Don Carlson vs. Dave Cowens Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dave Cowens and Don Carlson, 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.

Don Carlson played 4 years in the NBA, 7 less than Dave Cowens, who played 11. Don Carlson had the first of his seasons in 1946-47, while Dave Cowens had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11
Rookie Season
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	1946-47	1970-71
Team	Chicago Stags	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Stags Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Don Carlson	59	-	10.7	-	-	-	1.0	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	14.3	.322	-	-	-	1.5	2.7	.541
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	11	-	12.3	-	-	-	0.5	-	-	-	2.8	4.9	18.2	.270	-	-	-	2.5	4.0	.614
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Don Carlson didn't play in 1947-48.

Season 2
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	1948-49	1971-72
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Don Carlson	55	-	9.2	-	-	-	3.1	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	11.5	.334	-	-	-	1.6	2.4	.662
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	10	-	6.0	-	-	-	2.8	-	-	-	3.0	2.3	9.5	.242	-	-	-	1.4	2.5	.560
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596

Season 3
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	1949-50	1972-73
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Don Carlson	57	-	4.7	-	-	-	1.3	-	-	-	2.2	1.7	5.1	.341	-	-	-	1.2	1.7	.726
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	10	-	5.4	-	-	-	1.1	-	-	-	1.9	2.1	3.7	.568	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.800
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659

Season 4
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	1950-51	1973-74
Team	Baltimore Bullets (1st)	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Don Carlson	9	-	4.7	-	-	1.7	2.1	-	-	-	2.6	1.9	5.1	.370	-	-	-	0.9	1.8	.500
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797

Season 5
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1974-75
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885

Season 6
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1975-76
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759

Season 7
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1976-77
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773

Season 8
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1977-78
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Don Carlson	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1979-80
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East 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		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Don Carlson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.