Dennis Johnson vs. Pat Riley Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Pat Riley 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, 5 more than Pat Riley, who played 9. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Pat Riley had his rookie season in 1967-68. 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Season 3
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1978-79	1969-70
Team	Seattle Supersonics	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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
Pat Riley	36	13.2	5.3	-	-	1.6	2.4	-	-	-	1.9	2.1	5.0	.417	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.727
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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1979-80	1970-71
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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
Pat Riley	54	9.4	4.9	-	-	1.0	1.3	-	-	-	1.6	1.9	4.7	.413	-	-	-	1.0	1.6	.644
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
Pat Riley	7	19.3	9.4	-	-	2.1	2.0	-	-	-	1.7	4.1	9.9	.420	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.727

Season 5
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1980-81	1971-72
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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
Pat Riley	67	13.8	6.7	-	-	1.9	1.1	-	-	-	1.6	2.9	6.6	.447	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	.743
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
Pat Riley	15	16.3	5.2	-	-	1.9	0.9	-	-	-	2.5	2.2	6.6	.333	-	-	-	0.8	1.1	.750

Season 6
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1981-82	1972-73
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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
Pat Riley	55	14.6	7.3	-	-	1.2	1.5	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	7.1	.428	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.793
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
Pat Riley	7	7.6	2.6	-	-	0.7	1.0	-	-	-	1.4	1.3	3.9	.333	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Season 7
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1982-83	1973-74
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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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
Pat Riley	72	18.9	9.5	0.5	1.3	1.8	2.1	0.8	0.0	-	2.4	4.0	9.3	.430	-	-	-	1.5	2.0	.764
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
Pat Riley	5	21.2	7.8	0.6	0.6	1.2	2.0	0.8	0.0	-	2.2	3.6	10.0	.360	-	-	-	0.6	0.8	.750

Season 8
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1983-84	1974-75
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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
Pat Riley	46	22.1	11.0	0.5	1.3	1.8	2.6	0.8	0.1	-	2.8	4.8	11.4	.419	-	-	-	1.5	2.0	.742
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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1984-85	1975-76
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Suns Lost NBA Finals

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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
Pat Riley	62	13.1	4.7	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.9	0.4	0.1	-	1.8	1.9	4.9	.389	-	-	-	0.9	1.2	.714
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
Pat Riley	5	5.4	2.6	0.0	0.0	0	1.0	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.2	3.0	.400	-	-	-	0.2	0.2	1.000

Season 10
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1985-86	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	-

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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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Dennis Johnson	Pat Riley
Season	1986-87	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	-

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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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Pat Riley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-