James Donaldson vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and James Donaldson, 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.

James Donaldson and Nate Thurmond both played 14 years in the NBA. James Donaldson had the first of his seasons in 1980-81, 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
James Donaldson	14	9	1980-81 to 1994-95
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1980-81	1963-64
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
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		%
James Donaldson	68	14.4	5.3	1.6	3.0	4.5	0.6	0.1	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.9	3.5	.542	0.0	0.0	-	1.5	2.5	.594
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		%
James Donaldson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1964-65
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics 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		%
James Donaldson	82	20.9	8.1	1.7	4.3	6.0	0.6	0.3	1.7	1.4	2.3	3.1	5.1	.609	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.9	.629
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		%
James Donaldson	8	23.6	6.8	3.1	6.1	9.3	0.9	0.3	0.6	1.3	2.0	2.3	5.4	.419	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.0	.750
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1965-66
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		%
James Donaldson	82	21.8	8.9	1.6	4.5	6.1	1.2	0.2	1.2	1.6	2.1	3.5	6.0	.583	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.7	.688
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		%
James Donaldson	2	23.5	12.0	2.5	6.0	8.5	1.0	0.0	1.5	0.0	2.0	5.5	11.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.5	.667
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1966-67
Team	San Diego Clippers	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		%
James Donaldson	82	30.8	11.8	2.0	5.9	7.9	1.1	0.5	1.7	2.1	2.6	4.4	7.4	.596	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.0	.761
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		%
James Donaldson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1967-68
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	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		%
James Donaldson	82	29.2	11.3	2.0	6.1	8.1	0.6	0.3	1.6	2.5	2.6	4.3	6.7	.637	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	3.7	.749
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		%
James Donaldson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1968-69
Team	Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Mavericks 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		%
James Donaldson	83	32.3	8.6	2.1	7.5	9.6	1.2	0.3	1.7	1.5	2.3	3.1	5.5	.558	0.0	0.0	-	2.5	3.1	.803
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		%
James Donaldson	10	41.0	10.9	3.0	8.7	11.7	1.0	0.6	1.2	1.0	2.6	3.6	4.8	.750	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.0	.925
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1969-70
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		%
James Donaldson	82	36.9	10.8	3.6	8.3	11.9	0.8	0.6	1.7	1.3	2.3	3.8	6.5	.586	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	4.0	.812
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		%
James Donaldson	3	22.7	5.3	0.7	5.0	5.7	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.7	2.0	1.3	1.7	.800	0.0	0.0	-	2.7	3.0	.889
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1987-88	1970-71
Team	Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
James Donaldson	81	31.1	7.0	3.0	6.3	9.3	0.8	0.5	1.3	1.4	2.2	2.6	4.7	.558	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.3	.778
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		%
James Donaldson	17	29.4	9.3	2.8	5.8	8.6	0.7	0.4	0.9	1.7	2.4	4.0	6.1	.654	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	2.2	.595
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1971-72
Team	Dallas Mavericks	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		%
James Donaldson	53	32.9	9.1	3.0	7.8	10.8	0.7	0.5	1.5	1.6	2.1	3.6	6.4	.573	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.3	.766
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		%
James Donaldson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1972-73
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors 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		%
James Donaldson	73	31.0	9.1	2.1	6.5	8.6	0.8	0.3	0.6	1.6	1.8	3.5	6.6	.539	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.9	.700
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		%
James Donaldson	3	24.7	7.3	2.0	3.3	5.3	0.7	0.7	0.0	1.3	2.7	3.0	4.3	.692	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	1.7	.800
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1990-91	1973-74
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
James Donaldson	82	34.1	10.0	2.5	6.4	8.9	0.8	0.4	1.1	1.8	2.2	4.0	7.5	.532	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.8	.721
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		%
James Donaldson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1991-92	1974-75
Team	Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Bulls 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		%
James Donaldson	58	18.5	4.9	1.7	3.3	5.0	0.6	0.1	0.8	0.8	1.8	1.9	4.2	.457	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.5	.709
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		%
James Donaldson	2	5.5	2.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1992-93	1975-76
Team	Utah Jazz	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
James Donaldson	6	15.7	3.5	1.0	3.8	4.8	0.2	0.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	1.3	2.3	.571	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.5	.556
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		%
James Donaldson	1	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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

Note: James Donaldson didn't play in 1993-94.


Season 14
	James Donaldson	Nate Thurmond
Season	1994-95	1976-77
Team	Utah Jazz	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
James Donaldson	43	14.3	2.6	0.4	2.0	2.5	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.5	1.5	1.0	1.7	.595	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.7	.710
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		%
James Donaldson	5	15.2	2.8	0.6	1.2	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.4	1.6	1.0	1.2	.833	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	0.8	1.000
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	-

James Donaldson vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and James Donaldson, 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