Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Kevin Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kevin Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 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.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 years in the NBA, 8 more than Kevin Johnson, who played 12. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the first of his seasons in 1969-70, while Kevin Johnson had his rookie season in 1987-88. 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
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1969-70	1987-88
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	43.1	28.8	-	-	14.5	4.1	-	-	-	3.5	11.4	22.1	.518	-	-	-	5.9	9.1	.653
difference:	+2	+19.1	+19.6			+12.1	+1.4				-1.6	+8.0	+14.6	+.057				+3.7	+6.5	+.186
Kevin Johnson	80	24.0	9.2	0.5	1.9	2.4	5.5	1.3	0.3	1.8	1.9	3.4	7.5	.461	0.1	0.3	.208	2.2	2.6	.839
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	10	43.5	35.2	-	-	16.8	4.1	-	-	-	2.5	13.9	24.5	.567	-	-	-	7.4	10.1	.733
Kevin Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1970-71	1988-89
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Most Improved Player
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	40.1	31.7	-	-	16.0	3.3	-	-	-	3.2	13.0	22.5	.577	-	-	-	5.7	8.3	.690
difference:	+1	+0.9	+11.3			+11.8	+8.9				-0.4	+6.0	+8.6	+.072				+0.6	+1.2	+.192
Kevin Johnson	81	39.2	20.4	0.6	3.6	4.2	12.2	1.7	0.3	4.0	2.8	7.0	13.9	.505	0.0	0.3	.091	6.3	7.1	.882
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	14	41.2	26.6	-	-	17.0	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	10.9	21.1	.515	-	-	-	4.9	7.2	.673
difference:	+2		+2.8			+12.7	+9.8				-0.9	+3.4	+5.9	+.020				+3.6	+2.0	+.254
Kevin Johnson	12	41.2	23.8	1.0	3.3	4.3	12.3	1.6	0.4	4.6	2.3	7.5	15.2	.495	0.3	0.8	.300	8.5	9.2	.927

Season 3
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1971-72	1989-90
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Finals	Suns Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	81	44.2	34.8	-	-	16.6	4.6	-	-	-	2.9	14.3	24.9	.574	-	-	-	6.2	9.0	.689
difference:	+7	+6.6	+12.3			+13.0	+6.8				-1.0	+6.5	+9.2	+.075				+0.6	+0.9	+.149
Kevin Johnson	74	37.6	22.5	0.6	3.1	3.6	11.4	1.3	0.2	3.6	1.9	7.8	15.7	.499	0.1	0.6	.195	6.8	8.1	.838
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	11	46.4	28.7	-	-	18.2	5.1	-	-	-	3.2	12.6	28.9	.437	-	-	-	3.5	4.9	.704
difference:	+5	+10.0	+7.4			+14.9	+5.5				-1.4	+4.9	+12.8	+.042				+2.3	+2.1	+.117
Kevin Johnson	16	36.4	21.3	0.6	2.8	3.3	10.6	1.6	0.0	3.9	1.8	7.7	16.1	.479	0.1	0.7	.182	5.8	7.0	.821

Season 4
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1972-73	1990-91
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Semis	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	76	42.8	30.2	-	-	16.1	5.0	-	-	-	2.7	12.9	23.3	.554	-	-	-	4.3	6.1	.713
difference:	+1	+6.8	+8.0			+12.6	+5.1				-0.4	+5.2	+8.4	+.038				+2.4	+1.9	+.130
Kevin Johnson	77	36.0	22.2	0.7	2.8	3.5	10.1	2.1	0.1	3.5	2.3	7.7	14.9	.516	0.1	0.6	.205	6.7	8.0	.843
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	6	46.0	22.8	-	-	16.2	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	9.8	23.0	.428	-	-	-	3.2	5.8	.543
difference:	+2	+9.5	+10.0			+12.9	+7.0				-2.0	+5.8	+9.7	+.126				+1.3	+1.7	+.057
Kevin Johnson	4	36.5	12.8	0.5	2.8	3.3	9.8	0.5	0.3	3.0	2.3	4.0	13.3	.302	0.3	1.8	.143	4.5	7.5	.600

