Dennis Johnson vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy and Dennis Johnson, 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.

Dennis Johnson played 14 years in the NBA, 2 more than James Worthy, who played 12. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
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		%
Dennis Johnson	81	20.6	9.2	2.0	1.7	3.7	1.5	1.5	0.7	-	2.7	3.5	7.0	.504	-	-	-	2.2	3.5	.624
difference:	+4	+5.0	+4.2		+1.4	+1.5	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1		-0.2	+2.3	+3.0	+.075				+0.4	+0.6
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dennis Johnson nor James Worthy played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1978-79	1984-85
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	80	34.0	15.9	1.8	2.9	4.7	3.5	1.3	1.2	2.4	2.6	6.0	13.9	.434	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.781
difference:		+0.3	+1.7	+0.3	+1.4	+1.7	+1.0	+0.2	+0.4	-0.1	-0.1	+1.6	+0.6	+.138				+1.4	+1.8	+.005
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	17	40.1	20.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	4.1	1.6	1.5	3.0	3.7	8.0	17.8	.450	-	-	-	4.9	6.4	.771
difference:	+2	+7.2	+0.6	+0.8	+0.3	+1.0	+1.9	+0.7	+0.8	-1.6	-0.9	+0.7	+3.7	+.172				+1.0	+0.6	+.095
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676

Season 4
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	81	36.3	19.0	2.1	3.0	5.1	4.1	1.8	1.0	2.8	3.3	7.1	16.8	.422	0.1	0.7	.207	4.7	6.0	.780
difference:	+6	+3.6	+1.0	+0.3	+0.3	+0.1	+1.4	+0.7		-0.8	-0.7	+1.3	+2.3	+.157	+0.1	+0.5	+.207	+1.5	+1.8	+.009
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	15	38.8	17.1	1.7	2.6	4.3	3.8	1.8	0.7	2.9	3.2	6.7	16.3	.410	0.3	1.0	.333	3.5	4.1	.839
difference:	+1	+0.3	+2.5	+0.1	+0.5	+0.3	+0.6	+0.7		-0.3	-0.1	+1.9	+0.8	+.148	+0.3	+0.7	+.333	+1.2	+0.7	+.158
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681

Season 5
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1980-81	1986-87
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	79	33.1	18.8	2.0	2.6	4.6	3.7	1.7	0.8	2.6	3.1	6.7	15.4	.436	0.1	0.6	.216	5.2	6.3	.820
difference:	+3	+1.3	+0.6	+0.1	+1.2	+1.1	+0.9	+0.4	+0.2	-0.6	-0.6	+1.2	+0.7	+.103	+0.1	+0.4	+.216	+1.6	+1.6	+.069
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	7	38.1	19.6	1.0	3.7	4.7	2.9	1.3	1.3	2.7	2.6	7.4	15.7	.473	0.1	0.7	.200	4.6	6.0	.762
difference:	+11	+0.3	+4.0	+0.7	+0.2	+0.9	+0.6	+0.3	+0.1	-0.5	-0.3	+2.4	+0.9	+.118	+0.1	+0.6	+.200	+0.5	+0.6	+.009
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753

Season 6
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1981-82	1987-88
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	80	36.7	19.5	1.8	3.4	5.1	4.6	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.2	7.2	15.4	.470	0.1	0.5	.190	5.0	6.2	.806
difference:	+5	+1.3	+0.2	+0.1	+0.1	+0.1	+0.7	+0.3		-0.8	-0.9	+1.0	+0.1	+.061	+0.1	+0.3	+.065	+1.8	+2.1	+.010
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	7	38.7	22.3	1.9	2.6	4.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	3.6	4.0	9.0	18.9	.477	0.0	0.4	.000	4.3	5.6	.769
difference:	+17	+1.4	+1.2	+0.3	+1.0	+1.4	+0.2	+0.7	+0.2	-1.3	-1.6	+0.5	+2.6	+.046			+.111	+0.3	+0.3	+.011
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758

Season 7
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1982-83	1988-89
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	77	33.1	14.2	1.2	3.2	4.4	5.0	1.3	0.5	2.6	2.6	5.2	11.2	.462	0.1	0.4	.161	3.8	4.8	.791
difference:	+4	+3.4	+6.3	+0.9	+0.8	+1.6	+1.4		+0.2	-0.4	-0.4	+3.5	+4.6	+.086	+0.1	+0.1	+.074	+0.7	+0.8	+.009
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	3	36.0	18.0	2.0	5.7	7.7	5.7	1.7	0.7	2.7	3.0	7.3	16.0	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.3	4.0	.833
difference:	+12	+4.0	+6.8	+0.5	+1.4	+1.0	+2.9	+0.5	+0.4	-0.5	-0.6	+2.9	+2.0	+.109	+0.2	+0.2	+.375	+0.9	+1.3	+.045
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788

