Wayne Cooper vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Wayne Cooper, 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.

Wayne Cooper and Nate Thurmond both played 14 years in the NBA. Wayne Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, 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
Wayne Cooper	14	10	1978-79 to 1991-92
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1978-79	1963-64
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Wayne Cooper	65	12.2	4.6	1.4	2.9	4.3	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.8	1.8	2.0	4.5	.437	-	-	-	0.6	0.9	.672
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		%
Wayne Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1979-80	1964-65
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Wayne Cooper	79	22.5	11.0	2.6	3.9	6.4	0.5	0.3	1.0	1.8	3.1	4.6	9.5	.489	0.0	0.1	.250	1.7	2.3	.751
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		%
Wayne Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1980-81	1965-66
Team	Utah Jazz	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		%
Wayne Cooper	71	20.0	6.9	2.3	3.9	6.2	0.7	0.3	0.7	1.1	3.1	3.0	6.6	.452	0.0	0.0	.333	0.9	1.3	.689
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		%
Wayne Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1981-82	1966-67
Team	Dallas Mavericks	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Wayne Cooper	76	23.9	9.0	2.6	4.6	7.2	1.5	0.5	1.4	1.2	3.8	3.7	8.8	.420	0.0	0.1	.125	1.6	2.1	.744
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		%
Wayne Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1982-83	1967-68
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers 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		%
Wayne Cooper	80	26.2	9.7	2.7	5.0	7.6	1.5	0.3	1.7	2.0	4.0	4.0	9.0	.443	0.0	0.1	.000	1.7	2.5	.685
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		%
Wayne Cooper	7	32.6	12.4	3.4	4.6	8.0	1.3	0.3	1.1	2.4	4.7	5.1	10.6	.486	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	2.4	.882
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1983-84	1968-69
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Wayne Cooper	81	20.5	9.8	2.2	3.7	5.9	0.9	0.3	1.3	1.4	3.0	3.8	8.2	.459	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	2.8	.804
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		%
Wayne Cooper	5	20.8	4.8	2.2	1.8	4.0	0.8	0.2	0.8	1.0	2.8	2.0	5.4	.370	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.6	.500
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1984-85	1969-70
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West 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		%
Wayne Cooper	80	25.4	12.1	2.9	5.0	7.9	1.1	0.4	2.5	1.9	3.8	5.1	10.7	.472	0.0	0.0	.000	2.0	2.9	.685
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		%
Wayne Cooper	15	21.4	10.9	2.3	3.9	6.2	1.3	0.5	2.4	1.3	3.5	4.5	9.5	.469	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.7	.750
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1985-86	1970-71
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Wayne Cooper	78	27.1	13.1	2.4	5.4	7.8	1.0	0.5	2.9	1.5	4.0	5.4	11.6	.466	0.0	0.1	.429	2.2	2.8	.795
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		%
Wayne Cooper	8	19.3	7.9	1.4	3.6	5.0	0.9	0.3	0.6	1.4	3.9	3.0	7.0	.429	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.8	.682
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1986-87	1971-72
Team	Denver Nuggets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Nuggets 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		%
Wayne Cooper	69	22.6	8.0	2.3	4.5	6.9	1.0	0.2	1.5	1.1	3.7	3.4	7.6	.448	0.0	0.0	.000	1.1	1.6	.725
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		%
Wayne Cooper	3	13.7	4.0	2.0	3.7	5.7	0.7	0.0	0.3	0.3	3.0	1.7	4.0	.417	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.7	1.000
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1987-88	1972-73
Team	Denver Nuggets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Wayne Cooper	45	19.2	6.4	2.2	3.8	6.0	0.7	0.3	2.1	1.3	3.2	2.6	6.0	.437	0.0	0.0	.000	1.1	1.5	.746
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		%
Wayne Cooper	9	10.7	2.0	1.8	1.9	3.7	0.7	0.3	0.9	0.4	2.1	0.9	2.6	.348	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.2	1.000
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1988-89	1973-74
Team	Denver Nuggets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets 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		%
Wayne Cooper	79	23.6	6.6	2.7	5.2	7.8	1.0	0.5	2.7	0.9	3.8	2.8	5.6	.495	0.0	0.1	.250	1.0	1.3	.745
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		%
Wayne Cooper	3	14.7	4.0	1.3	3.0	4.3	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.0	3.3	2.0	4.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Nate Thurmond	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1989-90	1974-75
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Wayne Cooper	79	14.9	3.8	1.5	2.8	4.3	0.6	0.2	1.2	0.5	2.7	1.7	3.8	.454	0.0	0.0	.000	0.3	0.5	.641
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		%
Wayne Cooper	18	13.8	2.7	1.4	2.6	3.9	0.3	0.3	1.6	0.3	2.2	1.1	2.6	.404	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.1	.526
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1990-91	1975-76
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Wayne Cooper	67	11.1	2.2	0.8	2.0	2.8	0.3	0.1	0.9	0.3	1.8	0.9	2.2	.393	0.0	0.0	.000	0.5	0.6	.786
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		%
Wayne Cooper	3	4.3	0.7	0.3	1.3	1.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.7	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
	Wayne Cooper	Nate Thurmond
Season	1991-92	1976-77
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Wayne Cooper	35	9.8	2.2	1.1	1.8	2.9	0.6	0.1	0.8	0.4	1.6	1.0	2.3	.427	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.3	.636
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		%
Wayne Cooper	3	9.0	1.3	0.3	2.3	2.7	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3	1.3	0.7	1.3	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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	-

Wayne Cooper vs. Nate Thurmond Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nate Thurmond and Wayne Cooper, 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