Joe Johnson vs. Isiah Thomas Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Isiah Thomas and Joe 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.

Joe Johnson played 18 years in the NBA, 5 more than Isiah Thomas, who played 13. Joe Johnson had the first of his seasons in 2001-02, while Isiah Thomas had his rookie season in 1981-82. 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
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2001-02	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	77	24.9	7.5	1.0	2.4	3.3	2.3	0.8	0.3	0.9	1.5	3.3	7.6	.430	0.5	1.7	.292	0.5	0.7	.774
difference:	+5	+8.9	+9.5	+0.2	+0.3	+0.4	+5.5	+1.3	+0.1	-3.3	-2.0	+3.0	+7.2	+.006	+0.3	+0.9	+.004	+3.7	+5.3	+.070
Isiah Thomas	72	33.8	17.0	0.8	2.1	2.9	7.8	2.1	0.2	4.2	3.5	6.3	14.8	.424	0.2	0.8	.288	4.2	6.0	.704
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Joe Johnson nor Isiah Thomas played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2002-03	1982-83
Team	Phoenix Suns	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	27.5	9.8	0.7	2.5	3.2	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.3	1.7	3.9	9.7	.397	0.9	2.5	.366	1.2	1.5	.774
difference:	+1	+10.7	+13.1	+0.6	+0.3	+0.8	+5.2	+1.7	+0.2	-2.7	-2.2	+5.1	+9.3	+.075	+0.5	+1.0	+.078	+3.3	+4.9	+.064
Isiah Thomas	81	38.2	22.9	1.3	2.8	4.0	7.8	2.5	0.4	4.0	3.9	9.0	19.0	.472	0.4	1.5	.288	4.5	6.4	.710
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	6	27.3	5.3	1.0	3.3	4.3	1.3	0.7	0.3	2.0	2.5	2.3	8.5	.275	0.3	2.2	.154	0.3	0.8	.400
Isiah Thomas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2003-04	1983-84
Team	Phoenix Suns	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.6	16.7	1.0	3.7	4.7	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	2.2	6.8	15.7	.430	1.0	3.3	.305	2.1	2.8	.750
difference:		+3.9	+4.6	+0.3	+1.0	+0.7	+6.7	+1.4	+0.1	-1.3	-1.8	+1.4	+2.0	+.032	+0.7	+2.5	+.033	+2.6	+3.7	+.017
Isiah Thomas	82	36.7	21.3	1.3	2.7	4.0	11.1	2.5	0.4	3.7	4.0	8.2	17.7	.462	0.3	0.8	.338	4.7	6.5	.733
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	5	39.6	21.4	1.4	2.4	3.8	11.0	2.6	1.2	4.6	4.4	7.8	16.6	.470	0.4	1.2	.333	5.4	7.0	.771

Season 4
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2004-05	1984-85
Team	Phoenix Suns	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Finals	Pistons Lost East Conf Semis

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	39.5	17.1	1.5	3.7	5.1	3.5	1.0	0.3	1.8	2.0	6.6	14.4	.461	2.2	4.5	.478	1.6	2.2	.750
difference:	+1	+1.4	+4.1	+0.1	+0.7	+0.6	+10.4	+1.3		-1.9	-1.6	+1.4	+3.0	+.003	+1.8	+3.1	+.221	+3.3	+3.9	+.059
Isiah Thomas	81	38.1	21.2	1.4	3.0	4.5	13.9	2.3	0.3	3.7	3.6	8.0	17.4	.458	0.4	1.4	.257	4.9	6.1	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	9	39.3	18.8	0.8	3.6	4.3	3.3	1.1	0.4	1.1	2.0	7.0	13.9	.504	2.2	4.0	.556	2.6	3.7	.697
difference:		+0.1	+5.5	+0.4	+0.4	+0.9	+7.9	+1.0		-2.2	-2.3	+2.2	+4.5	+.004	+1.5	+2.3	+.156	+2.6	+3.2	+.061
Isiah Thomas	9	39.4	24.3	1.2	4.0	5.2	11.2	2.1	0.4	3.3	4.3	9.2	18.4	.500	0.7	1.7	.400	5.2	6.9	.758

Season 5
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2005-06	1985-86
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.7	20.2	1.2	2.9	4.1	6.5	1.3	0.4	3.3	2.3	7.7	17.0	.453	1.6	4.4	.356	3.2	4.0	.791
difference:	+5	+4.5	+0.7	+0.1	+0.4	+0.5	+4.3	+0.9	+0.1	-0.5	-0.9	+0.2	+0.8	+.035	+1.3	+3.3	+.046	+1.5	+2.0	+.001
Isiah Thomas	77	36.2	20.9	1.1	2.5	3.6	10.8	2.2	0.3	3.8	3.2	7.9	16.2	.488	0.3	1.1	.310	4.7	6.0	.790
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	4	40.8	26.5	2.0	3.5	5.5	12.0	2.3	0.8	4.3	4.3	10.3	22.8	.451	0.0	1.3	.000	6.0	9.0	.667

