Magic Johnson vs. Dennis Rodman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Rodman and Magic Johnson, 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 / Games against each other

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.

Magic Johnson played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Dennis Rodman, who played 14. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Dennis Rodman had his rookie season in 1986-87. 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
Magic Johnson	13	13	1979-80 to 1995-96
Dennis Rodman	14	11	1986-87 to 1999-00

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


Rookie Season
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1979-80	1986-87
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pistons 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		%
Magic Johnson	77	36.3	18.0	2.2	5.6	7.7	7.3	2.4	0.5	4.0	2.8	6.5	12.3	.530	0.1	0.4	.226	4.9	6.0	.810
Dennis Rodman	77	15.0	6.5	2.1	2.2	4.3	0.7	0.5	0.6	1.2	2.2	2.8	5.1	.545	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.6	.587

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	16	41.1	18.3	3.3	7.3	10.5	9.4	3.1	0.4	4.1	2.9	6.4	12.4	.518	0.1	0.5	.250	5.3	6.6	.802
Dennis Rodman	15	16.3	6.5	2.1	2.6	4.7	0.2	0.4	1.1	1.1	3.2	2.7	4.9	.541	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.1	.563


Season 2
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1980-81	1987-88
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Pistons 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		%
Magic Johnson	37	37.1	21.6	2.7	5.9	8.6	8.6	3.4	0.7	3.9	2.7	8.4	15.9	.532	0.1	0.5	.176	4.6	6.1	.760
Dennis Rodman	82	26.2	11.6	3.9	4.8	8.7	1.3	0.9	0.5	1.9	3.3	4.9	8.6	.561	0.1	0.2	.294	1.9	3.5	.535

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	3	42.3	17.0	2.7	11.0	13.7	7.0	2.7	1.0	3.7	4.7	6.3	16.3	.388	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	6.7	.650
Dennis Rodman	23	20.6	7.1	2.2	3.7	5.9	0.9	0.6	0.6	1.3	3.8	3.1	5.9	.522	0.0	0.1	.000	1.0	2.3	.407


Season 3
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1981-82	1988-89
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Magic Johnson	78	38.3	18.6	3.2	6.4	9.6	9.5	2.7	0.4	3.7	2.9	7.1	13.3	.537	0.1	0.4	.207	4.2	5.6	.760
Dennis Rodman	82	26.9	9.0	4.0	5.4	9.4	1.2	0.7	0.9	1.5	3.6	3.9	6.5	.595	0.1	0.3	.231	1.2	1.9	.626

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	40.1	17.4	3.9	7.4	11.3	9.3	2.9	0.2	3.1	3.6	5.9	11.2	.529	0.0	0.3	.000	5.5	6.6	.828
Dennis Rodman	17	24.1	5.8	3.3	6.7	10.0	0.9	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.4	2.2	4.1	.529	0.0	0.2	.000	1.4	2.1	.686


Season 4
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1982-83	1989-90
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA 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		%
Magic Johnson	79	36.8	16.8	2.7	5.9	8.6	10.5	2.2	0.6	3.8	2.5	6.5	11.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.000	3.8	4.8	.800
Dennis Rodman	82	29.0	8.8	4.1	5.6	9.7	0.9	0.6	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.5	6.0	.581	0.0	0.1	.111	1.7	2.6	.654

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	15	42.9	17.9	3.4	5.1	8.5	12.8	2.3	0.8	4.3	3.3	6.7	13.7	.485	0.0	0.7	.000	4.5	5.4	.840
Dennis Rodman	19	29.5	6.6	2.9	5.6	8.5	0.9	0.5	0.7	1.6	3.3	2.8	5.0	.568	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.8	.514


Season 5
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1983-84	1990-91
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Pistons 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		%
Magic Johnson	67	38.3	17.6	1.5	5.9	7.3	13.1	2.2	0.7	4.6	2.5	6.6	11.6	.565	0.1	0.4	.207	4.3	5.3	.810
Dennis Rodman	82	33.5	8.2	4.4	8.1	12.5	1.0	0.8	0.7	1.1	3.4	3.4	6.8	.493	0.1	0.4	.200	1.4	2.1	.631

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	21	39.9	18.2	1.2	5.4	6.6	13.5	2.0	1.0	3.8	3.4	7.2	13.0	.551	0.0	0.3	.000	3.8	4.8	.800
Dennis Rodman	15	33.0	6.3	4.5	7.3	11.8	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	3.7	2.7	6.1	.451	0.1	0.6	.222	0.7	1.6	.417


Season 6
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1984-85	1991-92
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pistons 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		%
Magic Johnson	77	36.1	18.3	1.2	5.0	6.2	12.6	1.5	0.3	4.0	2.0	6.5	11.7	.561	0.1	0.5	.189	5.1	6.0	.843
Dennis Rodman	82	40.3	9.8	6.4	12.3	18.7	2.3	0.8	0.9	1.7	3.0	4.2	7.7	.539	0.4	1.2	.317	1.0	1.7	.600

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	19	36.2	17.5	1.0	6.1	7.1	15.2	1.7	0.2	4.0	2.5	6.1	11.9	.513	0.1	0.4	.143	5.3	6.2	.847
Dennis Rodman	5	31.2	7.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	3.4	3.2	5.4	.593	0.0	0.4	.000	0.8	1.6	.500


Season 7
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1985-86	1992-93
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	72	35.8	18.8	1.2	4.7	5.9	12.6	1.6	0.2	3.8	1.8	6.7	12.8	.526	0.1	0.6	.233	5.3	6.0	.871
Dennis Rodman	62	38.9	7.5	5.9	12.3	18.3	1.6	0.8	0.7	1.7	3.2	3.0	6.9	.427	0.2	1.2	.205	1.4	2.6	.534

