Dave Cowens vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Dave Cowens, 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.

Dave Cowens played 11 years in the NBA, 3 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Dennis Johnson had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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
Dave Cowens	11	7	1970-71 to 1982-83
Dennis Johnson	14	13	1976-77 to 1989-90

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


Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1970-71	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
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		%
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Dennis Johnson	81	20.6	9.2	2.0	1.7	3.7	1.5	1.5	0.7	-	2.7	3.5	7.0	.504	-	-	-	2.2	3.5	.624

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1971-72	1977-78
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Supersonics 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		%
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Dennis Johnson	81	27.3	12.7	1.9	1.8	3.6	2.8	1.5	0.6	2.0	2.6	4.5	10.9	.417	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.732

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596
Dennis Johnson	22	37.6	16.1	2.1	2.5	4.6	3.3	1.0	1.0	2.5	2.9	5.5	13.4	.412	-	-	-	5.1	7.2	.704


Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1972-73	1978-79
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Dennis Johnson	80	34.0	15.9	1.8	2.9	4.7	3.5	1.3	1.2	2.4	2.6	6.0	13.9	.434	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.781

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659
Dennis Johnson	17	40.1	20.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	4.1	1.6	1.5	3.0	3.7	8.0	17.8	.450	-	-	-	4.9	6.4	.771


Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1973-74	1979-80
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics 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		%
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
Dennis Johnson	81	36.3	19.0	2.1	3.0	5.1	4.1	1.8	1.0	2.8	3.3	7.1	16.8	.422	0.1	0.7	.207	4.7	6.0	.780

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797
Dennis Johnson	15	38.8	17.1	1.7	2.6	4.3	3.8	1.8	0.7	2.9	3.2	6.7	16.3	.410	0.3	1.0	.333	3.5	4.1	.839


Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1974-75	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Suns 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		%
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
Dennis Johnson	79	33.1	18.8	2.0	2.6	4.6	3.7	1.7	0.8	2.6	3.1	6.7	15.4	.436	0.1	0.6	.216	5.2	6.3	.820

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885
Dennis Johnson	7	38.1	19.6	1.0	3.7	4.7	2.9	1.3	1.3	2.7	2.6	7.4	15.7	.473	0.1	0.7	.200	4.6	6.0	.762


Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1975-76	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns 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		%
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
Dennis Johnson	80	36.7	19.5	1.8	3.4	5.1	4.6	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.2	7.2	15.4	.470	0.1	0.5	.190	5.0	6.2	.806

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759
Dennis Johnson	7	38.7	22.3	1.9	2.6	4.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	3.6	4.0	9.0	18.9	.477	0.0	0.4	.000	4.3	5.6	.769


Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Suns 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		%
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
Dennis Johnson	77	33.1	14.2	1.2	3.2	4.4	5.0	1.3	0.5	2.6	2.6	5.2	11.2	.462	0.1	0.4	.161	3.8	4.8	.791

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773
Dennis Johnson	3	36.0	18.0	2.0	5.7	7.7	5.7	1.7	0.7	2.7	3.0	7.3	16.0	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.3	4.0	.833


Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1977-78	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	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		%
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
Dennis Johnson	80	33.3	13.2	1.1	2.4	3.5	4.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	3.1	4.8	11.0	.437	0.1	0.4	.125	3.5	4.1	.852

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	22	36.7	16.6	1.4	2.2	3.6	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	3.4	5.9	14.5	.404	0.1	0.3	.429	4.7	5.5	.867


Season 9
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1978-79	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dave Cowens	68	37.0	16.6	2.2	7.4	9.6	3.6	1.1	0.8	2.6	3.9	7.2	14.9	.483	-	-	-	2.2	2.8	.807
Dennis Johnson	80	37.2	15.7	1.1	2.8	4.0	6.8	1.2	0.5	2.7	2.8	6.2	13.3	.462	0.1	0.3	.269	3.3	3.8	.853

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	21	40.4	17.3	1.1	2.9	4.0	7.3	1.5	0.4	3.4	3.1	6.8	15.2	.445	0.0	0.7	.000	3.8	4.4	.860


Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
Dennis Johnson	78	35.0	15.6	0.9	2.6	3.4	5.8	1.4	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.2	13.6	.455	0.1	0.5	.143	3.1	3.8	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909
Dennis Johnson	18	39.7	16.2	1.3	2.9	4.2	5.9	2.2	0.3	2.8	3.2	6.1	13.6	.445	0.3	0.9	.375	3.7	4.7	.798

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.


Season 11
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	1982-83	1986-87
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dave Cowens	40	25.4	8.1	1.8	5.0	6.9	2.1	0.8	0.4	1.1	3.4	3.4	7.7	.444	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	1.6	.825
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850


Season 12
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1987-88
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	77	34.7	12.6	0.8	2.3	3.1	7.8	1.2	0.4	2.5	2.6	4.6	10.4	.438	0.2	0.6	.261	3.3	3.9	.856

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	17	41.3	15.9	0.9	3.6	4.5	8.2	1.4	0.5	2.6	3.0	5.4	12.4	.433	0.4	0.9	.375	4.8	6.1	.796


Season 13
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1988-89
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
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		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	72	32.1	10.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.6	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.9	3.8	8.9	.434	0.1	0.7	.140	2.2	2.7	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	3	19.7	2.7	0.7	0.7	1.3	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.7	1.3	5.0	.267	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 14
	Dave Cowens	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1989-90
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics 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		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	75	27.1	7.1	0.6	2.0	2.7	6.5	1.1	0.2	1.6	2.4	2.7	6.3	.434	0.0	0.3	.042	1.6	1.9	.843

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	5	32.4	13.8	0.4	2.4	2.8	5.6	0.4	0.4	2.0	3.4	6.0	12.4	.484	0.4	1.2	.333	1.4	1.4	1.000

Dave Cowens vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Dave Cowens, 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