DeMarcus Cousins vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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, 3 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 14. DeMarcus Cousins had the first of his seasons in 2010-11, while Kawhi Leonard had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Kawhi Leonard	14	12	2011-12 to 2025-26

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


Rookie Season
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2010-11	2011-12
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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:	+17	+4.5	+6.2	+1.1	+2.5	+3.5	+1.4	+0.3	+0.4	-2.6	-2.7	+2.2	+6.1	+.063	+0.6	+1.5	+.209	+2.3	+3.6	+.086
Kawhi Leonard	64	24.0	7.9	1.6	3.5	5.1	1.1	1.3	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.1	6.3	.493	0.6	1.7	.376	1.1	1.4	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	14	27.1	8.6	1.3	4.6	5.9	0.6	1.2	0.4	0.9	1.6	3.2	6.4	.500	1.3	2.9	.450	0.9	1.1	.813


Season 2
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2011-12	2012-13
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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:	+6	+0.7	+6.2	+3.0	+1.9	+5.0		+0.2	+0.6	-1.6	-2.3	+2.5	+6.5	+.046	+1.1	+2.8	+.231	+2.3	+3.6	+.123
Kawhi Leonard	58	31.2	11.9	1.1	4.9	6.0	1.6	1.7	0.6	1.1	1.7	4.5	9.1	.494	1.1	3.0	.374	1.8	2.2	.825

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	21	36.9	13.5	2.4	6.7	9.0	1.0	1.8	0.5	1.1	1.9	5.5	10.0	.545	1.1	2.8	.390	1.5	2.3	.633


Season 3
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2012-13	2013-14
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

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:	+9	+1.4	+4.3	+1.8	+1.9	+3.7	+0.7	+0.3	+0.1	-1.8	-1.7	+1.3	+4.0	+.057	+0.9	+2.5	+.197	+2.7	+3.7	+.064
Kawhi Leonard	66	29.1	12.8	1.2	5.1	6.2	2.0	1.7	0.8	1.2	1.9	5.1	9.8	.522	1.0	2.8	.379	1.5	1.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	23	32.0	14.3	1.3	5.4	6.7	1.7	1.7	0.6	1.3	2.9	5.3	10.4	.510	1.3	3.2	.419	2.3	3.1	.736


Season 4
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2013-14	2014-15
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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:	+7	+0.6	+6.2	+1.8	+2.7	+4.5	+0.4	+0.8	+0.5	-2.0	-1.8	+2.1	+4.0	+.017	+1.0	+2.9	+.349	+2.9	+4.5	+.076
Kawhi Leonard	64	31.8	16.5	1.3	5.9	7.2	2.5	2.3	0.8	1.5	2.0	6.2	12.8	.479	1.0	3.0	.349	3.2	3.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	7	35.7	20.3	1.9	5.6	7.4	2.6	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.6	7.4	15.6	.477	1.6	3.7	.423	3.9	5.0	.771


Season 5
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2014-15	2015-16
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+13	+1.0	+2.9	+1.8	+4.0	+5.9	+1.0	+0.3	+0.7	-2.8	-2.3	+0.7	+3.0	+.039	+1.8	+3.9	+.193	+3.1	+4.6	+.092
Kawhi Leonard	72	33.1	21.2	1.3	5.5	6.8	2.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	1.8	7.7	15.1	.506	1.8	4.0	.443	4.1	4.6	.874

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	10	33.9	22.5	1.4	4.9	6.3	2.8	2.6	1.4	1.6	2.1	8.3	16.6	.500	1.7	3.9	.436	4.2	5.1	.824


Season 6
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2015-16	2016-17
Team	Sacramento Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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:	+9	+1.2	+1.4	+1.3	+4.4	+5.7	+0.2	+0.2	+0.7	-1.7	-2.0	+0.6	+2.8	+.034	+0.9	+2.0	+.047	+1.0	+3.0	+.162
Kawhi Leonard	74	33.4	25.5	1.1	4.7	5.8	3.5	1.8	0.7	2.1	1.6	8.6	17.7	.485	2.0	5.2	.380	6.3	7.2	.880

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	12	35.8	27.7	1.6	6.2	7.8	4.6	1.7	0.5	2.2	1.8	8.8	16.8	.525	2.1	4.6	.455	7.9	8.5	.931


Season 7
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2016-17	2017-18
Team	Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

