Norm Nixon vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Norm Nixon, 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.

Norm Nixon played 10 years in the NBA, 4 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Norm Nixon 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
Norm Nixon	10	6	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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1977-78	1963-64
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Norm Nixon	81	34.3	13.7	0.5	2.4	3.0	6.8	1.7	0.1	3.1	3.2	6.1	12.3	.497	-	-	-	1.4	2.0	.714
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		%
Norm Nixon	3	30.7	8.0	1.3	1.7	3.0	5.3	1.3	0.3	1.7	4.3	3.7	8.0	.458	-	-	-	0.7	1.0	.667
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1978-79	1964-65
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers 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		%
Norm Nixon	82	38.4	17.1	0.6	2.2	2.8	9.0	2.5	0.2	2.8	3.0	7.6	14.0	.542	-	-	-	1.9	2.5	.775
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		%
Norm Nixon	8	40.9	15.4	0.8	2.8	3.5	11.8	1.4	0.0	3.0	4.6	7.0	14.9	.471	-	-	-	1.4	1.9	.733
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1979-80	1965-66
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
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		%
Norm Nixon	82	39.3	17.6	0.6	2.2	2.8	7.8	1.8	0.2	3.5	2.9	7.6	14.7	.516	0.0	0.1	.125	2.4	3.1	.779
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		%
Norm Nixon	16	40.5	16.9	0.8	2.7	3.5	7.8	2.0	0.2	3.1	3.7	7.1	14.9	.477	0.1	0.3	.200	2.6	3.2	.804
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1980-81	1966-67
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Norm Nixon	79	37.5	17.1	0.8	2.1	2.9	8.8	1.8	0.1	3.6	2.9	7.3	15.3	.476	0.0	0.2	.167	2.5	3.2	.778
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		%
Norm Nixon	3	44.3	19.3	0.3	3.3	3.7	8.7	0.3	0.3	1.7	3.0	8.3	16.3	.510	0.0	0.0	-	2.7	3.3	.800
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1967-68
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	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		%
Norm Nixon	82	36.9	17.6	0.5	1.7	2.1	8.0	1.6	0.1	2.9	3.2	7.7	15.5	.493	0.0	0.1	.250	2.2	2.7	.808
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		%
Norm Nixon	14	39.2	20.4	0.9	2.1	3.1	8.1	1.6	0.1	2.4	3.1	8.6	18.1	.478	0.1	0.2	.333	3.1	4.1	.754
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1968-69
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Norm Nixon	79	34.3	15.1	0.8	1.8	2.6	7.2	1.3	0.1	3.0	2.2	6.7	14.2	.475	0.0	0.2	.000	1.6	2.1	.744
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		%
Norm Nixon	14	38.4	19.0	0.9	2.5	3.4	6.4	1.3	0.1	2.4	2.9	8.1	16.9	.477	0.2	0.5	.429	2.6	3.6	.740
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1969-70
Team	San Diego 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		%
Norm Nixon	82	37.2	17.0	0.7	1.8	2.5	11.1	1.1	0.0	3.1	2.2	7.2	15.5	.462	0.1	0.6	.239	2.5	3.3	.760
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1970-71
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Norm Nixon	81	35.7	17.2	0.7	2.0	2.7	8.8	1.2	0.0	3.4	2.2	7.4	15.8	.465	0.4	1.2	.333	2.1	2.7	.780
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1971-72
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	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		%
Norm Nixon	67	31.9	14.6	0.7	2.0	2.7	8.6	1.3	0.0	2.8	2.1	6.0	13.7	.438	0.6	1.8	.347	2.0	2.4	.809
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750

Note: Norm Nixon didn't play in 1986-87 and 1987-88.


Season 10
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1972-73
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Norm Nixon	53	24.9	6.8	0.2	1.2	1.5	6.4	0.9	0.0	2.2	1.3	2.9	7.0	.414	0.2	0.5	.276	0.9	1.2	.738
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1973-74
Team	-	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1974-75
Team	-	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Norm Nixon	Nate Thurmond
Season	-	1975-76
Team	-	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Norm Nixon	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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Norm Nixon	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	-

Norm Nixon vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Norm Nixon, 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