Bob Cousy vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, 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.

Bob Cousy played 14 years in the NBA, 1 more than Bill Russell, who played 13. Bob Cousy had the first of his seasons in 1950-51, while Bill Russell had his rookie season in 1956-57. 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
Bob Cousy	14	13	1950-51 to 1969-70
Bill Russell	13	13	1956-57 to 1968-69

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1950-51	1956-57
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Bob Cousy	69	-	15.6	-	-	6.9	4.9	-	-	-	2.7	5.8	16.5	.352	-	-	-	4.0	5.3	.756
Bill Russell	48	35.3	14.7	-	-	19.6	1.8	-	-	-	3.0	5.8	13.5	.427	-	-	-	3.2	6.4	.492

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	2	-	14.0	-	-	7.5	6.0	-	-	-	4.0	4.5	21.0	.214	-	-	-	5.0	6.0	.833
Bill Russell	10	40.9	13.9	-	-	24.4	3.2	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	14.8	.365	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	.508

Season 2
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1951-52	1957-58
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Bob Cousy	66	40.6	21.7	-	-	6.4	6.7	-	-	-	2.9	7.8	21.0	.369	-	-	-	6.2	7.7	.808
Bill Russell	69	38.3	16.6	-	-	22.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.6	6.6	15.0	.442	-	-	-	3.3	6.4	.519

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	3	46.0	31.0	-	-	4.0	6.3	-	-	-	4.3	8.7	21.7	.400	-	-	-	13.7	14.7	.932
Bill Russell	9	39.4	15.1	-	-	24.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.7	5.3	14.8	.361	-	-	-	4.4	7.3	.606

Season 3
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1952-53	1958-59
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
Bob Cousy	71	41.5	19.8	-	-	6.3	7.7	-	-	-	3.2	6.5	18.6	.352	-	-	-	6.7	8.3	.816
Bill Russell	70	42.6	16.7	-	-	23.0	3.2	-	-	-	2.3	6.5	14.2	.457	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	6	45.0	25.5	-	-	4.2	6.2	-	-	-	3.5	7.7	20.0	.383	-	-	-	10.2	12.2	.836
Bill Russell	11	45.1	15.5	-	-	27.7	3.6	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	14.5	.409	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	.612

Season 4
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1953-54	1959-60
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
Bob Cousy	72	39.7	19.2	-	-	5.5	7.2	-	-	-	2.8	6.8	17.5	.385	-	-	-	5.7	7.3	.787
Bill Russell	74	42.5	18.2	-	-	24.0	3.7	-	-	-	2.8	7.5	16.1	.467	-	-	-	3.2	5.3	.612

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	6	43.3	21.0	-	-	5.3	6.3	-	-	-	3.3	5.5	19.3	.284	-	-	-	10.0	12.5	.800
Bill Russell	13	44.0	18.5	-	-	25.8	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	7.2	15.8	.456	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 5
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1954-55	1960-61
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
Bob Cousy	71	38.7	21.2	-	-	6.0	7.8	-	-	-	2.3	7.4	18.5	.397	-	-	-	6.5	8.0	.807
Bill Russell	78	44.3	16.9	-	-	23.9	3.4	-	-	-	2.0	6.8	16.0	.426	-	-	-	3.3	6.0	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	7	42.7	21.7	-	-	6.1	9.3	-	-	-	3.7	7.6	19.9	.381	-	-	-	6.6	6.9	.958
Bill Russell	10	46.2	19.1	-	-	29.9	4.8	-	-	-	2.4	7.3	17.1	.427	-	-	-	4.5	8.6	.523

Season 6
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1955-56	1961-62
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Bob Cousy	72	38.4	18.8	-	-	6.8	8.9	-	-	-	2.9	6.1	17.0	.360	-	-	-	6.6	7.8	.844
Bill Russell	76	45.2	18.9	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.7	7.6	16.6	.457	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.595

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	3	41.3	26.3	-	-	8.0	8.7	-	-	-	1.3	9.3	18.7	.500	-	-	-	7.7	8.3	.920
Bill Russell	14	48.0	22.4	-	-	26.4	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	8.3	18.1	.458	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.726

Season 7
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1956-57	1962-63
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	All-Star Game NVP
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		%
Bob Cousy	64	36.9	20.6	-	-	4.8	7.5	-	-	-	2.1	7.5	19.8	.378	-	-	-	5.7	6.9	.821
Bill Russell	78	44.9	16.8	-	-	23.6	4.5	-	-	-	2.4	6.6	15.2	.432	-	-	-	3.7	6.6	.555

