Larry Bird vs. Wilt Chamberlain Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wilt Chamberlain 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, 1 less than Wilt Chamberlain, who played 14. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Wilt Chamberlain had his rookie season in 1959-60. 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
Wilt Chamberlain	14	13	1959-60 to 1972-73

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


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1979-80	1959-60
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Warriors Lost East Div 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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	72	46.4	37.6	-	-	27.0	2.3	-	-	-	2.1	14.8	32.1	.461	-	-	-	8.0	13.8	.582

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
Wilt Chamberlain	9	46.1	33.2	-	-	25.8	2.1	-	-	-	1.9	13.9	28.0	.496	-	-	-	5.4	12.2	.445


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1980-81	1960-61
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost East 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		%
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
Wilt Chamberlain	79	47.8	38.4	-	-	27.2	1.9	-	-	-	1.6	15.8	31.1	.509	-	-	-	6.7	13.3	.504

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
Wilt Chamberlain	3	48.0	37.0	-	-	23.0	2.0	-	-	-	3.3	15.0	32.0	.469	-	-	-	7.0	12.7	.553


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1981-82	1961-62
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Warriors Lost East Div 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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	80	48.5	50.4	-	-	25.7	2.4	-	-	-	1.5	20.0	39.5	.506	-	-	-	10.4	17.0	.613

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
Wilt Chamberlain	12	48.0	35.0	-	-	26.6	3.1	-	-	-	2.3	13.5	28.9	.467	-	-	-	8.0	12.6	.636


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1982-83	1962-63
Team	Boston Celtics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	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
Wilt Chamberlain	80	47.6	44.8	-	-	24.3	3.4	-	-	-	1.7	18.3	34.6	.528	-	-	-	8.3	13.9	.593

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
Wilt Chamberlain	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1983-84	1963-64
Team	Boston Celtics	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
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		%
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
Wilt Chamberlain	80	46.1	36.9	-	-	22.3	5.0	-	-	-	2.3	15.1	28.7	.524	-	-	-	6.8	12.7	.531

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
Wilt Chamberlain	12	46.5	34.7	-	-	25.2	3.3	-	-	-	2.3	14.6	26.8	.543	-	-	-	5.5	11.6	.475


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1984-85	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	76ers Lost East Div 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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	73	45.2	34.7	-	-	22.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	14.6	28.5	.510	-	-	-	5.6	12.1	.464

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
Wilt Chamberlain	11	48.7	29.3	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	2.6	11.2	21.1	.530	-	-	-	6.9	12.4	.559


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1985-86	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	76ers Lost East Div 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
Wilt Chamberlain	79	47.3	33.5	-	-	24.6	5.2	-	-	-	2.2	13.6	25.2	.540	-	-	-	6.3	12.4	.513

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
Wilt Chamberlain	5	48.0	28.0	-	-	30.2	3.0	-	-	-	2.0	11.2	22.0	.509	-	-	-	5.6	13.6	.412


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1986-87	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	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
Wilt Chamberlain	81	45.5	24.1	-	-	24.2	7.8	-	-	-	1.8	9.7	14.2	.683	-	-	-	4.8	10.8	.441

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
Wilt Chamberlain	15	47.9	21.7	-	-	29.1	9.0	-	-	-	2.5	8.8	15.2	.579	-	-	-	4.1	10.7	.388


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1987-88	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	76ers Lost East Div 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
Wilt Chamberlain	82	46.8	24.3	-	-	23.8	8.6	-	-	-	2.0	10.0	16.8	.595	-	-	-	4.3	11.4	.380

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
Wilt Chamberlain	13	48.5	23.7	-	-	24.7	6.5	-	-	-	2.2	9.5	17.8	.534	-	-	-	4.6	12.2	.380


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1988-89	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	81	45.3	20.5	-	-	21.1	4.5	-	-	-	1.8	7.9	13.6	.583	-	-	-	4.7	10.6	.446

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilt Chamberlain	18	46.2	13.9	-	-	24.7	2.6	-	-	-	3.1	5.3	9.8	.545	-	-	-	3.2	8.2	.392


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1989-90	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	12	42.1	27.3	-	-	18.4	4.1	-	-	-	2.6	10.8	18.9	.568	-	-	-	5.8	13.1	.446

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
Wilt Chamberlain	18	47.3	22.1	-	-	22.2	4.5	-	-	-	2.3	8.8	16.0	.549	-	-	-	4.6	11.2	.406


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1990-91	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
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
Wilt Chamberlain	82	44.3	20.7	-	-	18.2	4.3	-	-	-	2.1	8.1	15.0	.545	-	-	-	4.4	8.2	.538

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
Wilt Chamberlain	12	46.2	18.3	-	-	20.2	4.4	-	-	-	2.8	7.1	15.6	.455	-	-	-	4.2	8.1	.515


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	1991-92	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
Wilt Chamberlain	82	42.3	14.8	-	-	19.2	4.0	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	9.3	.649	-	-	-	2.7	6.4	.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
Wilt Chamberlain	15	46.9	14.7	-	-	21.0	3.3	-	-	-	3.1	5.3	9.5	.563	-	-	-	4.0	8.1	.492


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Wilt Chamberlain
Season	-	1972-73
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilt Chamberlain	82	43.2	13.2	-	-	18.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.3	5.2	7.1	.727	-	-	-	2.8	5.5	.510

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilt Chamberlain	17	47.1	10.4	-	-	22.5	3.5	-	-	-	2.8	3.8	6.8	.552	-	-	-	2.9	5.8	.500

Larry Bird vs. Wilt Chamberlain Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Wilt Chamberlain 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