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	38.6	21.6	1.5	5.6	7.1	15.1	1.9	0.1	3.2	3.1	7.9	14.6	.537	0.0	0.8	.000	5.9	7.6	.766
Dennis Rodman	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1986-87	1993-94
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs 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		%
Magic Johnson	80	36.3	23.9	1.5	4.8	6.3	12.2	1.7	0.5	3.8	2.1	8.5	16.4	.522	0.1	0.5	.205	6.7	7.9	.848
Dennis Rodman	79	37.8	4.7	5.7	11.6	17.3	2.3	0.7	0.4	1.7	2.9	2.0	3.7	.534	0.1	0.3	.208	0.7	1.3	.520

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	18	37.0	21.8	1.6	6.2	7.7	12.2	1.7	0.4	2.8	2.1	8.1	15.1	.539	0.1	0.6	.200	5.4	6.6	.831
Dennis Rodman	3	38.0	8.3	8.0	8.0	16.0	0.7	2.0	1.3	2.0	4.7	4.0	8.0	.500	0.0	1.7	.000	0.3	2.0	.167


Season 9
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1987-88	1994-95
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	72	36.6	19.6	1.2	5.0	6.2	11.9	1.6	0.2	3.7	2.0	6.8	13.8	.492	0.2	0.8	.196	5.8	6.8	.853
Dennis Rodman	49	32.0	7.1	5.6	11.2	16.8	2.0	0.6	0.5	2.0	3.2	2.8	4.9	.571	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.3	.676

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	24	40.2	19.9	1.3	4.1	5.4	12.6	1.4	0.2	3.5	2.5	7.0	13.7	.514	0.3	0.6	.500	5.5	6.5	.852
Dennis Rodman	14	32.8	8.9	4.9	9.9	14.8	1.3	0.9	0.0	1.8	3.6	3.7	6.9	.542	0.0	0.4	.000	1.4	2.5	.571


Season 10
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1988-89	1995-96
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	77	37.5	22.5	1.4	6.4	7.9	12.8	1.8	0.3	4.1	2.2	7.5	14.8	.509	0.8	2.4	.314	6.7	7.3	.911
Dennis Rodman	64	32.6	5.5	5.6	9.3	14.9	2.5	0.6	0.4	2.2	3.1	2.3	4.8	.480	0.0	0.4	.111	0.9	1.7	.528

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	37.0	18.4	1.1	4.9	5.9	11.8	1.9	0.2	3.8	2.1	6.1	12.4	.489	0.7	2.5	.286	5.6	6.1	.907
Dennis Rodman	18	34.4	7.5	5.4	8.3	13.7	2.1	0.8	0.4	2.3	4.2	2.8	5.7	.485	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.593


Season 11
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1989-90	1996-97
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Magic Johnson	79	37.2	22.3	1.6	5.0	6.6	11.5	1.7	0.4	3.7	2.1	6.9	14.4	.480	1.3	3.5	.384	7.2	8.1	.890
Dennis Rodman	55	35.4	5.7	5.8	10.2	16.1	3.1	0.6	0.3	2.0	3.1	2.3	5.2	.448	0.1	0.3	.263	0.9	1.6	.568

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	9	41.8	25.2	1.3	5.0	6.3	12.8	1.2	0.1	4.0	3.1	8.4	17.2	.490	0.6	2.8	.200	7.8	8.8	.886
Dennis Rodman	19	28.1	4.2	3.1	5.3	8.4	1.4	0.5	0.2	1.5	3.9	1.6	4.3	.370	0.2	0.8	.250	0.8	1.4	.577


Season 12
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1990-91	1997-98
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	79	37.1	19.4	1.3	5.6	7.0	12.5	1.3	0.2	4.0	1.9	5.9	12.4	.477	1.0	3.2	.320	6.6	7.3	.906
Dennis Rodman	80	35.7	4.7	5.3	9.8	15.0	2.9	0.6	0.2	1.8	3.0	1.9	4.5	.431	0.1	0.3	.174	0.8	1.4	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	19	43.3	21.8	1.2	6.9	8.1	12.6	1.2	0.0	4.1	2.3	6.2	14.1	.440	1.1	3.7	.296	8.3	9.4	.882
Dennis Rodman	21	34.4	4.9	4.7	7.1	11.8	2.0	0.7	0.6	1.7	4.2	1.9	5.0	.371	0.0	0.2	.250	1.1	1.8	.605

Note: Magic Johnson didn't play in 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95.


Season 13
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	1995-96	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Magic Johnson	32	29.9	14.6	1.3	4.5	5.7	6.9	0.8	0.4	3.2	1.5	4.3	9.2	.466	0.7	1.8	.379	5.4	6.3	.856
Dennis Rodman	23	28.6	2.1	2.7	8.5	11.2	1.3	0.4	0.5	1.3	3.1	0.7	2.0	.348	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.7	.436

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	4	33.8	15.3	2.0	6.5	8.5	6.5	0.0	0.0	3.0	0.8	3.8	9.8	.385	0.8	2.3	.333	7.0	8.3	.848
Dennis Rodman	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Magic Johnson	Dennis Rodman
Season	-	1999-00
Team	-	Dallas Mavericks
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		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Rodman	12	32.4	2.8	4.0	10.3	14.3	1.2	0.2	0.1	1.6	3.4	1.0	2.6	.387	0.0	0.1	.000	0.8	1.2	.714

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

Magic Johnson vs. Dennis Rodman Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Rodman and Magic Johnson, 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