Norm Van Lier vs. Russell Westbrook Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Russell Westbrook and Norm Van Lier, 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 Van Lier played 10 years in the NBA, 6 less than Russell Westbrook, who played 16. Norm Van Lier had the first of his seasons in 1969-70, while Russell Westbrook had his rookie season in 2008-09. 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 Van Lier	10	5	1969-70 to 1978-79
Russell Westbrook	16	13	2008-09 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1969-70	2008-09
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Oklahoma City Thunder
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		%
Norm Van Lier	81	35.7	9.5	-	-	5.0	6.2	-	-	-	4.1	3.7	9.2	.403	-	-	-	2.0	2.8	.741
Russell Westbrook	82	32.5	15.3	2.2	2.7	4.9	5.3	1.3	0.2	3.3	2.3	5.3	13.4	.398	0.4	1.6	.271	4.3	5.2	.815

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1970-71	2009-10
Team	Cincinnati Royals	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	Assists Leader	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder 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		%
Norm Van Lier	82	40.5	16.0	-	-	7.1	10.1	-	-	-	4.2	5.8	13.9	.420	-	-	-	4.4	5.4	.816
Russell Westbrook	82	34.3	16.1	1.7	3.1	4.9	8.0	1.3	0.4	3.3	2.5	5.9	14.1	.418	0.3	1.3	.221	4.0	5.1	.780

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	35.3	20.5	1.7	4.3	6.0	6.0	1.7	0.2	2.3	2.2	7.2	15.2	.473	0.8	2.0	.417	5.3	6.3	.842


Season 3
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1971-72	2010-11
Team	Cincinnati Royals, Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf Semis	Thunder 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		%
Norm Van Lier	79	30.6	11.5	-	-	4.5	6.9	-	-	-	3.0	4.2	9.6	.439	-	-	-	3.0	3.8	.790
Russell Westbrook	82	34.7	21.9	1.5	3.1	4.6	8.2	1.9	0.4	3.9	2.5	7.5	17.0	.442	0.4	1.3	.330	6.5	7.7	.842

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	4	36.0	14.0	-	-	6.3	8.3	-	-	-	3.8	5.5	13.3	.415	-	-	-	3.0	3.5	.857
Russell Westbrook	17	37.5	23.8	2.1	3.2	5.4	6.4	1.4	0.4	4.6	3.3	7.9	20.2	.394	0.8	2.8	.292	7.1	8.4	.852


Season 4
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1972-73	2011-12
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf Semis	Thunder 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 Van Lier	80	36.0	13.9	-	-	5.5	7.1	-	-	-	3.4	5.9	13.3	.445	-	-	-	2.1	2.6	.787
Russell Westbrook	66	35.3	23.6	1.5	3.1	4.6	5.5	1.7	0.3	3.6	2.2	8.8	19.2	.457	0.9	3.0	.316	5.2	6.3	.823

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	7	36.9	14.4	-	-	5.3	5.1	-	-	-	4.6	6.4	18.4	.349	-	-	-	1.6	2.1	.733
Russell Westbrook	20	38.4	23.1	1.1	4.4	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.4	2.3	2.5	8.9	20.4	.435	0.9	3.3	.277	4.5	5.6	.802


Season 5
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1973-74	2012-13
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf Finals	Thunder 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 Van Lier	80	35.8	14.3	1.4	3.3	4.7	6.9	2.0	0.1	-	3.5	5.3	13.1	.406	-	-	-	3.6	4.6	.778
Russell Westbrook	82	34.9	23.2	1.4	3.9	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.3	3.3	2.3	8.2	18.7	.438	1.2	3.7	.323	5.6	7.0	.800

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	11	42.4	14.6	1.0	3.3	4.3	6.8	1.5	0.3	-	3.7	5.5	13.1	.424	-	-	-	3.5	4.3	.830
Russell Westbrook	2	34.0	24.0	0.5	6.0	6.5	7.0	3.0	0.0	4.0	2.5	8.5	20.5	.415	1.0	4.5	.222	6.0	7.0	.857


Season 6
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1974-75	2013-14
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf Finals	Thunder 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		%
Norm Van Lier	70	37.0	15.0	1.2	3.5	4.7	5.8	2.0	0.2	-	3.5	5.8	13.9	.420	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	.792
Russell Westbrook	46	30.7	21.8	1.2	4.5	5.7	6.9	1.9	0.2	3.8	2.3	7.5	17.2	.437	1.5	4.7	.318	5.3	6.4	.826

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	13	42.1	15.1	1.4	3.8	5.2	4.7	1.5	0.4	-	4.0	5.2	12.6	.409	-	-	-	4.8	6.4	.747
Russell Westbrook	19	38.7	26.7	2.4	4.9	7.3	8.1	2.2	0.3	4.4	3.3	8.8	20.9	.420	1.5	5.3	.280	7.6	8.6	.884


