Sam Mitchell vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Sam Mitchell, 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.

Sam Mitchell played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Nate Thurmond, who played 14. Sam Mitchell had the first of his seasons in 1989-90, 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
Sam Mitchell	13	9	1989-90 to 2001-02
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1963-64
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Sam Mitchell	80	30.2	12.7	2.3	3.5	5.8	1.1	0.8	0.7	1.2	3.8	4.7	10.4	.446	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	4.4	.768
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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1990-91	1964-65
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	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		%
Sam Mitchell	82	38.1	14.6	2.3	4.0	6.3	1.6	0.8	0.7	1.3	4.1	5.4	12.3	.441	0.0	0.1	.000	3.7	4.8	.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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1991-92	1965-66
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	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		%
Sam Mitchell	82	26.2	10.1	1.9	3.8	5.8	1.1	0.6	0.5	1.2	2.8	3.7	8.8	.423	0.0	0.1	.182	2.5	3.2	.786
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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1992-93	1966-67
Team	Indiana Pacers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Sam Mitchell	81	17.3	7.2	1.1	1.9	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.1	0.6	2.6	2.7	6.0	.445	0.0	0.3	.174	1.9	2.3	.811
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		%
Sam Mitchell	4	6.3	3.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0	1.3	2.0	.625	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.5	1.000
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1993-94	1967-68
Team	Indiana Pacers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers 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		%
Sam Mitchell	75	14.5	4.8	0.9	1.6	2.5	0.9	0.4	0.1	0.7	2.0	1.9	4.1	.458	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.5	.745
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		%
Sam Mitchell	15	6.6	1.4	0.3	0.8	1.1	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.3	1.5	0.6	1.7	.346	0.0	0.1	.000	0.2	0.3	.750
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1994-95	1968-69
Team	Indiana Pacers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
Sam Mitchell	81	17.0	6.5	1.2	1.8	3.0	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.7	2.5	2.5	5.1	.487	0.0	0.1	.100	1.6	2.1	.724
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		%
Sam Mitchell	17	13.1	4.0	1.0	1.8	2.8	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.8	2.4	1.4	3.8	.359	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	1.6	.786
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1995-96	1969-70
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	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		%
Sam Mitchell	78	27.5	10.8	1.4	3.0	4.3	0.9	0.6	0.3	1.1	2.8	3.9	7.9	.490	0.0	0.2	.056	3.0	3.7	.814
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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1996-97	1970-71
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Sam Mitchell	82	24.9	9.3	1.4	2.6	4.0	1.0	0.6	0.2	1.1	2.8	3.3	7.4	.446	0.0	0.3	.160	2.7	3.6	.759
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		%
Sam Mitchell	3	15.7	5.7	0.7	1.7	2.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	3.0	2.0	4.3	.462	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.7	.625
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1997-98	1971-72
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Sam Mitchell	81	27.6	12.3	1.5	3.3	4.8	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.8	2.5	4.6	9.9	.464	0.2	0.5	.349	3.0	3.6	.832
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		%
Sam Mitchell	5	35.8	14.4	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.6	0.2	0.2	1.0	3.6	5.2	11.6	.448	0.6	2.8	.214	3.4	3.8	.895
Nate Thurmond	5	46.0	25.4	-	-	17.8	5.2	-	-	-	2.4	10.6	24.4	.434	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	.750


Season 10
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1998-99	1972-73
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors 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		%
Sam Mitchell	50	26.9	11.2	1.1	2.5	3.6	2.0	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.2	4.3	10.4	.408	0.2	0.8	.237	2.5	3.3	.764
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		%
Sam Mitchell	4	32.8	10.0	1.3	2.3	3.5	1.5	0.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.8	10.0	.375	0.3	1.5	.167	2.3	3.0	.750
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	1999-00	1973-74
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Timberwolves 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		%
Sam Mitchell	66	18.6	6.5	0.4	1.7	2.1	1.7	0.4	0.2	0.7	1.8	2.5	5.7	.447	0.2	0.3	.435	1.2	1.4	.880
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		%
Sam Mitchell	4	17.0	5.8	0.5	1.3	1.8	0.5	0.0	0.3	1.0	1.3	2.3	4.5	.500	0.5	1.3	.400	0.8	0.8	1.000
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	2000-01	1974-75
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bulls 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		%
Sam Mitchell	82	12.0	3.5	0.3	1.2	1.5	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.4	1.4	1.4	3.5	.408	0.1	0.5	.209	0.5	0.7	.727
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		%
Sam Mitchell	4	12.5	1.5	0.3	1.5	1.8	0.8	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.3	0.5	2.5	.200	0.0	0.3	.000	0.5	0.5	1.000
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
	Sam Mitchell	Nate Thurmond
Season	2001-02	1975-76
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Sam Mitchell	74	9.8	3.3	0.2	0.9	1.1	0.6	0.2	0.1	0.4	1.1	1.3	3.1	.432	0.1	0.5	.286	0.5	0.7	.776
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		%
Sam Mitchell	3	11.3	2.7	0.0	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	1.7	1.0	3.0	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.7	1.000
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
	Sam Mitchell	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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Sam Mitchell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	-

Sam Mitchell vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Sam Mitchell, 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