Dave Cowens vs. Yao Ming Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Yao Ming 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, 3 more than Yao Ming, who played 8. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Yao Ming had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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.

Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1970-71	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+1	+9.0	+3.5			+6.8	+1.1				-1.5	+1.9	+6.3	+.076				+0.3	+0.1	+.079
Yao Ming	82	29.0	13.5	2.4	5.8	8.2	1.7	0.4	1.8	2.1	2.8	4.9	9.8	.498	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	4.5	.811
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dave Cowens nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1971-72	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+3	+7.5	+1.3			+6.2	+1.6				-0.7	+1.8	+4.7	+.038				+2.2	+2.3	+.089
Yao Ming	82	32.8	17.5	2.4	6.6	9.0	1.5	0.3	1.9	2.5	3.3	6.5	12.5	.522	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.4	.809
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
difference:	+6	+2.5	+0.5			+6.4	+1.2				-0.5	+0.3	+0.6	+.001				+0.1	+0.9	+.169
Yao Ming	5	37.6	15.0	2.2	5.2	7.4	1.8	0.4	1.4	2.6	4.0	6.2	13.6	.456	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.4	.765

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1972-73	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
difference:	+2	+11.2	+2.2			+7.8	+3.3				-0.1	+2.3	+7.8	+.100				+2.4	+3.0	+.004
Yao Ming	80	30.6	18.3	2.6	5.8	8.4	0.8	0.4	2.0	2.5	3.7	6.7	12.2	.552	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	6.2	.783
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
difference:	+6	+14.1	+0.5			+8.9	+3.0				-0.2	+2.0	+9.0	+.182				+3.6	+4.7	+.068
Yao Ming	7	31.9	21.4	3.3	4.4	7.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.7	4.4	7.9	12.0	.655	0.0	0.0	-	5.7	7.9	.727

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1973-74	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+23	+7.7	+3.3	+0.7	+4.8	+5.5	+2.9	+0.7	+0.3		-0.3	+0.1	+2.6	+.082				+3.0	+3.5	+.021
Yao Ming	57	34.2	22.3	2.6	7.6	10.2	1.5	0.5	1.6	2.6	3.4	8.2	15.8	.519	0.0	0.0	-	5.9	6.9	.853
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
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1974-75	2006-07
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+17	+6.7	+4.6	+1.4	+3.9	+5.3	+2.6	+0.9	+0.9		-0.4		+1.3	+.041				+4.5	+4.8	+.079
Yao Ming	48	33.8	25.0	2.1	7.3	9.4	2.0	0.4	2.0	3.5	3.3	8.8	17.1	.516	0.0	0.0	-	7.4	8.6	.862
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
difference:	+4	+6.4	+4.6	+1.2	+5.0	+6.2	+3.3	+1.5	+0.2		-0.6	+1.3	+3.6	+.012				+7.3	+8.3	+.005
Yao Ming	7	37.1	25.1	3.3	7.0	10.3	0.9	0.1	0.7	4.7	3.9	7.9	17.9	.440	0.0	0.0	-	9.4	10.7	.880

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1975-76	2007-08
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+23	+2.6	+3.0	+1.2	+4.0	+5.2	+1.9	+0.7	+1.1		-0.9	+0.1	+1.2	+.039				+3.0	+3.0	+.094
Yao Ming	55	37.2	22.0	3.1	7.7	10.8	2.3	0.5	2.0	3.3	3.1	7.9	15.5	.507	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	7.4	.850
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
Yao Ming	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1976-77	2008-09
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+27	+4.2	+3.3	+0.3	+3.8	+4.0	+3.2	+0.5	+0.9		-0.3	+0.8	+1.7	+.114				+1.7	+1.7	+.048
Yao Ming	77	33.6	19.7	2.6	7.2	9.9	1.8	0.4	1.9	3.0	3.3	7.4	13.4	.548	0.0	0.0	-	4.9	5.7	.866
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
difference:		+6.2	+0.5	+1.1	+2.9	+4.0	+3.0	+0.5	+0.2		-1.1	+1.3	+5.4	+.099				+3.2	+3.3	+.129
Yao Ming	9	35.9	17.1	2.1	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.4	1.2	1.9	3.0	6.0	11.0	.545	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	5.7	.902

Note: Yao Ming didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Yao Ming
Season	1977-78	2010-11
Team	Boston Celtics	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+72	+23.6	+8.4	+1.8	+6.8	+8.6	+3.8	+1.3	+0.7	-1.4	-1.3	+4.2	+8.4	+.004				+0.1	+0.5	+.096
Yao Ming	5	18.2	10.2	1.4	4.0	5.4	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.4	2.6	3.6	7.4	.486	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.938
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dave Cowens nor Yao Ming played in the postseason in their season 8

Additional Years
* Dave Cowens played 3 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 11, from 1979 to 1983—Dave Cowens played in one postseason. In those 3 extra years over Yao Ming, Dave Cowens got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 All-Star Game