Otis Birdsong vs. Bob Lanier Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Lanier and Otis Birdsong, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Otis Birdsong played 12 years in the NBA, 2 less than Bob Lanier, who played 14. Otis Birdsong had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Bob Lanier had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
Rookie Season
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1977-78	1970-71
Team	Kansas City Kings	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
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		%
Otis Birdsong	73	25.7	15.8	1.0	1.4	2.4	2.4	1.0	0.2	2.0	2.5	6.4	13.1	.492	-	-	-	3.0	4.2	.697
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1978-79	1971-72
Team	Kansas City Kings	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings 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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	34.6	21.7	2.1	2.2	4.3	3.4	1.5	0.2	2.4	3.1	9.0	17.8	.509	-	-	-	3.6	5.0	.725
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	5	33.6	21.0	1.6	2.0	3.6	1.8	2.0	0.0	2.0	2.6	7.8	15.2	.513	-	-	-	5.4	7.6	.711
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1979-80	1972-73
Team	Kansas City Kings	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings 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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	35.2	22.7	2.1	2.0	4.0	2.5	1.7	0.3	2.2	2.8	9.5	18.9	.505	0.1	0.4	.278	3.5	5.0	.694
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	37.3	22.0	3.7	4.0	7.7	2.3	1.3	0.0	2.0	1.7	10.0	20.7	.484	0.0	1.0	.000	2.0	4.7	.429
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1980-81	1973-74
Team	Kansas City Kings	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	Pistons 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		%
Otis Birdsong	71	36.5	24.6	1.7	2.0	3.6	3.3	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.4	10.0	18.4	.544	0.1	0.5	.286	4.5	6.4	.697
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	8	29.3	15.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	3.4	1.5	0.0	2.5	1.6	7.0	12.3	.571	0.1	0.1	1.000	1.4	2.3	.611
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789

Season 5
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1981-82	1974-75
Team	New Jersey Nets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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		%
Otis Birdsong	37	27.7	14.2	0.8	1.8	2.6	3.4	0.8	0.1	1.7	2.0	6.1	13.0	.469	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	3.4	.583
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750

Season 7
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1983-84	1976-77
Team	New Jersey Nets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons 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		%
Otis Birdsong	69	31.4	19.8	1.1	1.4	2.5	3.9	1.2	0.2	2.5	2.6	8.4	16.6	.508	0.1	0.3	.250	2.8	4.6	.608
Bob Lanier	64	38.2	25.3	3.1	8.5	11.6	3.3	1.1	2.0	-	2.7	10.6	19.8	.534	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	11	35.2	15.2	0.6	1.7	2.4	3.7	1.8	0.1	2.0	3.5	6.5	15.5	.415	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	4.4	.521
Bob Lanier	3	39.3	28.0	4.3	12.3	16.7	2.0	1.0	2.3	-	3.3	11.3	18.0	.630	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.842

Season 8
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1984-85	1977-78
Team	New Jersey Nets	Detroit Pistons
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		%
Otis Birdsong	56	32.9	20.6	1.1	1.6	2.6	4.1	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.6	8.8	17.3	.511	0.1	0.4	.190	2.9	4.6	.622
Bob Lanier	63	36.7	24.5	3.1	8.2	11.3	3.4	1.3	1.5	3.6	2.9	9.9	18.4	.537	-	-	-	4.7	6.1	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1985-86	1978-79
Team	New Jersey Nets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East 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		%
Otis Birdsong	77	31.1	15.8	1.1	1.5	2.6	3.4	1.1	0.2	2.3	3.0	7.0	13.7	.513	0.1	0.3	.364	1.6	2.7	.581
Bob Lanier	53	34.6	23.6	3.1	6.2	9.3	2.6	0.9	1.4	3.3	3.4	9.2	17.9	.515	-	-	-	5.2	6.9	.749
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	44.0	23.0	1.7	2.3	4.0	3.3	2.0	1.0	3.0	4.7	9.7	18.3	.527	0.0	1.0	.000	3.7	6.3	.579
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Otis Birdsong	Bob Lanier
Season	1988-89	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Bucks 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		%
Otis Birdsong	13	8.3	2.8	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.9	0.8	1.4	2.8	.500	0.1	0.2	.333	0.0	0.2	.000
Bob Lanier	74	26.8	13.5	1.2	4.0	5.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	2.2	2.9	5.5	9.9	.558	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.3	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	3	6.7	0.7	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.0	0.3	1.7	.200	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-
Bob Lanier	6	35.3	16.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	3.7	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.5	6.8	13.3	.513	0.0	0.2	.000	2.3	4.2	.560