DeMarcus Cousins vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and DeMarcus Cousins, 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 / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / 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.

DeMarcus Cousins played 11 years in the NBA, 10 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. DeMarcus Cousins had the first of his seasons in 2010-11, while Dirk Nowitzki had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
DeMarcus Cousins	11	3	2010-11 to 2021-22
Dirk Nowitzki	21	15	1998-99 to 2018-19

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11


Rookie Season
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2010-11	1998-99
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	81	28.5	14.1	2.7	6.0	8.6	2.5	1.0	0.8	3.3	4.1	5.3	12.4	.430	0.0	0.2	.167	3.4	5.0	.687
difference:	+34	+8.1	+5.9	+1.8	+3.4	+5.2	+1.5	+0.4	+0.2	-1.7	-1.9	+2.4	+5.3	+.025	+0.3	+1.2	+.039	+1.3	+2.3	+.086
Dirk Nowitzki	47	20.4	8.2	0.9	2.6	3.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	2.9	7.1	.405	0.3	1.4	.206	2.1	2.7	.773

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher DeMarcus Cousins nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2011-12	1999-00
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	64	30.5	18.1	4.1	6.8	11.0	1.6	1.5	1.2	2.7	4.0	7.0	15.6	.448	0.0	0.2	.143	4.1	5.8	.702
difference:	+18	+5.3	+0.6	+2.9	+1.6	+4.5	+0.9	+0.7	+0.4	-1.0	-0.9	+0.7	+2.0	+.013	+1.4	+3.5	+.236	+0.6	+1.6	+.128
Dirk Nowitzki	82	35.8	17.5	1.2	5.2	6.5	2.5	0.8	0.8	1.7	3.1	6.3	13.6	.461	1.4	3.7	.379	3.5	4.2	.830

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher DeMarcus Cousins nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 2


Season 3
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2012-13	2000-01
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	75	30.5	17.1	3.0	7.0	9.9	2.7	1.4	0.7	3.0	3.6	6.4	13.8	.465	0.1	0.3	.182	4.2	5.6	.738
difference:	+7	+7.6	+4.7	+1.5	+0.7	+0.7	+0.6	+0.4	+0.5	-1.1	-0.6	+0.8	+1.4	+.009	+1.7	+4.5	+.205	+1.3	+1.0	+.100
Dirk Nowitzki	82	38.1	21.8	1.5	7.7	9.2	2.1	1.0	1.2	1.9	3.0	7.2	15.2	.474	1.8	4.8	.387	5.5	6.6	.838

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.9	23.4	1.4	6.7	8.1	1.4	1.1	0.8	1.4	3.7	6.9	16.3	.423	1.3	4.6	.283	8.3	9.4	.883


Season 4
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2013-14	2001-02
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	71	32.4	22.7	3.1	8.6	11.7	2.9	1.5	1.3	3.5	3.8	8.3	16.8	.496	0.0	0.1	.000	6.1	8.4	.726
difference:	+5	+5.6	+0.7	+1.5	+0.2	+1.8	+0.5	+0.4	+0.3	-1.6	-0.9	+0.4	+0.2	+.019	+1.8	+4.5	+.397	+0.3	+1.6	+.127
Dirk Nowitzki	76	38.0	23.4	1.6	8.4	9.9	2.4	1.1	1.0	1.9	2.9	7.9	16.6	.477	1.8	4.6	.397	5.8	6.8	.853

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	8	44.6	28.4	2.1	11.0	13.1	2.3	2.0	0.8	2.8	3.4	9.1	20.5	.445	2.0	3.5	.571	8.1	9.3	.878


Season 5
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2014-15	2002-03
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	59	34.1	24.1	3.1	9.5	12.7	3.6	1.5	1.7	4.3	4.1	8.4	18.1	.467	0.0	0.1	.250	7.2	9.2	.782
difference:	+21	+4.9	+1.0	+2.1	+0.6	+2.8	+0.6	+0.1	+0.7	-2.4	-1.5	+0.2	+0.5	+.004	+1.9	+4.8	+.129	+1.2	+2.3	+.099
Dirk Nowitzki	80	39.0	25.1	1.0	8.9	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.6	8.6	18.6	.463	1.9	4.9	.379	6.0	6.9	.881

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	17	42.5	25.3	0.9	10.6	11.5	2.2	1.2	0.9	2.4	3.1	8.8	18.4	.479	1.6	3.6	.443	6.1	6.6	.912


Season 6
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2015-16	2003-04
Team	Sacramento Kings	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	65	34.6	26.9	2.4	9.1	11.5	3.3	1.6	1.4	3.8	3.6	9.2	20.5	.451	1.1	3.2	.333	7.3	10.2	.718
difference:	+12	+3.3	+5.1	+1.2	+1.6	+2.8	+0.6	+0.4		-2.0	-0.8	+1.3	+3.5	+.011	+0.2	+0.6	+.008	+2.5	+4.7	+.159
Dirk Nowitzki	77	37.9	21.8	1.2	7.5	8.7	2.7	1.2	1.4	1.8	2.8	7.9	17.0	.462	1.3	3.8	.341	4.8	5.5	.877

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.6	2.6	9.2	11.8	1.4	1.4	2.6	1.2	3.2	9.0	20.0	.450	1.4	3.0	.467	7.2	8.4	.857


