Greg Ballard vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Greg Ballard, 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.

Greg Ballard played 11 years in the NBA, 3 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Greg Ballard had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, 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
Greg Ballard	11	7	1977-78 to 1988-89
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


Rookie Season
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1977-78	1963-64
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Greg Ballard	76	12.3	4.9	1.3	2.2	3.5	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.8	1.2	1.9	4.4	.425	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.772
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		%
Greg Ballard	19	12.8	3.9	1.4	2.7	4.2	0.9	0.5	0.2	0.7	1.5	1.1	3.3	.333	-	-	-	1.7	2.2	.780
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1978-79	1964-65
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	18.9	7.8	1.7	3.7	5.5	1.4	0.7	0.4	1.2	2.0	3.2	6.8	.465	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.692
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		%
Greg Ballard	19	16.4	7.2	1.8	3.1	4.8	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.1	1.5	2.8	5.3	.525	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.756
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1979-80	1965-66
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	29.7	15.6	2.9	4.9	7.8	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.6	2.4	6.6	13.4	.495	0.2	0.6	.340	2.1	2.8	.753
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		%
Greg Ballard	2	36.5	11.0	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.5	0.5	0.5	4.0	4.0	4.5	14.0	.321	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.5	.571
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1980-81	1966-67
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Greg Ballard	82	31.8	15.5	2.0	5.0	7.1	2.4	1.4	0.5	1.4	2.4	6.7	14.5	.463	0.1	0.4	.219	2.0	2.4	.847
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1967-68
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	79	37.3	18.8	1.7	6.3	8.0	3.2	1.7	0.3	1.5	2.6	7.9	16.5	.475	0.1	0.3	.409	3.0	3.6	.830
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		%
Greg Ballard	7	38.3	13.3	3.1	5.9	9.0	3.1	2.0	0.4	1.7	2.9	5.1	14.3	.360	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.6	.840
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1968-69
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Greg Ballard	78	36.4	18.0	1.6	4.9	6.5	3.4	1.7	0.3	2.0	2.3	7.7	16.3	.473	0.2	0.5	.351	2.3	3.0	.781
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1969-70
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.9	14.5	1.7	4.2	6.0	3.5	1.1	0.4	1.7	2.6	6.2	12.9	.481	0.0	0.2	.133	2.0	2.5	.798
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		%
Greg Ballard	4	42.0	16.5	1.8	4.3	6.0	3.5	1.8	0.8	2.0	3.0	6.8	14.8	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.0	3.3	.923
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1970-71
Team	Washington Bullets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.5	13.1	1.8	4.6	6.5	2.5	1.2	0.4	1.3	2.7	5.7	11.9	.480	0.2	0.6	.304	1.5	1.8	.795
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		%
Greg Ballard	4	16.3	7.5	1.0	2.5	3.5	1.5	0.8	0.0	1.3	1.8	2.8	6.0	.458	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.3	.889
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1971-72
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Greg Ballard	75	23.9	8.8	1.8	3.8	5.6	1.1	0.9	0.1	0.7	2.3	3.6	7.6	.477	0.2	0.5	.486	1.3	1.7	.802
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1972-73
Team	Golden State Warriors	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	19.3	7.1	1.2	2.9	4.1	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.9	2.0	3.0	6.9	.440	0.2	0.5	.375	0.8	1.1	.747
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		%
Greg Ballard	10	17.9	5.9	1.8	2.2	4.0	1.9	0.8	0.0	0.9	1.6	2.6	4.8	.542	0.4	1.0	.400	0.3	0.4	.750
Nate Thurmond	11	41.8	14.5	-	-	13.2	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	14.6	.398	-	-	-	2.9	3.6	.800

Note: Greg Ballard didn't play in 1987-88.


Season 11
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1973-74
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
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		%
Greg Ballard	2	7.5	3.0	1.0	2.5	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	0.5	4.0	.125	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.0	1.000
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1974-75
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1975-76
Team	-	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Cavaliers 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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1976-77
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	-

Greg Ballard vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Greg Ballard, 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