DeMarcus Cousins vs. Hakeem Olajuwon Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Hakeem Olajuwon 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.

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, 7 less than Hakeem Olajuwon, who played 18. DeMarcus Cousins had the first of his seasons in 2010-11, while Hakeem Olajuwon had his rookie season in 1984-85. 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
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2010-11	1984-85
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+1	+7.0	+6.5	+2.7	+0.5	+3.3	+1.1	+0.2	+1.9	-0.4	-0.1	+3.0	+2.9	+.108		+0.2		+0.7	+1.7	+.074
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	35.5	20.6	5.4	6.5	11.9	1.4	1.2	2.7	2.9	4.2	8.3	15.3	.538	0.0	0.0	-	4.1	6.7	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	5	37.4	21.2	6.6	6.4	13.0	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.2	4.4	8.4	17.6	.477	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	9.2	.478

Season 2
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2011-12	1985-86
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+4	+5.8	+5.4	+0.8	+0.2	+0.5	+0.4	+0.5	+2.2	-0.2		+2.2	+1.9	+.078		+0.2		+1.0	+2.1	+.057
Hakeem Olajuwon	68	36.3	23.5	4.9	6.6	11.5	2.0	2.0	3.4	2.9	4.0	9.2	17.5	.526	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	7.9	.645
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	20	38.3	26.9	5.1	6.8	11.8	2.0	2.0	3.5	2.2	4.4	10.3	19.4	.530	0.0	0.1	.000	6.4	10.0	.638

Season 3
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2012-13	1986-87
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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:		+6.3	+6.3	+1.2	+0.2	+1.5	+0.2	+0.5	+2.7		-0.3	+2.6	+4.0	+.043	+0.1	+0.2	+.018	+1.1	+2.0	+.036
Hakeem Olajuwon	75	36.8	23.4	4.2	7.2	11.4	2.9	1.9	3.4	3.0	3.9	9.0	17.8	.508	0.0	0.1	.200	5.3	7.6	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	10	38.9	29.2	3.9	7.4	11.3	2.5	1.3	4.3	3.6	4.4	11.0	17.9	.615	0.0	0.1	.000	7.2	9.7	.742

Season 4
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2013-14	1987-88
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+8	+3.4	+0.1	+0.7	+0.3	+0.4	+0.8	+0.6	+1.4	-0.4	-0.3	+0.7	+0.7	+.018				+1.3	+1.5	+.031
Hakeem Olajuwon	79	35.8	22.8	3.8	8.3	12.1	2.1	2.1	2.7	3.1	4.1	9.0	17.5	.514	0.0	0.1	.000	4.8	6.9	.695
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	37.5	5.0	11.8	16.8	1.8	2.3	2.8	2.3	3.5	14.0	24.5	.571	0.0	0.3	.000	9.5	10.8	.884

Season 5
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2014-15	1988-89
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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:	+23	+2.8	+0.7	+1.0	+0.1	+0.8	+1.8	+1.1	+1.7	-0.9	-0.1	+1.2	+0.9	+.041			+.250	+1.7	+1.2	+.086
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	36.9	24.8	4.1	9.4	13.5	1.8	2.6	3.4	3.4	4.0	9.6	19.0	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	5.5	8.0	.696
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.5	25.3	3.5	9.5	13.0	3.0	2.5	2.8	2.5	4.3	10.5	20.3	.519	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	6.3	.680

Season 6
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2015-16	1989-90
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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:	+17	+3.5	+2.6	+1.2	+1.3	+2.5	+0.4	+0.5	+3.2	-0.1	-0.2	+0.6	+0.9	+.050	+1.1	+3.1	+.166	+2.6	+3.7	+.005
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	38.1	24.3	3.6	10.4	14.0	2.9	2.1	4.6	3.9	3.8	9.8	19.6	.501	0.0	0.1	.167	4.7	6.5	.713
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	4	40.3	18.5	3.8	7.8	11.5	2.0	2.5	5.8	2.8	4.8	7.8	17.5	.443	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.3	.706

