Larry Bird vs. Joe Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Smith 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 Joe Smith, who played 16. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Joe Smith had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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
Joe Smith	16	10	1995-96 to 2010-11

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1979-80	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	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
Joe Smith	82	34.4	15.3	3.7	5.1	8.7	1.0	1.0	1.6	1.7	2.7	5.7	12.5	.458	0.1	0.3	.357	3.7	4.8	.773

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
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1980-81	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
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
Joe Smith	80	38.6	18.7	3.3	5.2	8.5	1.6	0.9	1.1	2.4	3.1	7.3	16.2	.454	0.2	0.6	.261	3.8	4.7	.814

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
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1981-82	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers
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
Joe Smith	79	29.7	14.6	2.5	3.4	6.0	1.2	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.3	5.9	13.5	.434	0.0	0.1	.000	2.9	3.7	.775

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
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1982-83	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Timberwolves Lost West 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		%
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
Joe Smith	43	33.0	13.7	3.6	4.7	8.2	1.6	0.7	1.5	1.5	3.4	5.2	12.1	.427	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.4	.755

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
Joe Smith	4	30.0	7.5	2.5	4.0	6.5	1.3	0.5	2.0	1.3	3.8	2.8	9.3	.297	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.8	.727


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1983-84	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Timberwolves Lost West 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		%
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
Joe Smith	78	25.3	9.9	2.4	3.8	6.2	1.1	0.6	1.1	1.5	3.9	3.7	8.0	.464	0.0	0.0	1.000	2.5	3.3	.756

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
Joe Smith	4	19.8	4.5	1.8	1.3	3.0	0.3	0.8	0.3	1.0	3.8	2.0	4.3	.471	0.0	0.3	.000	0.5	0.5	1.000


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1984-85	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
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
Joe Smith	69	28.1	12.3	2.3	4.8	7.1	1.1	0.7	0.7	1.3	3.7	4.5	11.1	.403	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.2	.805

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
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1985-86	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Timberwolves Lost West 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		%
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
Joe Smith	72	26.7	10.7	2.1	4.2	6.3	1.1	0.5	0.8	1.2	3.5	4.1	8.1	.511	0.0	0.0	.667	2.4	2.9	.830

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
Joe Smith	3	14.3	4.3	1.3	2.3	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	2.7	1.0	2.3	.429	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	2.7	.875


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1986-87	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West 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		%
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
Joe Smith	54	20.7	7.5	2.1	2.9	5.0	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.8	3.2	2.8	6.1	.460	0.0	0.0	.000	1.9	2.4	.779

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
Joe Smith	5	8.0	2.8	0.0	1.2	1.2	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.6	2.8	0.8	1.2	.667	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.2	1.000


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1987-88	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bucks 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		%
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
Joe Smith	76	29.7	10.9	3.0	5.4	8.5	1.0	0.6	1.2	1.1	2.8	4.1	9.3	.439	0.0	0.1	.200	2.7	3.2	.859

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
Joe Smith	5	35.4	13.2	4.6	5.4	10.0	0.4	0.8	2.0	1.2	3.0	5.4	11.0	.491	0.0	0.2	.000	2.4	2.6	.923


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1988-89	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Milwaukee Bucks
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		%
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
Joe Smith	74	30.6	11.0	2.4	4.9	7.3	0.9	0.6	0.5	1.1	3.0	4.3	8.4	.514	0.0	0.0	.000	2.4	3.1	.768

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


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1989-90	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bucks 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		%
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
Joe Smith	44	20.2	8.6	1.9	3.3	5.2	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.9	2.7	3.3	6.9	.475	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.6	.774

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
Joe Smith	5	21.2	7.6	1.2	4.2	5.4	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.2	3.2	3.2	6.6	.485	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	1.8	.667


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1990-91	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	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	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
Joe Smith	65	23.1	8.5	1.8	4.3	6.2	0.8	0.6	0.4	1.2	2.3	3.3	7.3	.449	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.3	.845

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
Joe Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	1991-92	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	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
Joe Smith	77	22.4	10.1	2.1	3.1	5.2	0.9	0.4	0.6	0.9	2.4	4.1	8.5	.478	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.6	.755

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
Joe Smith	13	20.2	6.6	1.5	3.1	4.6	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5	3.2	2.8	5.7	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.7	.636


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	-	2008-09
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder, 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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	57	19.3	6.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.4	2.1	2.7	5.8	.468	0.1	0.1	.429	1.0	1.4	.720

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	13	16.8	5.5	0.8	2.9	3.7	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.5	1.9	1.8	3.8	.460	0.2	0.4	.600	1.8	2.2	.793


Season 15
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	-	2009-10
Team	-	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Hawks 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	64	9.3	3.0	1.0	1.4	2.5	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.3	1.5	1.2	3.0	.399	0.0	0.1	.143	0.6	0.8	.813

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	5	4.8	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.6	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 16
	Larry Bird	Joe Smith
Season	-	2010-11
Team	-	New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	16	4.3	0.5	0.2	1.1	1.3	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.8	0.2	1.0	.188	0.0	0.0	-	0.1	0.1	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Joe Smith	5	2.2	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.4	.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Larry Bird vs. Joe Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Joe Smith 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