Dave Cowens vs. Lonnie Shelton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Lonnie Shelton 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.

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, 1 more than Lonnie Shelton, who played 10. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Lonnie Shelton 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 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11
Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1970-71	1976-77
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	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
Lonnie Shelton	82	25.7	11.6	2.7	5.0	7.7	1.8	1.5	1.2	-	4.4	4.9	10.2	.476	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.707
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1971-72	1977-78
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Knicks 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	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Lonnie Shelton	82	28.3	14.9	2.5	4.6	7.1	2.4	1.3	1.4	2.8	4.3	6.2	12.0	.514	-	-	-	2.5	3.4	.736
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
Lonnie Shelton	6	25.2	11.0	3.0	4.3	7.3	2.8	0.3	0.8	2.3	4.8	5.0	9.3	.536	-	-	-	1.0	1.3	.750

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1972-73	1978-79
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Lonnie Shelton	76	28.4	13.5	2.4	3.8	6.2	1.4	1.0	1.0	2.5	3.5	5.9	11.3	.519	-	-	-	1.7	2.5	.693
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
Lonnie Shelton	17	33.3	12.9	3.6	4.8	8.4	2.0	1.1	1.1	1.8	4.7	5.9	12.3	.483	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.692

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1973-74	1979-80
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	76	29.5	13.6	2.6	5.0	7.7	1.9	1.2	1.0	2.2	3.8	5.6	10.6	.530	0.0	0.1	.200	2.4	3.2	.763
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
Lonnie Shelton	15	31.3	12.0	2.3	6.0	8.3	1.7	1.5	0.8	2.5	3.6	4.9	9.7	.507	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	3.4	.627

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1974-75	1980-81
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	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	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
Lonnie Shelton	14	31.4	13.0	2.2	3.4	5.6	2.5	1.6	0.2	2.9	3.4	5.2	12.4	.420	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.9	.655
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1975-76	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	81	32.9	14.9	2.0	4.3	6.3	3.1	1.2	0.5	2.5	3.9	6.3	12.9	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	3.0	.783
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
Lonnie Shelton	8	33.3	12.8	3.0	4.4	7.4	2.0	0.6	0.9	2.5	4.8	5.0	10.6	.471	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	4.0	.688

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Supersonics 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	82	31.4	12.4	1.9	4.1	6.0	2.9	0.9	0.9	2.1	3.8	5.3	11.2	.478	0.0	0.1	.167	1.7	2.3	.754
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
Lonnie Shelton	2	26.5	5.0	6.5	4.0	10.5	2.5	0.5	0.0	1.0	3.5	2.0	11.5	.174	0.0	1.5	.000	1.0	2.5	.400

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1977-78	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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	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
Lonnie Shelton	79	26.6	10.8	1.8	3.1	4.8	2.3	1.0	0.7	2.1	3.5	4.7	9.9	.476	0.0	0.1	.200	1.4	1.8	.764
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	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	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
Lonnie Shelton	44	15.5	4.5	0.9	2.4	3.3	1.4	0.5	0.1	1.1	2.9	2.1	4.3	.489	0.0	0.0	.000	0.3	0.4	.875
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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