Ernie Grunfeld vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Ernie Grunfeld, 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.

Ernie Grunfeld played 9 years in the NBA, 3 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 12. Ernie Grunfeld had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Kawhi Leonard had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Ernie Grunfeld	9	5	1977-78 to 1985-86
Kawhi Leonard	12	11	2011-12 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12


Rookie Season
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1977-78	2011-12
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Semis	Spurs 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	73	17.3	6.9	1.0	1.7	2.7	2.0	0.7	0.3	1.3	2.1	2.8	6.3	.443	-	-	-	1.3	2.0	.657
Kawhi Leonard	64	24.0	7.9	1.6	3.5	5.1	1.1	1.3	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.1	6.3	.493	0.6	1.7	.376	1.1	1.4	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	7	11.0	5.4	0.6	1.0	1.6	2.4	0.4	0.1	1.0	0.9	2.4	4.6	.531	-	-	-	0.6	0.7	.800
Kawhi Leonard	14	27.1	8.6	1.3	4.6	5.9	0.6	1.2	0.4	0.9	1.6	3.2	6.4	.500	1.3	2.9	.450	0.9	1.1	.813


Season 2
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1978-79	2012-13
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	82	21.7	10.3	1.5	2.9	4.4	2.6	0.7	0.2	1.7	2.7	4.0	8.1	.493	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.761
Kawhi Leonard	58	31.2	11.9	1.1	4.9	6.0	1.6	1.7	0.6	1.1	1.7	4.5	9.1	.494	1.1	3.0	.374	1.8	2.2	.825

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	21	36.9	13.5	2.4	6.7	9.0	1.0	1.8	0.5	1.1	1.9	5.5	10.0	.545	1.1	2.8	.390	1.5	2.3	.633


Season 3
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1979-80	2013-14
Team	Kansas City Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	80	17.5	5.9	1.1	1.8	2.9	1.4	0.7	0.1	1.0	1.9	2.3	5.3	.443	0.0	0.0	.500	1.3	1.6	.771
Kawhi Leonard	66	29.1	12.8	1.2	5.1	6.2	2.0	1.7	0.8	1.2	1.9	5.1	9.8	.522	1.0	2.8	.379	1.5	1.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	3	10.7	3.7	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.7	3.0	.556	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	1.0	.333
Kawhi Leonard	23	32.0	14.3	1.3	5.4	6.7	1.7	1.7	0.6	1.3	2.9	5.3	10.4	.510	1.3	3.2	.419	2.3	3.1	.736


Season 4
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1980-81	2014-15
Team	Kansas City Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	79	20.1	7.5	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.1	2.0	3.3	6.2	.535	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.3	.743
Kawhi Leonard	64	31.8	16.5	1.3	5.9	7.2	2.5	2.3	0.8	1.5	2.0	6.2	12.8	.479	1.0	3.0	.349	3.2	3.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	15	42.2	16.8	0.7	3.5	4.2	5.9	2.0	0.6	2.9	3.4	6.5	13.4	.488	0.1	0.3	.500	3.6	4.5	.806
Kawhi Leonard	7	35.7	20.3	1.9	5.6	7.4	2.6	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.6	7.4	15.6	.477	1.6	3.7	.423	3.9	5.0	.771


Season 5
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1981-82	2015-16
Team	Kansas City Kings	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	81	23.4	12.7	0.7	1.6	2.2	3.4	0.9	0.5	1.8	2.4	5.2	10.1	.511	0.0	0.2	.143	2.3	2.8	.821
Kawhi Leonard	72	33.1	21.2	1.3	5.5	6.8	2.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	1.8	7.7	15.1	.506	1.8	4.0	.443	4.1	4.6	.874

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	10	33.9	22.5	1.4	4.9	6.3	2.8	2.6	1.4	1.6	2.1	8.3	16.6	.500	1.7	3.9	.436	4.2	5.1	.824