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	10	44.0	20.2	-	-	6.1	9.3	-	-	-	2.7	6.7	20.7	.324	-	-	-	6.8	9.1	.747
Bill Russell	13	47.5	20.3	-	-	25.1	5.1	-	-	-	2.8	7.4	16.3	.453	-	-	-	5.5	8.4	.661

Season 8
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1957-58	1963-64
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics 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		%
Bob Cousy	65	34.2	18.0	-	-	5.0	7.1	-	-	-	2.1	6.8	19.4	.353	-	-	-	4.3	5.0	.850
Bill Russell	78	44.6	15.0	-	-	24.7	4.7	-	-	-	2.4	6.0	13.8	.433	-	-	-	3.0	5.5	.550

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	11	41.5	18.0	-	-	6.5	7.5	-	-	-	1.8	6.1	17.8	.342	-	-	-	5.8	6.8	.853
Bill Russell	10	45.1	13.1	-	-	27.2	4.4	-	-	-	3.3	4.7	13.2	.356	-	-	-	3.7	6.7	.552

Season 9
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1958-59	1964-65
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	65	37.0	20.0	-	-	5.5	8.6	-	-	-	2.1	7.4	19.4	.384	-	-	-	5.1	5.9	.855
Bill Russell	78	44.4	14.1	-	-	24.1	5.3	-	-	-	2.6	5.5	12.6	.438	-	-	-	3.1	5.5	.573

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	11	41.8	19.5	-	-	6.9	10.8	-	-	-	2.5	6.5	20.1	.326	-	-	-	6.4	8.5	.745
Bill Russell	12	46.8	16.5	-	-	25.2	6.3	-	-	-	3.6	6.6	12.5	.527	-	-	-	3.3	6.3	.526

Season 10
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1959-60	1965-66
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	75	34.5	19.4	-	-	4.7	9.5	-	-	-	1.9	7.6	19.7	.384	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.792
Bill Russell	78	43.4	12.9	-	-	22.8	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	5.0	12.1	.415	-	-	-	2.9	5.2	.551

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	13	36.0	15.3	-	-	3.7	8.9	-	-	-	2.1	6.2	20.2	.305	-	-	-	3.0	3.9	.765
Bill Russell	17	47.9	19.1	-	-	25.2	5.0	-	-	-	3.5	7.3	15.4	.475	-	-	-	4.5	7.2	.618

Season 11
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1960-61	1966-67
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics Lost East Div Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	76	32.5	18.1	-	-	4.4	7.7	-	-	-	2.6	6.8	18.2	.371	-	-	-	4.6	5.9	.779
Bill Russell	81	40.7	13.3	-	-	21.0	5.8	-	-	-	3.2	4.9	10.7	.454	-	-	-	3.5	5.8	.610

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	10	33.7	16.7	-	-	4.3	9.1	-	-	-	3.3	5.0	14.7	.340	-	-	-	6.7	8.8	.761
Bill Russell	9	43.3	10.6	-	-	22.0	5.6	-	-	-	3.6	3.4	9.6	.360	-	-	-	3.7	5.8	.635

Season 12
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1961-62	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	75	28.2	15.7	-	-	3.5	7.8	-	-	-	1.8	6.2	15.7	.391	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.754
Bill Russell	78	37.9	12.5	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.1	4.7	11.0	.425	-	-	-	3.2	5.9	.537

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	14	33.9	16.0	-	-	4.6	8.8	-	-	-	3.1	6.1	17.2	.357	-	-	-	3.7	5.4	.684
Bill Russell	19	45.7	14.4	-	-	22.8	5.2	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	12.7	.409	-	-	-	4.0	6.8	.585

Season 13
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1962-63	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	76	26.0	13.2	-	-	2.5	6.8	-	-	-	2.3	5.2	13.0	.397	-	-	-	2.9	3.9	.735
Bill Russell	77	42.7	9.9	-	-	19.3	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	8.4	.433	-	-	-	2.6	5.0	.526

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	13	30.2	14.1	-	-	2.5	8.9	-	-	-	3.4	5.5	15.7	.353	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	.830
Bill Russell	18	46.1	10.8	-	-	20.5	5.4	-	-	-	3.6	4.3	10.1	.423	-	-	-	2.3	4.5	.506

Note: Bob Cousy didn't play in 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68 and 1968-69.

Season 14
	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell
Season	1969-70	-
Team	Cincinnati Royals	-
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		%
Bob Cousy	7	4.9	0.7	-	-	0.7	1.4	-	-	-	1.6	0.1	0.4	.333	-	-	-	0.4	0.4	1.000
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Bob Cousy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bill Russell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Bob Cousy vs. Bill Russell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, 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