Larry Bird vs. Jerry West Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jerry West 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 Jerry West, who played 14. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Jerry West had his rookie season in 1960-61. 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
Jerry West	14	13	1960-61 to 1973-74

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	Jerry West
Season	1979-80	1960-61
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West Div Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	79	35.4	17.6	-	-	7.7	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	6.7	16.0	.419	-	-	-	4.2	6.3	.666

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
Jerry West	12	38.4	22.9	-	-	8.7	5.3	-	-	-	3.3	8.3	16.8	.490	-	-	-	6.4	8.8	.726


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1980-81	1961-62
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	75	41.2	30.8	-	-	7.9	5.4	-	-	-	2.3	10.7	23.9	.445	-	-	-	9.5	12.3	.769

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
Jerry West	13	42.8	31.5	-	-	6.8	4.4	-	-	-	2.9	11.1	23.8	.465	-	-	-	9.3	11.5	.807


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1981-82	1962-63
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	55	39.3	27.1	-	-	7.0	5.6	-	-	-	2.7	10.2	22.1	.461	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.778

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
Jerry West	13	41.4	27.8	-	-	8.2	4.7	-	-	-	2.6	11.1	22.0	.503	-	-	-	5.7	7.7	.740


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1982-83	1963-64
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Div Semis

more >>

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
Jerry West	72	40.4	28.7	-	-	6.0	5.6	-	-	-	2.8	10.3	21.2	.484	-	-	-	8.1	9.8	.832

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
Jerry West	5	41.2	31.2	-	-	7.2	3.4	-	-	-	4.0	11.4	23.0	.496	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.792


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1983-84	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	74	41.4	31.0	-	-	6.0	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	11.1	22.4	.497	-	-	-	8.8	10.7	.821

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
Jerry West	11	42.7	40.6	-	-	5.7	5.3	-	-	-	3.4	14.1	31.9	.442	-	-	-	12.5	14.0	.890


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1984-85	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	79	40.7	31.3	-	-	7.1	6.1	-	-	-	3.1	10.4	21.9	.473	-	-	-	10.6	12.4	.860

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
Jerry West	14	44.2	34.2	-	-	6.3	5.6	-	-	-	2.9	13.2	25.5	.518	-	-	-	7.8	8.9	.872


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1985-86	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Div Semis

more >>

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
Jerry West	66	40.5	28.7	-	-	5.9	6.8	-	-	-	2.4	9.8	21.0	.464	-	-	-	9.1	10.4	.878

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
Jerry West	1	1.0	0.0	-	-	1.0	0.0	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1986-87	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	51	37.6	26.3	-	-	5.8	6.1	-	-	-	3.0	9.3	18.2	.514	-	-	-	7.7	9.5	.811

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
Jerry West	15	41.5	30.8	-	-	5.4	5.5	-	-	-	3.1	11.0	20.9	.527	-	-	-	8.8	11.3	.781


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1987-88	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	61	39.2	25.9	-	-	4.3	6.9	-	-	-	2.6	8.9	19.0	.471	-	-	-	8.0	9.8	.821

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
Jerry West	18	42.1	30.9	-	-	3.9	7.5	-	-	-	2.9	10.9	23.5	.463	-	-	-	9.1	11.3	.804


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1988-89	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	74	42.0	31.2	-	-	4.6	7.5	-	-	-	2.2	11.2	22.6	.497	-	-	-	8.7	10.6	.824

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jerry West	18	46.1	31.2	-	-	3.7	8.4	-	-	-	3.1	10.9	23.2	.469	-	-	-	9.4	11.8	.802


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1989-90	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

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
Jerry West	69	41.2	26.9	-	-	4.6	9.5	-	-	-	2.6	9.7	19.6	.494	-	-	-	7.6	9.1	.832

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
Jerry West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1990-91	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

more >>

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
Jerry West	77	38.6	25.8	-	-	4.2	9.7	-	-	-	2.7	9.5	20.0	.477	-	-	-	6.7	8.2	.814

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
Jerry West	15	40.5	22.9	-	-	4.9	8.9	-	-	-	2.6	8.5	22.7	.376	-	-	-	5.9	7.1	.830


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	1991-92	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	69	35.7	22.8	-	-	4.2	8.8	-	-	-	2.0	9.0	18.7	.479	-	-	-	4.9	6.1	.805

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
Jerry West	17	37.5	23.6	-	-	4.5	7.8	-	-	-	2.9	8.9	19.8	.449	-	-	-	5.8	7.5	.780


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Jerry West
Season	-	1973-74
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jerry West	31	31.2	20.3	1.0	2.8	3.7	6.6	2.6	0.7	-	2.6	7.5	16.7	.447	-	-	-	5.3	6.4	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jerry West	1	14.0	4.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.0	9.0	.222	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Larry Bird vs. Jerry West Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jerry West 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