Season 7
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2016-17	1990-91
Team	Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Blocks Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+16	+2.6	+5.8	+1.8	+0.9	+2.8	+2.3	+0.8	+2.6	-0.6		+0.3	+2.8	+.056	+1.8	+4.9	+.361	+3.4	+4.4	+.003
Hakeem Olajuwon	56	36.8	21.2	3.9	9.8	13.8	2.3	2.2	3.9	3.1	3.9	8.7	17.1	.508	0.0	0.1	.000	3.8	4.9	.769
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hakeem Olajuwon	3	43.0	22.0	4.0	10.7	14.7	2.0	1.3	2.7	2.7	3.7	8.7	15.0	.578	0.0	0.3	.000	4.7	5.7	.824

Season 8
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2017-18	1991-92
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	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		%
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:	+22	+1.5	+3.6	+1.3	+2.1	+0.8	+3.2	+0.2	+2.7	-2.3		+0.1	+1.2	+.032	+2.2	+6.1		+1.4	+2.1	+.020
Hakeem Olajuwon	70	37.7	21.6	3.5	8.6	12.1	2.2	1.8	4.3	2.7	3.8	8.4	16.8	.502	0.0	0.0	-	4.7	6.1	.766
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher DeMarcus Cousins nor Hakeem Olajuwon played in the postseason in their season 8

Season 9
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2018-19	1992-93
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Blocks Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+52	+13.8	+9.8	+2.1	+2.8	+4.8	+0.1	+0.5	+2.7	-0.8	-0.1	+4.4	+7.1	+.049	+0.9	+3.1	+.274	+1.9	+2.2	+.043
Hakeem Olajuwon	82	39.5	26.1	3.5	9.6	13.0	3.5	1.8	4.2	3.2	3.7	10.3	19.5	.529	0.0	0.1	.000	5.4	7.0	.779
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:	+4	+26.6	+18.1	+3.2	+5.9	+9.1	+2.4	+1.2	+4.1	-1.4	-0.1	+7.7	+13.2	+.121	+0.4	+1.4	+.250	+3.2	+3.2	+.187
Hakeem Olajuwon	12	43.2	25.7	4.3	9.7	14.0	4.8	1.8	4.9	3.8	3.1	10.3	19.8	.517	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	6.3	.827

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

Season 10
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2020-21	1993-94
Team	Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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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:	+39	+23.6	+18.4	+1.6	+4.0	+5.5	+1.7	+0.8	+3.1	-1.8	-1.0	+8.0	+13.8	+.102	+1.0	+3.1	+.073	+3.5	+4.8	+.012
Hakeem Olajuwon	80	41.0	27.3	2.9	9.1	11.9	3.6	1.6	3.7	3.4	3.6	11.2	21.2	.528	0.1	0.2	.421	4.9	6.8	.716
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:	+16	+34.7	+21.3	+1.5	+7.6	+9.0	+3.6	+1.4	+3.6	-2.9	-1.7	+8.9	+16.3	+.067	+0.5	+1.2	+.100	+4.0	+5.0	+.009
Hakeem Olajuwon	23	43.0	28.9	2.4	8.7	11.0	4.3	1.7	4.0	3.6	3.6	11.6	22.3	.519	0.1	0.2	.500	5.6	7.0	.795

Season 11
	DeMarcus Cousins	Hakeem Olajuwon
Season	2021-22	1994-95
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+24	+24.7	+18.8	+0.9	+4.3	+5.2	+2.0	+1.1	+3.0	-1.5	-0.6	+8.0	+14.7	+.057	+0.8	+2.3	+.115	+3.6	+4.9	+.004
Hakeem Olajuwon	72	39.6	27.8	2.4	8.4	10.8	3.5	1.8	3.4	3.3	3.5	11.1	21.5	.517	0.0	0.2	.188	5.6	7.5	.756
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:	+17	+30.8	+22.4	+1.4	+5.5	+6.9	+3.3	+0.6	+2.6	-1.7	-2.5	+10.1	+20.4	+.124	+0.7	+1.0	+.167	+2.8	+4.4	+.052
Hakeem Olajuwon	22	42.2	33.0	2.0	8.3	10.3	4.5	1.2	2.8	3.1	4.3	13.9	26.2	.531	0.1	0.2	.500	5.0	7.4	.681

Additional Years
* Hakeem Olajuwon played 7 seasons more than DeMarcus Cousins in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 18, from 1996 to 2002—Hakeem Olajuwon played in 5 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over DeMarcus Cousins, Hakeem Olajuwon got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 2 All-Star Game