Season 6
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1982-83	2016-17
Team	New York Knicks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Spurs 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	77	18.5	5.4	0.5	1.6	2.1	1.8	0.5	0.1	1.1	2.2	2.2	4.9	.443	0.0	0.1	.000	1.1	1.3	.827
Kawhi Leonard	74	33.4	25.5	1.1	4.7	5.8	3.5	1.8	0.7	2.1	1.6	8.6	17.7	.485	2.0	5.2	.380	6.3	7.2	.880

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	6	19.7	8.0	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.7	1.2	0.3	1.5	2.8	2.5	5.7	.441	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Kawhi Leonard	12	35.8	27.7	1.6	6.2	7.8	4.6	1.7	0.5	2.2	1.8	8.8	16.8	.525	2.1	4.6	.455	7.9	8.5	.931


Season 7
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1983-84	2017-18
Team	New York Knicks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	76	14.7	5.2	0.3	1.3	1.6	1.4	0.6	0.1	0.9	2.0	2.2	4.8	.459	0.0	0.1	.222	0.8	1.1	.771
Kawhi Leonard	9	23.3	16.2	0.7	4.0	4.7	2.3	2.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	5.8	12.3	.468	1.2	3.9	.314	3.4	4.2	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	11	7.6	2.4	0.1	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.4	1.1	1.0	2.1	.478	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.4	1.000
Kawhi Leonard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1984-85	2018-19
Team	New York Knicks	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	69	15.4	6.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	1.5	0.7	0.1	0.6	1.9	2.7	5.6	.490	0.0	0.1	.250	1.1	1.5	.740
Kawhi Leonard	60	34.0	26.6	1.3	6.0	7.3	3.3	1.8	0.4	2.0	1.5	9.3	18.8	.496	1.9	5.0	.371	6.1	7.1	.854

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	24	39.1	30.5	2.3	6.8	9.1	3.9	1.7	0.7	3.1	2.3	10.1	20.7	.490	2.3	6.0	.379	8.0	9.0	.884


Season 9
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1985-86	2019-20
Team	New York Knicks	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Clippers 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	76	18.4	5.4	0.6	2.2	2.7	1.6	0.5	0.2	0.7	2.5	1.9	4.7	.417	0.3	0.8	.426	1.2	1.4	.833
Kawhi Leonard	57	32.4	27.1	0.9	6.1	7.1	4.9	1.8	0.6	2.6	2.0	9.3	19.9	.470	2.2	5.7	.378	6.2	7.1	.886

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	13	39.3	28.2	1.8	7.5	9.3	5.5	2.3	0.8	2.5	2.2	10.1	20.6	.489	1.8	5.6	.329	6.2	7.2	.862


Season 10
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Clippers 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		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	52	34.1	24.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	5.2	1.6	0.4	2.0	1.6	8.9	17.5	.512	1.9	4.9	.398	5.0	5.7	.885

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	11	39.3	30.4	2.0	5.7	7.7	4.4	2.1	0.8	2.2	2.6	11.1	19.4	.573	2.2	5.5	.393	6.0	6.8	.880

Note: Kawhi Leonard didn't play in 2021-22.


Season 11
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	52	33.6	23.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	3.9	1.4	0.5	1.7	1.6	8.6	16.8	.512	2.0	4.8	.416	4.7	5.4	.871

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	2	40.0	34.5	1.5	5.0	6.5	6.0	2.0	0.5	3.0	2.5	12.0	22.0	.545	3.0	5.0	.600	7.5	8.5	.882


Season 12
	Ernie Grunfeld	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	68	34.3	23.7	1.2	4.9	6.1	3.6	1.6	0.9	1.8	1.4	9.0	17.1	.525	2.1	4.9	.417	3.7	4.2	.885

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Ernie Grunfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	2	29.5	12.0	1.5	6.5	8.0	2.0	2.0	0.5	2.0	1.5	5.5	12.0	.458	0.0	2.5	.000	1.0	1.5	.667

Ernie Grunfeld vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Ernie Grunfeld, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12