 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