Dave Cowens vs. JaVale McGee Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of JaVale McGee 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, 5 less than JaVale McGee, who played 16. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while JaVale McGee had his rookie season in 2008-09. 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
JaVale McGee	16	8	2008-09 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1970-71	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
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
JaVale McGee	75	15.2	6.5	1.6	2.3	3.9	0.3	0.4	1.0	0.8	2.1	2.5	5.2	.494	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.2	.660

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

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1971-72	2009-10
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
JaVale McGee	60	16.1	6.4	1.5	2.6	4.1	0.2	0.3	1.7	0.9	2.0	2.6	5.1	.508	0.0	0.0	.000	1.2	1.9	.638

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1972-73	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
JaVale McGee	79	27.8	10.1	2.8	5.2	8.0	0.5	0.5	2.4	1.3	2.9	4.2	7.6	.550	0.0	0.0	.000	1.7	2.9	.583

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1973-74	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Wizards, Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets 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	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
JaVale McGee	61	25.2	11.3	2.7	5.1	7.8	0.5	0.6	2.2	1.4	2.7	5.0	9.0	.556	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	2.7	.461

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
JaVale McGee	7	25.9	8.6	3.3	6.3	9.6	0.7	0.7	3.1	0.6	3.0	3.3	7.6	.434	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.7	.538

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1974-75	2012-13
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Nuggets 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	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
JaVale McGee	79	18.1	9.1	2.0	2.8	4.8	0.3	0.4	2.0	1.1	2.3	3.8	6.7	.575	0.0	0.0	1.000	1.4	2.4	.591

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
JaVale McGee	6	18.7	7.2	2.8	2.3	5.2	0.0	0.7	1.0	1.8	2.8	3.0	5.2	.581	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	3.0	.389

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1975-76	2013-14
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
JaVale McGee	5	15.8	7.0	2.0	1.4	3.4	0.4	0.2	1.4	1.6	3.2	3.4	7.6	.447	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.2	1.000

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1976-77	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	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	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
JaVale McGee	23	11.1	4.6	0.8	1.9	2.7	0.1	0.1	0.9	0.8	1.3	1.8	3.4	.532	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.667

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1977-78	2015-16
Team	Boston Celtics	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks 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	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
JaVale McGee	34	10.9	5.1	1.6	2.4	3.9	0.1	0.1	0.8	0.6	1.4	2.3	3.9	.575	0.0	0.0	.000	0.5	1.1	.500

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	2	7.0	2.0	1.0	0.5	1.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	1.5	1.5	0.5	1.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	3.0	.333

Season 9
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1978-79	2016-17
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
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	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
JaVale McGee	77	9.6	6.1	1.3	1.9	3.2	0.2	0.2	0.9	0.5	1.4	2.7	4.1	.652	0.0	0.0	.000	0.7	1.4	.505

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	16	9.3	5.9	1.4	1.6	3.0	0.3	0.1	0.9	0.5	1.9	2.6	3.5	.732	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.1	.722

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1979-80	2017-18
Team	Boston Celtics	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

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
JaVale McGee	65	9.5	4.8	0.9	1.7	2.6	0.5	0.3	0.9	0.4	1.4	2.1	3.4	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	0.8	.731

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
JaVale McGee	13	12.2	6.5	1.2	2.0	3.2	0.3	0.2	0.8	0.4	1.5	3.0	4.5	.672	0.0	0.1	.000	0.5	0.7	.667

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

Season 11
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	1982-83	2018-19
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

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
JaVale McGee	75	22.3	12.0	2.6	4.9	7.5	0.7	0.6	2.0	1.4	2.8	5.3	8.5	.624	0.0	0.2	.083	1.3	2.0	.632

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

Season 12
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	68	16.6	6.6	1.8	3.9	5.7	0.5	0.5	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.9	4.5	.637	0.0	0.1	.500	0.8	1.2	.646

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	14	9.6	2.9	1.1	2.0	3.1	0.5	0.1	0.7	0.6	1.6	1.4	2.3	.625	0.0	0.1	.000	0.1	0.1	.500

Season 13
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	46	14.7	7.3	1.7	3.5	5.2	0.8	0.4	1.2	1.3	2.6	3.1	6.1	.511	0.1	0.5	.208	1.0	1.5	.657

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	4	8.5	2.0	0.8	2.3	3.0	0.8	0.3	1.3	0.3	1.0	0.8	2.5	.300	0.0	0.5	.000	0.5	1.5	.333

Season 14
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	74	15.8	9.2	2.2	4.5	6.7	0.6	0.3	1.1	1.3	2.4	3.9	6.2	.629	0.0	0.1	.222	1.4	2.0	.699

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	12	11.1	6.8	1.3	2.7	4.0	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.8	2.3	2.9	4.2	.700	0.0	0.1	.000	0.9	1.1	.846

Season 15
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2022-23
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		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	42	8.5	4.4	0.7	1.8	2.5	0.3	0.1	0.6	0.9	1.3	1.9	3.0	.640	0.0	0.1	.400	0.6	1.0	.585

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

Season 16
	Dave Cowens	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Sacramento Kings
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		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	46	7.4	4.0	0.9	1.8	2.7	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7	1.0	1.7	2.9	.598	0.0	0.2	.143	0.6	1.0	.578

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

Dave Cowens vs. JaVale McGee Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of JaVale McGee 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

Season 15

Season 16