Larry Bird vs. Ben Wallace Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Wallace and Larry Bird, 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.

Larry Bird played 13 years in the NBA, 3 less than Ben Wallace, who played 16. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Ben Wallace had his rookie season in 1996-97. 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
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92
Ben Wallace	16	8	1996-97 to 2011-12

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1979-80	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Ben Wallace	34	5.8	1.1	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.5	1.4	.348	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.6	.300

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1980-81	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Ben Wallace	67	16.8	3.1	1.7	3.2	4.8	0.3	0.9	1.1	0.4	1.7	1.3	2.4	.518	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.5	.357

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1981-82	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Ben Wallace	46	26.8	6.0	3.0	5.4	8.3	0.4	1.1	2.0	0.8	2.4	2.5	4.3	.578	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.9	.356

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1982-83	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Ben Wallace	81	24.2	4.8	2.6	5.6	8.2	0.8	0.9	1.6	0.8	2.0	2.1	4.1	.503	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.4	.474

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1983-84	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Ben Wallace	80	34.5	6.4	3.8	9.4	13.2	1.5	1.3	2.3	1.5	2.4	2.7	5.5	.490	0.0	0.1	.250	1.0	3.0	.336

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1984-85	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Pistons 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		%
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882
Ben Wallace	80	36.5	7.6	4.0	9.0	13.0	1.4	1.7	3.5	0.9	2.2	3.2	6.0	.531	0.0	0.0	.000	1.2	2.9	.423

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890
Ben Wallace	10	40.8	7.3	4.8	11.3	16.1	1.2	1.9	2.6	1.9	2.4	2.8	5.9	.475	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	3.9	.436

Season 7
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1985-86	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pistons 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		%
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896
Ben Wallace	73	39.4	6.9	4.0	11.4	15.4	1.6	1.4	3.2	1.2	2.5	2.9	6.0	.481	0.0	0.1	.167	1.2	2.6	.450

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927
Ben Wallace	17	42.5	8.9	5.1	11.2	16.3	1.6	2.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	3.1	6.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	2.6	5.9	.446

Season 8
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1986-87	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910
Ben Wallace	81	37.7	9.5	4.0	8.4	12.4	1.7	1.8	3.0	1.5	2.0	3.9	9.2	.421	0.0	0.1	.125	1.8	3.6	.490

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912
Ben Wallace	23	40.3	10.3	4.1	10.1	14.3	1.9	1.9	2.4	1.6	2.5	4.0	8.9	.454	0.0	0.1	.000	2.2	5.1	.427

Season 9
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1987-88	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Pistons 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		%
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916
Ben Wallace	74	36.1	9.7	3.9	8.2	12.2	1.7	1.4	2.4	1.1	2.1	4.0	8.8	.453	0.0	0.1	.111	1.8	4.1	.428

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894
Ben Wallace	25	39.0	10.0	3.8	7.5	11.3	1.0	1.7	2.4	1.2	2.6	4.1	8.5	.481	0.0	0.2	.000	1.9	4.1	.461

Season 10
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1988-89	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Ben Wallace	82	35.2	7.3	3.7	7.6	11.3	1.9	1.8	2.2	1.1	2.0	2.9	5.7	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	3.6	.416

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	18	35.7	4.7	3.3	7.2	10.5	1.7	1.3	1.2	0.8	2.3	1.8	3.9	.465	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	3.7	.273

Season 11
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1989-90	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930
Ben Wallace	77	35.0	6.4	3.9	6.7	10.7	2.4	1.4	2.0	1.3	2.0	2.5	5.5	.453	0.0	0.1	.200	1.4	3.5	.408

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906
Ben Wallace	10	36.9	8.7	2.9	6.6	9.5	1.4	1.5	1.7	1.0	1.9	3.0	5.3	.566	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	5.4	.500

Season 12
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1990-91	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Larry Bird	60	38.0	19.4	0.9	7.6	8.5	7.2	1.8	1.0	3.1	2.0	7.7	17.0	.454	1.3	3.3	.389	2.7	3.1	.891
Ben Wallace	72	30.6	4.8	3.3	5.1	8.4	1.5	1.2	1.6	0.9	1.7	1.9	4.9	.392	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	2.3	.426

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	10	39.6	17.1	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.8	6.2	15.2	.408	0.3	2.1	.143	4.4	5.1	.863
Ben Wallace	13	23.4	3.2	2.5	4.0	6.5	1.2	0.6	1.1	0.5	2.0	1.3	2.5	.515	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.5	.350

Season 13
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	1991-92	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Larry Bird	45	36.9	20.2	1.0	8.6	9.6	6.8	0.9	0.7	2.8	1.8	7.8	16.8	.466	1.2	2.8	.406	3.3	3.6	.926
Ben Wallace	56	23.5	2.9	2.4	4.0	6.5	0.8	0.9	1.3	0.6	1.5	1.2	2.8	.445	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.1	.422

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	4	26.8	11.3	0.5	4.0	4.5	5.3	0.3	0.5	1.5	1.8	5.3	10.5	.500	0.0	1.3	.000	0.8	1.0	.750
Ben Wallace	14	12.6	1.1	1.3	1.4	2.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.9	0.6	0.9	.615	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.4	.000

Season 14
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	-	2009-10
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	69	28.6	5.5	3.6	5.1	8.7	1.5	1.2	1.2	0.9	1.9	2.3	4.2	.541	0.0	0.0	.000	0.9	2.3	.406

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 15
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	-	2010-11
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	54	22.9	2.9	2.4	4.1	6.5	1.3	1.0	1.0	0.8	1.5	1.2	2.8	.450	0.0	0.0	.500	0.4	1.1	.333

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 16
	Larry Bird	Ben Wallace
Season	-	2011-12
Team	-	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	62	15.8	1.4	1.3	3.0	4.3	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.5	1.0	0.5	1.4	.395	0.0	0.1	.250	0.3	0.8	.340

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Wallace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Ben Wallace Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Wallace and Larry Bird, 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