Season 8
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1983-84	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	80	33.3	13.2	1.1	2.4	3.5	4.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	3.1	4.8	11.0	.437	0.1	0.4	.125	3.5	4.1	.852
difference:		+3.7	+7.9	+0.9	+1.6	+2.5	+0.6		+0.1	-0.2	-0.7	+4.1	+5.2	+.111	+0.1	+0.2	+.181	+0.4	+0.1	+.070
James Worthy	80	37.0	21.1	2.0	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.2	0.6	2.0	2.4	8.9	16.2	.548	0.2	0.6	.306	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	22	36.7	16.6	1.4	2.2	3.6	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	3.4	5.9	14.5	.404	0.1	0.3	.429	4.7	5.5	.867
difference:	+13	+4.0	+7.6	+0.2	+2.1	+2.0	+1.4	+0.5			-1.4	+4.1	+5.6	+.093	+0.1	+0.6	+.179	+0.7	+0.7	+.030
James Worthy	9	40.7	24.2	1.2	4.3	5.6	3.0	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.0	10.0	20.1	.497	0.2	0.9	.250	4.0	4.8	.837

Season 9
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1984-85	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	80	37.2	15.7	1.1	2.8	4.0	6.8	1.2	0.5	2.7	2.8	6.2	13.3	.462	0.1	0.3	.269	3.3	3.8	.853
difference:	+2	+1.4	+5.7	+0.3	+0.4	+0.6	+3.3	+0.1	+0.1	-1.1	-1.3	+3.0	+5.4	+.030	+0.2	+0.9	+.020	+0.6	+0.4	+.056
James Worthy	78	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.5	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.5	9.2	18.7	.492	0.3	1.2	.289	2.7	3.4	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	21	40.4	17.3	1.1	2.9	4.0	7.3	1.5	0.4	3.4	3.1	6.8	15.2	.445	0.0	0.7	.000	3.8	4.4	.860
difference:	+3	+0.3	+3.8	+0.3	+0.2	+0.1	+3.4	+0.4	+0.3	-1.2	-1.2	+2.1	+4.0	+.020	+0.2	+0.6	+.167	+0.9	+0.4	+.124
James Worthy	18	40.7	21.1	1.4	2.7	4.1	3.9	1.1	0.1	2.2	1.9	8.9	19.2	.465	0.2	1.3	.167	2.9	4.0	.736

Season 10
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1985-86	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	78	35.0	15.6	0.9	2.6	3.4	5.8	1.4	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.2	13.6	.455	0.1	0.5	.143	3.1	3.8	.818
difference:	+24	+4.0	+4.3	+0.9	+1.2	+2.2	+1.1			-0.2	-1.0	+2.1	+5.0	+.008	+0.1	+0.3	+.066			+.004
James Worthy	54	39.0	19.9	1.8	3.8	5.6	4.7	1.4	0.4	2.4	1.6	8.3	18.6	.447	0.2	0.8	.209	3.1	3.8	.814
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	18	39.7	16.2	1.3	2.9	4.2	5.9	2.2	0.3	2.8	3.2	6.1	13.6	.445	0.3	0.9	.375	3.7	4.7	.798
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Dennis Johnson	James Worthy
Season	1986-87	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833
difference:	+3	+8.3	+1.5	+0.3	+0.6	+0.3	+4.1		+0.2	-0.5	-1.4	+0.8	+1.8	+.003	+0.3	+0.6	+.157	+0.5	+0.6	+.023
James Worthy	82	28.8	14.9	0.9	2.1	3.0	3.4	1.1	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.2	13.9	.447	0.4	1.4	.270	2.1	2.6	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850
difference:	+18	+12.3	+5.1	+0.4	+0.9	+0.6	+6.3	+0.3	+0.3	-0.5	-0.9	+0.9	+1.5	+.093	+0.3	+0.5	+.135	+3.6	+3.9	+.250
James Worthy	5	29.6	13.8	1.4	2.0	3.4	2.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	2.2	6.4	17.2	.372	0.4	1.6	.250	0.6	1.0	.600