Season 6
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2006-07	1986-87
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	57	41.4	25.0	0.9	3.3	4.2	4.4	1.1	0.2	3.1	2.0	9.4	20.0	.471	2.1	5.5	.381	4.1	5.5	.748
difference:	+24	+4.2	+4.4	+0.1	+0.4	+0.3	+5.6	+0.8		-1.1	-1.1	+1.7	+3.3	+.008	+1.9	+4.3	+.187	+0.8	+0.9	+.020
Isiah Thomas	81	37.2	20.6	1.0	2.9	3.9	10.0	1.9	0.2	4.2	3.1	7.7	16.7	.463	0.2	1.2	.194	4.9	6.4	.768
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isiah Thomas	15	37.5	24.1	1.4	3.1	4.5	8.7	2.6	0.3	2.8	3.4	8.9	19.8	.451	0.7	2.2	.303	5.5	7.3	.755

Season 7
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2007-08	1987-88
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Pistons Lost NBA Finals

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	82	40.8	21.7	1.0	3.5	4.5	5.8	1.0	0.2	2.7	2.0	7.9	18.3	.432	2.1	5.4	.381	3.9	4.6	.834
difference:	+1	+4.7	+2.2	+0.2	+0.9	+1.1	+2.6	+0.7		-0.7	-0.7	+0.2	+1.7	+.031	+1.7	+4.2	+.072	+0.1	+0.3	+.060
Isiah Thomas	81	36.1	19.5	0.8	2.6	3.4	8.4	1.7	0.2	3.4	2.7	7.7	16.6	.463	0.4	1.2	.309	3.8	4.9	.774
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	7	39.3	20.0	1.3	2.6	3.9	4.0	0.3	0.0	2.3	2.3	6.7	16.4	.409	2.3	5.1	.444	4.3	4.7	.909
difference:	+16	+0.3	+1.9	+0.2	+0.9	+0.8	+4.7	+2.6	+0.3	-1.4	-0.8	+1.3	+1.8	+.028	+1.7	+3.2	+.149	+1.1	+1.9	+.081
Isiah Thomas	23	39.6	21.9	1.1	3.5	4.7	8.7	2.9	0.3	3.7	3.1	8.0	18.2	.437	0.6	1.9	.295	5.4	6.6	.828

Season 8
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2008-09	1988-89
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	79	39.5	21.4	0.8	3.6	4.4	5.8	1.1	0.2	2.5	2.2	7.8	18.0	.437	1.9	5.2	.360	3.8	4.6	.826
difference:	+1	+2.9	+3.2	+0.2	+0.8	+1.0	+2.5	+0.6	+0.1	-1.2	-0.4	+0.7	+2.7	+.027	+1.5	+3.7	+.087	+0.2	+0.2	+.008
Isiah Thomas	80	36.6	18.2	0.6	2.8	3.4	8.3	1.7	0.3	3.7	2.6	7.1	15.3	.464	0.4	1.5	.273	3.6	4.4	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	11	39.0	16.4	1.5	2.9	4.5	3.5	1.3	0.0	2.9	2.2	6.4	15.3	.417	1.1	3.2	.343	2.5	4.1	.622
difference:	+6	+1.8	+1.8	+0.1		+0.2	+4.8	+0.3	+0.2	-0.4	-0.1	+0.4	+1.1	+.005	+0.6	+1.4	+.076	+1.7	+1.5	+.118
Isiah Thomas	17	37.2	18.2	1.4	2.9	4.3	8.3	1.6	0.2	2.5	2.3	6.8	16.4	.412	0.5	1.8	.267	4.2	5.6	.740

Season 9
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2009-10	1989-90
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	76	38.0	21.3	1.0	3.7	4.6	4.9	1.1	0.1	1.9	1.9	8.4	18.2	.458	1.7	4.6	.369	2.9	3.5	.818
difference:	+5	+1.0	+2.9	+0.1	+0.8	+0.8	+4.5	+0.6	+0.1	-2.1	-0.6	+1.3	+1.9	+.020	+1.2	+2.9	+.060	+0.7	+1.2	+.043
Isiah Thomas	81	37.0	18.4	0.9	2.9	3.8	9.4	1.7	0.2	4.0	2.5	7.1	16.3	.438	0.5	1.7	.309	3.6	4.7	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	11	40.0	17.9	1.8	3.3	5.1	5.0	0.9	0.3	2.3	2.0	7.0	18.1	.387	0.8	3.7	.220	3.1	3.8	.810
difference:	+9	+2.1	+2.6	+0.7	+1.1	+0.4	+3.2	+1.3	+0.1	-1.3	-1.3	+0.4	+2.1	+.076	+0.8	+0.3	+.251	+1.0	+1.3	+.016
Isiah Thomas	20	37.9	20.5	1.1	4.4	5.5	8.2	2.2	0.4	3.6	3.3	7.4	16.0	.463	1.6	3.4	.471	4.1	5.1	.794

