Paul Arizin vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Paul Arizin, 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.

Paul Arizin played 10 years in the NBA, 3 less than Larry Bird, who played 13. Paul Arizin had the first of his seasons in 1950-51, while Larry Bird had his rookie season in 1979-80. 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
Paul Arizin	10	8	1950-51 to 1961-62
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92

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


Rookie Season
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1950-51	1979-80
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	65	-	17.2	-	-	9.8	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	5.4	13.3	.407	-	-	-	6.4	8.1	.793
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	2	-	20.5	-	-	10.0	1.5	-	-	-	5.0	7.0	13.5	.519	-	-	-	6.5	8.0	.813
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


Season 2
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1951-52	1980-81
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	66	44.5	25.4	-	-	11.3	2.6	-	-	-	3.8	8.3	18.5	.448	-	-	-	8.8	10.7	.818
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	3	40.0	25.7	-	-	12.7	2.7	-	-	-	5.7	8.0	17.7	.453	-	-	-	9.7	11.0	.879
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

Note: Paul Arizin didn't play in 1952-53 and 1953-54.


Season 3
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1954-55	1981-82
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	72	41.0	21.0	-	-	9.4	2.9	-	-	-	3.8	7.3	18.4	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.776
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 4
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1955-56	1982-83
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	72	37.8	24.2	-	-	7.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.9	8.6	19.1	.448	-	-	-	7.0	8.7	.810
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	10	40.9	28.9	-	-	8.4	2.9	-	-	-	3.1	10.3	22.9	.450	-	-	-	8.3	9.9	.838
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


Season 5
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1956-57	1983-84
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	71	39.0	25.6	-	-	7.9	2.1	-	-	-	3.9	8.6	20.4	.422	-	-	-	8.3	10.0	.829
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	2	11.0	4.5	-	-	4.0	0.5	-	-	-	1.5	1.5	4.0	.375	-	-	-	1.5	2.5	.600
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


Season 6
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1957-58	1984-85
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Finals	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	68	35.0	20.7	-	-	7.4	2.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.1	18.1	.393	-	-	-	6.5	8.0	.809
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	8	38.6	23.5	-	-	7.8	2.0	-	-	-	3.3	8.3	21.1	.391	-	-	-	7.0	9.0	.778
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


Season 7
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1958-59	1985-86
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	70	40.0	26.4	-	-	9.1	1.7	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.9	.431	-	-	-	8.4	10.3	.813
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 8
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1959-60	1986-87
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Finals	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	72	36.4	22.3	-	-	8.6	2.3	-	-	-	3.7	8.2	19.4	.424	-	-	-	5.8	7.3	.798
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	9	41.2	26.3	-	-	9.6	3.7	-	-	-	3.2	9.3	21.7	.431	-	-	-	7.7	8.8	.873
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


Season 9
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1960-61	1987-88
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	79	37.2	23.2	-	-	8.6	2.4	-	-	-	4.2	8.2	19.4	.425	-	-	-	6.7	8.1	.833
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	3	41.7	22.3	-	-	8.7	4.0	-	-	-	5.7	7.3	22.3	.328	-	-	-	7.7	11.0	.697
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


Season 10
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	1961-62	1988-89
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div 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		%
Paul Arizin	78	35.7	21.9	-	-	6.8	2.6	-	-	-	3.9	7.8	19.1	.410	-	-	-	6.2	7.7	.805
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	12	38.3	23.2	-	-	6.7	2.2	-	-	-	3.7	7.9	21.1	.375	-	-	-	7.3	8.5	.863
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	-	1989-90
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 12
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	-	1990-91
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 13
	Paul Arizin	Larry Bird
Season	-	1991-92
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Paul Arizin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Paul Arizin vs. Larry Bird Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Larry Bird and Paul Arizin, 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