Dennis Johnson vs. Walker Kessler Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Walker Kessler 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, 10 more than Walker Kessler, who played 4. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Walker Kessler had his rookie season in 2022-23. 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	Walker Kessler
Season	1976-77	2022-23
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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		%
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:	+7	+2.4		+1.1	+3.6	+4.7	+0.6	+1.1	+1.6		-0.4	+0.5	+1.4	+.216				+1.1	+1.4	+.108
Walker Kessler	74	23.0	9.2	3.1	5.3	8.4	0.9	0.4	2.3	0.8	2.3	4.0	5.6	.720	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	2.1	.516
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dennis Johnson nor Walker Kessler played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Dennis Johnson	Walker Kessler
Season	1978-79	2024-25
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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		%
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:	+22	+4.0	+4.8	+2.8	+4.7	+7.5	+1.8	+0.7	+1.2	-0.9	-0.4	+1.2	+6.7	+.229				+2.4	+2.3	+.261
Walker Kessler	58	30.0	11.1	4.6	7.6	12.2	1.7	0.6	2.4	1.5	2.2	4.8	7.2	.663	0.1	0.6	.176	1.4	2.6	.520
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
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dennis Johnson	Walker Kessler
Season	1979-80	2025-26
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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		%
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:	+76	+5.5	+4.6	+2.5	+3.2	+5.7	+1.1	+0.4	+0.8	-0.4	-1.1	+1.9	+9.4	+.281	+1.1	+0.9	+.543	+1.9	+2.0	+.080
Walker Kessler	5	30.8	14.4	4.6	6.2	10.8	3.0	1.4	1.8	3.2	4.4	5.2	7.4	.703	1.2	1.6	.750	2.8	4.0	.700
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
Walker Kessler	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Dennis Johnson played 10 seasons more than Walker Kessler in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 5 to 14, from 1981 to 1990—Dennis Johnson played in 10 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those 10 extra years over Walker Kessler, Dennis Johnson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 4 All-Defensive First Team 3 All-Defensive Second Team 3 All-Star Game