Season 10
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2010-11	1990-91
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis	Pistons Lost East Conf Finals

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	72	35.5	18.2	0.8	3.2	4.0	4.7	0.7	0.1	2.0	1.8	7.1	16.1	.443	1.2	4.2	.297	2.7	3.4	.802
difference:	+24	+1.0	+2.0	+0.1	+0.6	+0.7	+4.6	+0.9	+0.1	-1.9	-0.7	+1.1	+2.2	+.008	+0.8	+2.8	+.005	+1.0	+1.4	+.020
Isiah Thomas	48	34.5	16.2	0.7	2.6	3.3	9.3	1.6	0.2	3.9	2.5	6.0	13.9	.435	0.4	1.4	.292	3.7	4.8	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	12	41.4	18.8	1.5	3.1	4.6	3.3	1.1	0.1	2.6	1.6	7.3	16.5	.439	1.5	3.5	.429	2.8	3.5	.810
difference:	+1	+7.9	+5.3	+0.5	+0.1	+0.4	+5.2	+0.1	+0.1	-0.6	-1.6	+2.7	+5.0	+.036	+1.0	+1.8	+.156	+1.0	+1.8	+.085
Isiah Thomas	13	33.5	13.5	1.0	3.2	4.2	8.5	1.0	0.2	3.2	3.2	4.6	11.5	.403	0.5	1.7	.273	3.8	5.3	.725

Season 11
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2011-12	1991-92
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Pistons Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	60	35.5	18.8	0.9	2.8	3.7	3.9	0.8	0.2	1.9	1.3	7.1	15.5	.454	2.1	5.4	.388	2.6	3.1	.849
difference:	+18	+1.9	+0.3		+0.5	+0.5	+3.3	+0.7		-1.3	-1.2	+0.1	+0.7	+.008	+1.8	+4.3	+.097	+1.1	+1.7	+.077
Isiah Thomas	78	37.4	18.5	0.9	2.3	3.2	7.2	1.5	0.2	3.2	2.5	7.2	16.2	.446	0.3	1.1	.291	3.7	4.8	.772
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	6	40.5	17.2	1.0	2.5	3.5	3.5	1.3	0.2	2.7	1.8	6.3	17.0	.373	1.5	6.0	.250	3.0	4.0	.750
difference:	+1	+0.5	+3.2	+0.4	+2.1	+1.7	+3.9	+0.3	+0.2	-0.5	-1.8	+1.9	+4.0	+.035	+0.7	+3.8	+.114	+1.4	+1.6	+.036
Isiah Thomas	5	40.0	14.0	0.6	4.6	5.2	7.4	1.0	0.0	3.2	3.6	4.4	13.0	.338	0.8	2.2	.364	4.4	5.6	.786

Season 12
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2012-13	1992-93
Team	Brooklyn Nets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	72	36.7	16.3	0.7	2.3	3.0	3.5	0.7	0.2	1.7	1.4	6.2	14.6	.423	2.1	5.5	.375	1.8	2.2	.820
difference:	+7	+0.3	+1.3	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1	+5.0	+0.9		-1.9	-1.4	+0.5	+1.3	+.005	+1.3	+3.0	+.067	+1.7	+2.6	+.083
Isiah Thomas	79	37.0	17.6	0.9	2.0	2.9	8.5	1.6	0.2	3.6	2.8	6.7	15.9	.418	0.8	2.5	.308	3.5	4.8	.737
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	7	38.7	14.9	0.6	2.6	3.1	2.7	1.1	0.0	1.7	1.9	6.1	14.7	.417	1.4	5.6	.256	1.1	1.3	.889
Isiah Thomas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 13
	Joe Johnson	Isiah Thomas
Season	2013-14	1993-94
Team	Brooklyn Nets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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13th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	79	32.6	15.8	0.6	2.8	3.4	2.7	0.6	0.1	1.5	1.6	5.8	12.9	.454	2.1	5.1	.401	2.0	2.5	.815
difference:	+21	+2.4	+1.0	+0.2	+0.9	+0.7	+4.2	+0.6		-2.0	-0.6	+0.3	+0.3	+.037	+1.4	+2.9	+.091	+1.1	+1.9	+.113
Isiah Thomas	58	30.2	14.8	0.8	1.9	2.7	6.9	1.2	0.1	3.5	2.2	5.5	13.2	.417	0.7	2.2	.310	3.1	4.4	.702
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Johnson	12	39.1	21.2	0.8	3.1	3.8	2.9	0.5	0.3	1.6	1.7	8.2	15.3	.533	1.8	4.4	.415	3.0	3.6	.837
Isiah Thomas	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-