Dennis Johnson vs. Zion Williamson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Zion Williamson 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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, 8 more than Zion Williamson, who played 6. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Zion Williamson had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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
Dennis Johnson 14 13 1976-77 to 1989-90
Zion Williamson 6 0 2019-20 to 2025-26

Comparison Season by Season

Jump to season:

1-2-3-4-5-6

Rookie Season
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1976-772019-20
Team Seattle SupersonicsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs Did Not PlayDid Not Play
more >>
Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+57+7.2+13.3+0.7+1.9+2.6+0.6+0.8+0.3-0.9+5.3+8.0+.079+2.6+3.9+.016
Zion Williamson 24 27.8 22.5 2.7 3.6 6.3 2.1 0.7 0.4 2.5 1.8 8.8 15.0 .583 0.3 0.6 .429 4.8 7.4 .640
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dennis Johnson nor Zion Williamson played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1977-782020-21
Team Seattle SupersonicsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards -Achievement All-Star Game
Playoffs Supersonics Lost NBA FinalsDid Not Play
more >>
2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Dennis Johnson 81 27.3 12.7 1.9 1.8 3.6 2.8 1.5 0.6 2.0 2.6 4.5 10.9 .417 - - - 3.7 5.0 .732
difference:+20+5.9+14.3+0.8+2.7+3.6+0.9+0.6-0.7-0.4+5.9+6.1+.194+2.3+3.7+.034
Zion Williamson 61 33.2 27.0 2.7 4.5 7.2 3.7 0.9 0.6 2.7 2.2 10.4 17.0 .611 0.2 0.6 .294 6.0 8.7 .698
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A%
Dennis Johnson 22 37.6 16.1 2.1 2.5 4.6 3.3 1.0 1.0 2.5 2.9 5.5 13.4 .412 - - - 5.1 7.2 .704
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Note: Zion Williamson didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 3
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1978-792022-23
Team Seattle SupersonicsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement Finals MVP-
Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement All-Star GameAchievement All-Star Game
Playoffs NBA Champion NBA ChampionDid Not Play
more >>
3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+51+1.0+10.1+0.2+2.1+2.3+1.1+0.2+0.6-1.0-0.4+3.8+2.3+.174+2.3+3.7+.067
Zion Williamson 29 33.0 26.0 2.0 5.0 7.0 4.6 1.1 0.6 3.4 2.2 9.8 16.2 .608 0.2 0.7 .368 6.1 8.6 .714
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Season 4
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1979-802023-24
Team Seattle SupersonicsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA Second Team-
Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Supersonics Lost West Conf FinalsDid Not Play
more >>
4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+11+4.8+3.9+0.4+1.1+0.7+0.9+0.7+0.3-1.0+1.8+1.2+.148+0.4+.126+0.3+1.1+.078
Zion Williamson 70 31.5 22.9 1.7 4.1 5.8 5.0 1.1 0.7 2.8 2.3 8.9 15.6 .570 0.1 0.3 .333 5.0 7.1 .702
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Season 5
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1980-812024-25
Team Phoenix SunsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement All-NBA First Team-
Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Suns Lost West Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+49+4.5+5.8+0.5+2.1+2.6+1.6+0.5+0.1-0.4-0.4+2.9+1.5+.131+0.2+.015+0.1+1.7+.164
Zion Williamson 30 28.6 24.6 2.5 4.7 7.2 5.3 1.2 0.9 3.0 2.7 9.6 16.9 .567 0.1 0.4 .231 5.3 8.0 .656
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Season 6
Dennis Johnson Zion Williamson
Season 1981-822025-26
Team Phoenix SunsNew Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards Achievement All-Defensive First Team-
Achievement All-Star Game-
Playoffs Suns Lost West Conf SemisDid Not Play
more >>
6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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:+75+5.3+3.3+1.4+0.2+1.7+0.7+0.5-0.5-0.8+0.4+0.2+.017+0.1+0.5+2.6+5.2+.139
Zion Williamson 5 31.4 22.8 3.2 3.6 6.8 4.6 2.0 0.2 3.4 2.4 7.6 15.6 .487 0.0 0.0 - 7.6 11.4 .667
Playoffs Stats
G Min Pts ORb DRb Reb Ast Stl Blk TOPF 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
Zion Williamson DNP------ --- ----------

Additional Years

* Dennis Johnson played 8 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 7 to 14, from 1983 to 1990—Dennis Johnson played in 8 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships.

In those 8 extra years over Zion Williamson, Dennis Johnson got these achievements:

Honors & AwardsAchievement 2 All-Defensive First Team
Achievement 3 All-Defensive Second Team
Achievement 1 All-Star Game
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