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:	+63	+10.9	+10.8	+1.4	+4.9	+6.3	+2.3	+0.6	+0.3	-1.9	-2.9	+3.2	+7.6	+.016	+0.6	+1.1	+.047	+3.8	+5.1	+.044
Kawhi Leonard	9	23.3	16.2	0.7	4.0	4.7	2.3	2.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	5.8	12.3	.468	1.2	3.9	.314	3.4	4.2	.816

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher DeMarcus Cousins nor Kawhi Leonard played in the postseason in their season 7


Season 8
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2017-18	2018-19
Team	New Orleans Pelicans	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

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:	+12	+2.2	+1.4	+0.9	+4.7	+5.6	+2.1	+0.2	+1.2	-3.0	-2.3	+0.8	+0.8	+.026	+0.3	+1.1	+.017		+1.1	+.108
Kawhi Leonard	60	34.0	26.6	1.3	6.0	7.3	3.3	1.8	0.4	2.0	1.5	9.3	18.8	.496	1.9	5.0	.371	6.1	7.1	.854

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
DeMarcus Cousins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	24	39.1	30.5	2.3	6.8	9.1	3.9	1.7	0.7	3.1	2.3	10.1	20.7	.490	2.3	6.0	.379	8.0	9.0	.884


Season 9
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2018-19	2019-20
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Clippers Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+27	+6.7	+10.8	+0.5	+0.7	+1.1	+1.3	+0.5	+0.9	-0.2	-1.6	+3.4	+7.5	+.010	+1.3	+2.5	+.104	+2.7	+2.3	+.150
Kawhi Leonard	57	32.4	27.1	0.9	6.1	7.1	4.9	1.8	0.6	2.6	2.0	9.3	19.9	.470	2.2	5.7	.378	6.2	7.1	.886

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:	+5	+22.7	+20.6	+0.7	+3.7	+4.4	+3.1	+1.7		-0.1	-0.8	+7.5	+14.0	+.093	+1.4	+4.1	+.079	+4.2	+4.1	+.222
Kawhi Leonard	13	39.3	28.2	1.8	7.5	9.3	5.5	2.3	0.8	2.5	2.2	10.1	20.6	.489	1.8	5.6	.329	6.2	7.2	.862

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


Season 10
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2020-21	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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:	+11	+16.7	+15.9	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1	+3.3	+0.8	+0.2	-0.4	-1.0	+5.7	+10.1	+.086	+0.8	+1.6	+.050	+3.6	+3.7	+.157
Kawhi Leonard	52	34.1	24.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	5.2	1.6	0.4	2.0	1.6	8.9	17.5	.512	1.9	4.9	.398	5.0	5.7	.885

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:	+4	+31.0	+22.8	+1.1	+4.6	+5.7	+3.7	+1.8	+0.4	-1.5	-0.7	+8.4	+13.4	+.121	+1.6	+4.1	+.007	+4.4	+4.8	+.094
Kawhi Leonard	11	39.3	30.4	2.0	5.7	7.7	4.4	2.1	0.8	2.2	2.6	11.1	19.4	.573	2.2	5.5	.393	6.0	6.8	.880

Note: Kawhi Leonard didn't play in 2021-22.


Season 11
	DeMarcus Cousins	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2021-22	2022-23
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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:	+4	+18.7	+14.8	+0.4	+1.3	+0.9	+2.4	+0.7	+0.1	-0.1	-1.3	+5.5	+10.0	+.052	+1.2	+2.3	+.113	+2.7	+2.8	+.111
Kawhi Leonard	52	33.6	23.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	3.9	1.4	0.5	1.7	1.6	8.6	16.8	.512	2.0	4.8	.416	4.7	5.4	.871

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:	+3	+28.6	+23.9	+0.9	+2.2	+3.1	+4.8	+1.4	+0.3	-1.6	-0.7	+8.2	+16.2	+.110	+2.2	+3.8	+.067	+5.3	+5.5	+.149
Kawhi Leonard	2	40.0	34.5	1.5	5.0	6.5	6.0	2.0	0.5	3.0	2.5	12.0	22.0	.545	3.0	5.0	.600	7.5	8.5	.882


Additional Years
* Kawhi Leonard played 3 seasons more than DeMarcus Cousins in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 14, from 2024 to 2026—Kawhi Leonard played in two Playoffs. In those 3 extra years over DeMarcus Cousins, Kawhi Leonard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game

DeMarcus Cousins vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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