Dave Cowens vs. Kevin McHale Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kevin McHale 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 / 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.

Dave Cowens played 11 years in the NBA, 2 less than Kevin McHale, who played 13. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Kevin McHale had his rookie season in 1980-81. 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
Kevin McHale	13	13	1980-81 to 1992-93

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1970-71	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
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	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Kevin McHale	82	20.1	10.0	1.9	2.5	4.4	0.7	0.3	1.8	1.3	3.2	4.3	8.1	.533	0.0	0.0	.000	1.3	1.9	.679

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	17	17.4	8.5	1.7	1.8	3.5	0.8	0.2	1.5	0.9	3.0	3.6	6.6	.540	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.1	.639

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1971-72	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Kevin McHale	82	28.4	13.6	2.3	4.5	6.8	1.1	0.4	2.3	1.7	3.2	5.7	10.7	.531	0.0	0.0	-	2.3	3.0	.754

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
Kevin McHale	12	28.7	16.2	3.4	3.7	7.1	0.9	0.4	2.3	1.3	3.7	6.4	11.2	.575	0.0	0.0	-	3.3	4.4	.755

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1972-73	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Celtics Lost East 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	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Kevin McHale	82	28.6	14.1	2.6	4.1	6.7	1.3	0.4	2.3	1.9	2.9	5.9	10.9	.541	0.0	0.0	.000	2.4	3.3	.717

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
Kevin McHale	7	25.3	11.1	2.1	3.9	6.0	0.7	0.4	1.0	1.4	2.3	4.9	8.9	.548	0.0	0.1	.000	1.4	2.6	.556

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1973-74	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	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		%
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
Kevin McHale	82	31.4	18.4	2.5	4.9	7.4	1.3	0.3	1.5	1.8	3.0	7.2	12.9	.556	0.0	0.0	.333	4.1	5.4	.765

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
Kevin McHale	23	30.5	14.8	2.7	3.5	6.2	1.2	0.1	1.5	1.7	3.3	5.3	10.6	.504	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.3	.777

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1974-75	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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	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
Kevin McHale	79	33.6	19.8	2.9	6.1	9.0	1.8	0.4	1.5	2.0	3.0	7.7	13.4	.570	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	5.9	.760

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
Kevin McHale	21	39.9	22.1	3.5	6.4	9.9	1.5	0.6	2.2	2.9	3.5	8.2	14.4	.568	0.0	0.0	-	5.8	7.1	.807

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1975-76	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
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
Kevin McHale	68	35.3	21.3	2.5	5.6	8.1	2.7	0.4	2.0	2.2	2.8	8.3	14.4	.574	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	6.2	.776

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
Kevin McHale	18	39.7	24.9	2.8	5.8	8.6	2.7	0.4	2.4	2.7	3.6	9.3	16.1	.579	0.0	0.1	.000	6.2	7.8	.794

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1976-77	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
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
Kevin McHale	77	39.7	26.1	3.2	6.7	9.9	2.6	0.5	2.2	2.6	3.1	10.3	17.0	.604	0.0	0.1	.000	5.6	6.6	.836

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
Kevin McHale	21	39.4	21.1	3.1	6.1	9.2	1.9	0.3	1.4	2.6	3.4	8.3	14.2	.584	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	6.0	.762

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1977-78	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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	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
Kevin McHale	64	37.3	22.6	2.5	5.9	8.4	2.7	0.4	1.4	2.2	2.8	8.6	14.2	.604	0.0	0.0	-	5.4	6.8	.797

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	17	42.1	25.4	3.2	4.8	8.0	2.4	0.4	1.8	2.3	3.8	9.3	15.4	.603	0.1	0.1	1.000	6.8	8.1	.839

Season 9
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1978-79	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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	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
Kevin McHale	78	36.9	22.5	2.9	5.3	8.2	2.2	0.3	1.2	2.5	2.9	8.5	15.5	.546	0.0	0.1	.000	5.6	6.8	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	3	38.3	19.0	2.3	5.7	8.0	3.0	0.3	0.7	1.3	4.3	6.7	13.7	.488	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.7	.739

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1979-80	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	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	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
Kevin McHale	82	33.2	20.9	2.5	5.8	8.3	2.1	0.4	1.9	2.2	3.0	7.9	14.4	.549	0.3	0.8	.333	4.8	5.4	.893

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
Kevin McHale	5	38.4	22.0	1.6	6.2	7.8	2.6	0.4	2.0	2.8	3.4	8.4	13.8	.609	0.2	0.6	.333	5.0	5.8	.862

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

Season 11
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	1982-83	1990-91
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East 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	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
Kevin McHale	68	30.4	18.4	2.1	4.9	7.1	1.9	0.4	2.1	2.1	2.9	7.4	13.4	.553	0.2	0.5	.405	3.4	4.0	.829

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	11	34.2	20.7	1.6	4.9	6.5	1.8	0.5	1.3	1.3	3.8	7.1	13.5	.527	0.5	1.0	.545	6.0	7.3	.825

Season 12
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	-	1991-92
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	56	25.0	13.9	2.1	3.8	5.9	1.5	0.2	1.1	1.5	2.0	5.8	11.3	.509	0.0	0.2	.000	2.4	2.9	.822

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	10	30.6	16.5	2.1	4.6	6.7	1.3	0.5	0.5	0.9	3.4	6.5	12.6	.516	0.0	0.1	.000	3.5	4.4	.795

Season 13
	Dave Cowens	Kevin McHale
Season	-	1992-93
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	71	23.3	10.7	1.3	3.7	5.0	1.0	0.2	0.8	1.3	1.8	4.2	9.1	.459	0.0	0.3	.111	2.3	2.7	.841

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin McHale	4	28.3	19.0	2.3	5.0	7.3	0.8	0.5	1.8	1.3	1.5	8.0	13.8	.582	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.5	.857

Dave Cowens vs. Kevin McHale Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kevin McHale 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