Alex Caruso vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Alex Caruso, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Alex Caruso played 8 years in the NBA, 6 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Alex Caruso had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Season 3
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2019-20	1978-79
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	64	18.4	5.5	0.3	1.7	1.9	1.9	1.1	0.3	0.8	1.5	1.9	4.5	.412	0.6	1.9	.333	1.1	1.5	.734
difference:	+16	+15.6	+10.4	+1.5	+1.2	+2.8	+1.6	+0.2	+0.9	-1.6	-1.1	+4.1	+9.4	+.022				+2.7	+3.4	+.047
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		%
Alex Caruso	21	24.3	6.5	0.7	1.6	2.3	2.8	1.1	0.6	1.5	2.6	2.3	5.4	.425	0.8	2.9	.279	1.1	1.4	.800
difference:	+4	+15.8	+14.4	+1.9	+1.9	+3.8	+1.3	+0.5	+0.9	-1.5	-1.1	+5.7	+12.4	+.025				+3.8	+5.0	+.029
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
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2020-21	1979-80
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	58	21.0	6.4	0.5	2.4	2.9	2.8	1.1	0.3	1.3	1.9	2.3	5.3	.436	0.9	2.4	.401	0.8	1.3	.645
difference:	+23	+15.3	+12.6	+1.6	+0.6	+2.2	+1.3	+0.7	+0.7	-1.5	-1.4	+4.8	+11.5	+.014	+0.8	+1.7	+.194	+3.9	+4.7	+.135
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		%
Alex Caruso	6	20.2	5.8	0.3	1.0	1.3	0.5	0.2	0.7	1.2	2.0	2.3	6.3	.368	0.8	2.8	.294	0.3	0.3	1.000
difference:	+9	+18.6	+11.3	+1.4	+1.6	+3.0	+3.3	+1.6		-1.7	-1.2	+4.4	+10.0	+.042	+0.5	+1.8	+.039	+3.2	+3.8	+.161
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
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2021-22	1980-81
Team	Chicago Bulls	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	41	28.0	7.4	0.8	2.8	3.6	4.0	1.7	0.4	1.4	2.6	2.5	6.2	.398	1.0	3.1	.333	1.4	1.8	.795
difference:	+38	+5.1	+11.4	+1.2	+0.2	+1.0	+0.3		+0.4	-1.2	-0.5	+4.2	+9.2	+.038	+0.9	+2.5	+.117	+3.8	+4.5	+.025
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		%
Alex Caruso	4	28.3	6.3	0.5	2.3	2.8	4.3	1.3	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.3	5.8	.391	1.8	4.5	.389	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+3	+9.8	+13.3	+0.5	+1.4	+1.9	+1.4		+0.3	-2.4	-0.2	+5.1	+9.9	+.082	+1.7	+3.8	+.189	+4.6	+6.0
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
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2022-23	1981-82
Team	Chicago Bulls	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	67	23.5	5.6	0.6	2.3	2.9	2.9	1.5	0.7	1.1	2.4	1.9	4.3	.455	0.8	2.3	.364	0.9	1.1	.808
difference:	+13	+13.2	+13.9	+1.2	+1.1	+2.2	+1.7	+0.2		-1.8	-0.8	+5.3	+11.1	+.015	+0.7	+1.8	+.174	+4.1	+5.1	+.002
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		%
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2023-24	1982-83
Team	Chicago Bulls	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	71	28.7	10.1	0.9	3.0	3.8	3.5	1.7	1.0	1.4	2.5	3.6	7.6	.468	1.9	4.7	.408	1.0	1.4	.760
difference:	+6	+4.4	+4.1	+0.3	+0.2	+0.6	+1.5	+0.4	+0.5	-1.2	-0.1	+1.6	+3.6	+.006	+1.8	+4.3	+.247	+2.8	+3.4	+.031
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		%
Alex Caruso	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Alex Caruso	Dennis Johnson
Season	2024-25	1983-84
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Alex Caruso	54	19.3	7.1	0.7	2.2	2.9	2.5	1.6	0.6	0.7	1.9	2.6	5.8	.446	1.1	3.1	.353	0.8	0.9	.824
difference:	+26	+14.0	+6.1	+0.4	+0.2	+0.6	+1.7	+0.4	+0.1	-1.5	-1.2	+2.2	+5.2	+.009	+1.0	+2.7	+.228	+2.7	+3.2	+.028
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		%
Alex Caruso	23	24.4	9.2	0.7	2.0	2.7	2.2	2.0	0.6	0.8	2.7	3.1	7.0	.450	1.6	3.9	.411	1.3	1.7	.795
difference:	+1	+12.3	+7.4	+0.7	+0.2	+0.9	+2.2	+0.9	+0.3	-1.6	-0.7	+2.8	+7.5	+.046	+1.5	+3.6	+.018	+3.4	+3.8	+.072
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

Additional Years
* Dennis Johnson played 6 seasons more than Alex Caruso in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 14, from 1985 to 1990—Dennis Johnson played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 6 extra years over Alex Caruso, Dennis Johnson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Defensive First Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 1 All-Star Game