Season 7
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2016-17	2004-05
Team	Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks 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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	72	34.2	27.0	2.1	8.9	11.0	4.6	1.4	1.3	3.7	3.9	9.0	19.9	.452	1.8	5.0	.361	7.2	9.3	.772
difference:	+6	+4.5	+0.9	+0.9	+0.4	+1.3	+1.5	+0.2	+0.2	-1.4	-1.1	+0.5	+1.4	+.007	+0.6	+2.1	+.038	+0.7	+0.2	+.097
Dirk Nowitzki	78	38.7	26.1	1.2	8.5	9.7	3.1	1.2	1.5	2.3	2.8	8.5	18.5	.459	1.2	2.9	.399	7.9	9.1	.869

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	13	42.5	23.7	1.9	8.2	10.1	3.3	1.4	1.6	2.5	3.2	7.9	19.7	.402	0.8	2.3	.333	7.1	8.5	.829


Season 8
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2017-18	2005-06
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
DeMarcus Cousins	48	36.2	25.2	2.2	10.7	12.9	5.4	1.6	1.6	5.0	3.8	8.5	18.0	.470	2.2	6.1	.354	6.1	8.2	.746
difference:	+33	+1.9	+1.4	+0.8	+3.1	+3.9	+2.6	+0.9	+0.6	-3.1	-1.8	+0.8	+1.3	+.010	+0.8	+2.8	+.052	+0.6	+0.8	+.155
Dirk Nowitzki	81	38.1	26.6	1.4	7.6	9.0	2.8	0.7	1.0	1.9	2.0	9.3	19.3	.480	1.4	3.3	.406	6.7	7.4	.901

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	23	42.7	27.0	2.0	9.6	11.7	2.9	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.8	8.5	18.2	.468	1.0	2.9	.343	8.9	10.0	.895


Season 9
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2018-19	2006-07
Team	Golden State Warriors	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	30	25.7	16.3	1.4	6.8	8.2	3.6	1.3	1.5	2.4	3.6	5.9	12.4	.480	0.9	3.2	.274	3.5	4.8	.736
difference:	+48	+10.5	+8.3	+0.2	+0.5	+0.7	+0.2	+0.6	+0.7	-0.3	-1.4	+2.7	+4.8	+.022		+1.0	+.142	+2.9	+2.3	+.168
Dirk Nowitzki	78	36.2	24.6	1.6	7.3	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.2	.502	0.9	2.2	.416	6.4	7.1	.904

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	8	16.6	7.6	1.1	3.8	4.9	2.4	0.6	0.8	2.4	3.0	2.6	6.6	.396	0.4	1.5	.250	2.0	3.1	.640
difference:	+2	+23.2	+12.1	+3.1	+3.4	+6.4	+0.1	+1.2	+0.5	-0.1	-0.3	+3.4	+9.1	+.013	+0.3	+1.7	+.039	+5.0	+5.2	+.200
Dirk Nowitzki	6	39.8	19.7	4.2	7.2	11.3	2.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	6.0	15.7	.383	0.7	3.2	.211	7.0	8.3	.840

Note: DeMarcus Cousins didn't play in 2019-20.


Season 10
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2020-21	2007-08
Team	Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	41	17.4	8.9	1.3	5.1	6.4	1.9	0.8	0.6	1.6	2.6	3.2	7.4	.426	1.1	3.3	.348	1.4	2.0	.728
difference:	+36	+18.6	+14.7	+0.1	+2.2	+2.2	+1.6	+0.1	+0.3	-0.5		+5.0	+9.7	+.053	+0.1	+0.4	+.011	+4.8	+5.1	+.151
Dirk Nowitzki	77	36.0	23.6	1.2	7.3	8.6	3.5	0.7	0.9	2.1	2.6	8.2	17.1	.479	1.0	2.9	.359	6.2	7.1	.879

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	7	8.3	7.6	0.9	1.1	2.0	0.7	0.3	0.4	0.7	1.9	2.7	6.0	.452	0.6	1.4	.400	1.6	2.0	.786
difference:	+2	+33.9	+19.2	+1.1	+8.9	+10.0	+3.3	+0.1	+1.0	-1.3	-0.7	+5.9	+12.2	+.021	+0.6	+2.2	+.067	+6.8	+8.4	+.022
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.8	2.0	10.0	12.0	4.0	0.2	1.4	2.0	2.6	8.6	18.2	.473	1.2	3.6	.333	8.4	10.4	.808


Season 11
	DeMarcus Cousins	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	2021-22	2008-09
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	48	14.9	9.0	1.5	4.1	5.6	1.5	0.7	0.4	1.8	2.9	3.1	6.8	.460	0.8	2.5	.303	2.0	2.6	.760
difference:	+33	+22.8	+16.9	+0.4	+3.2	+2.8	+0.9	+0.1	+0.4	-0.1	-0.7	+6.5	+13.2	+.019		+0.4	+.056	+4.0	+4.1	+.130
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.7	25.9	1.1	7.3	8.4	2.4	0.8	0.8	1.9	2.2	9.6	20.0	.479	0.8	2.1	.359	6.0	6.7	.890

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	5	11.4	10.6	0.6	2.8	3.4	1.2	0.6	0.2	1.4	1.8	3.8	5.8	.655	0.8	1.2	.667	2.2	3.0	.733
difference:	+5	+28.0	+16.2	+0.6	+6.1	+6.7	+1.9	+0.3	+0.6	-0.9	-0.3	+5.0	+11.2	+.137	+0.2	+0.9	+.381	+6.4	+6.3	+.192
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.4	26.8	1.2	8.9	10.1	3.1	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.1	8.8	17.0	.518	0.6	2.1	.286	8.6	9.3	.925


Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 10 seasons more than DeMarcus Cousins in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 21, from 2010 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 10 extra years over DeMarcus Cousins, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 6 All-Star Game

DeMarcus Cousins vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and DeMarcus Cousins, 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

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years