Season 7
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1975-76	2014-15
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
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 Van Lier	76	39.8	12.6	1.8	3.6	5.4	6.6	2.0	0.3	-	3.9	4.8	13.0	.366	-	-	-	3.1	4.2	.737
Russell Westbrook	67	34.4	28.1	1.9	5.4	7.3	8.6	2.1	0.2	4.4	2.7	9.4	22.0	.426	1.3	4.3	.299	8.1	9.8	.835

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1976-77	2015-16
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Thunder 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		%
Norm Van Lier	82	37.8	10.2	1.3	3.2	4.5	7.8	1.6	0.2	-	3.3	3.7	8.9	.412	-	-	-	2.9	3.7	.778
Russell Westbrook	80	34.4	23.5	1.8	6.0	7.8	10.4	2.0	0.3	4.3	2.5	8.2	18.1	.454	1.3	4.3	.296	5.8	7.2	.812

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	3	44.7	5.3	1.7	3.3	5.0	9.7	3.3	0.3	-	4.7	1.0	6.3	.158	-	-	-	3.3	4.0	.833
Russell Westbrook	18	37.4	26.0	2.3	4.6	6.9	11.0	2.6	0.1	4.3	2.4	8.8	21.8	.405	1.9	5.8	.324	6.4	7.8	.829


Season 9
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1977-78	2016-17
Team	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West 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 Van Lier	78	32.4	7.3	1.1	2.5	3.6	6.8	1.8	0.1	2.6	3.6	2.6	6.1	.419	-	-	-	2.2	2.9	.751
Russell Westbrook	81	34.6	31.6	1.7	9.0	10.7	10.4	1.6	0.4	5.4	2.3	10.2	24.0	.425	2.5	7.2	.343	8.8	10.4	.845

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	38.8	37.4	1.8	9.8	11.6	10.8	2.4	0.4	6.0	3.2	11.8	30.4	.388	2.6	9.8	.265	11.2	14.0	.800


Season 10
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	1978-79	2017-18
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West 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 Van Lier	38	14.6	2.8	0.2	0.8	1.1	4.2	1.1	0.1	1.3	2.8	0.8	2.0	.390	-	-	-	1.2	1.4	.904
Russell Westbrook	80	36.4	25.4	1.9	8.2	10.1	10.3	1.8	0.3	4.8	2.5	9.5	21.1	.449	1.2	4.1	.298	5.2	7.1	.737

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	39.2	29.3	1.8	10.2	12.0	7.5	1.5	0.0	5.2	3.5	10.7	26.8	.398	2.5	7.0	.357	5.5	6.7	.825


Season 11
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Thunder Lost West 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 Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	73	36.0	22.9	1.5	9.6	11.1	10.7	1.9	0.5	4.5	3.4	8.6	20.2	.428	1.6	5.6	.290	4.1	6.2	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	39.4	22.8	1.4	7.6	9.0	10.6	1.0	0.6	4.6	3.8	8.0	22.2	.360	2.2	6.8	.324	4.6	5.2	.885


Season 12
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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 Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	57	35.9	27.2	1.8	6.2	7.9	7.0	1.6	0.4	4.5	3.5	10.6	22.5	.472	1.0	3.7	.258	5.1	6.7	.763

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	8	32.8	17.9	1.4	5.6	7.0	4.6	1.5	0.3	3.8	2.9	7.4	17.5	.421	1.0	4.1	.242	2.1	4.0	.531


Season 13
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
Playoffs	-	Wizards 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 Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	65	36.4	22.2	1.7	9.9	11.5	11.7	1.4	0.4	4.8	2.9	8.4	19.0	.439	1.3	4.2	.315	4.2	6.4	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	37.2	19.0	2.8	7.6	10.4	11.8	0.4	0.2	4.2	3.4	5.6	16.8	.333	1.0	4.0	.250	6.8	8.6	.791


Season 14
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
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 Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	78	34.3	18.5	1.4	6.0	7.4	7.1	1.0	0.3	3.8	3.0	7.0	15.8	.444	1.0	3.4	.298	3.4	5.1	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers 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		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	73	29.1	15.9	1.2	4.6	5.8	7.5	1.0	0.5	3.5	2.2	5.9	13.6	.436	1.2	3.9	.311	2.8	4.3	.656

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	5	38.4	23.6	1.8	5.8	7.6	7.4	1.2	1.4	4.0	3.0	8.6	21.0	.410	2.0	5.6	.357	4.4	5.0	.880


Season 16
	Norm Van Lier	Russell Westbrook
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West 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 Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	68	22.5	11.1	1.4	3.7	5.0	4.5	1.1	0.3	2.1	1.8	4.4	9.8	.454	0.6	2.3	.273	1.6	2.4	.688

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Norm Van Lier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Russell Westbrook	6	19.0	6.3	1.0	3.2	4.2	1.7	1.2	0.5	1.7	1.8	2.2	8.3	.260	0.7	2.8	.235	1.3	2.2	.615

Norm Van Lier vs. Russell Westbrook Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Russell Westbrook and Norm Van Lier, 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

Season 15

Season 16