Season 5
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1973-74	1991-92
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost NBA Finals	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	81	43.8	27.0	3.5	11.0	14.5	4.8	1.4	3.5	-	2.9	11.7	21.7	.539	-	-	-	3.6	5.2	.702
difference:	+3	+6.6	+7.3	+2.7	+8.0	+10.8	+5.9	+0.1	+3.2		-0.6	+4.8	+7.3	+.060				+2.1	+1.9	+.105
Kevin Johnson	78	37.2	19.7	0.8	3.0	3.7	10.7	1.5	0.3	3.5	2.3	6.9	14.4	.479	0.1	0.6	.217	5.7	7.1	.807
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	16	47.4	32.2	4.2	11.6	15.8	4.9	1.3	2.4	-	2.6	14.0	25.1	.557	-	-	-	4.2	5.7	.736
difference:	+8	+5.5	+8.6	+3.2	+8.5	+11.7	+6.7	+0.2	+2.1		-0.4	+6.2	+9.1	+.073				+3.6	+3.3	+.125
Kevin Johnson	8	41.9	23.6	1.0	3.1	4.1	11.6	1.5	0.3	3.1	3.0	7.8	16.0	.484	0.4	0.8	.500	7.8	9.0	.861

Season 6
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1974-75	1992-93
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost NBA 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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	65	42.3	30.0	3.0	11.0	14.0	4.1	1.0	3.3	-	3.2	12.5	24.4	.513	-	-	-	5.0	6.6	.763
difference:	+16	+8.8	+13.9	+2.4	+9.5	+11.9	+3.7	+0.7	+2.9		-1.2	+6.7	+12.9	+.014				+0.4	+1.0	+.056
Kevin Johnson	49	33.5	16.1	0.6	1.5	2.1	7.8	1.7	0.4	3.1	2.0	5.8	11.5	.499	0.0	0.2	.125	4.6	5.6	.819
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Johnson	23	39.7	17.8	0.4	2.3	2.7	7.9	1.5	0.6	3.7	2.5	6.2	13.0	.480	0.0	0.1	.000	5.4	6.8	.795

Season 7
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1975-76	1993-94
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	41.2	27.7	3.3	13.5	16.9	5.0	1.5	4.1	-	3.6	11.1	21.1	.529	-	-	-	5.5	7.8	.703
difference:	+15	+4.6	+7.7	+2.5	+11.8	+14.4	+4.5	+0.4	+4.0		-1.7	+4.0	+6.5	+.042				+0.2	+0.9	+.116
Kevin Johnson	67	36.6	20.0	0.8	1.7	2.5	9.5	1.9	0.1	3.5	1.9	7.1	14.6	.487	0.1	0.4	.222	5.7	6.9	.819
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Johnson	10	42.7	26.6	1.0	2.5	3.5	9.6	1.0	0.1	3.4	2.3	9.7	21.2	.458	0.3	1.0	.300	6.9	8.1	.852

Season 8
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1976-77	1994-95
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	36.8	26.2	3.2	10.0	13.3	3.9	1.2	3.2	-	3.2	10.8	18.7	.579	-	-	-	4.6	6.5	.701
difference:	+35	+8.0	+10.7	+2.5	+8.2	+10.9	+3.8	+0.2	+2.8		-1.3	+5.6	+7.6	+.109				+0.4	+0.4	+.109
Kevin Johnson	47	28.8	15.5	0.7	1.8	2.4	7.7	1.0	0.4	2.2	1.9	5.2	11.1	.470	0.1	0.6	.154	5.0	6.1	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	11	42.5	34.6	4.6	13.1	17.7	4.1	1.7	3.5	-	3.8	13.4	22.0	.607	-	-	-	7.9	10.9	.725
difference:	+1	+5.4	+9.8	+3.9	+9.7	+13.6	+5.2	+0.8	+3.1		-1.3	+4.8	+7.0	+.034				+0.8	+2.5	+.120
Kevin Johnson	10	37.1	24.8	0.7	3.4	4.1	9.3	0.9	0.4	3.4	2.5	8.6	15.0	.573	0.5	1.0	.500	7.1	8.4	.845

Season 9
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1977-78	1995-96
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	62	36.5	25.8	3.0	9.9	12.9	4.3	1.7	3.0	3.4	2.9	10.7	19.4	.550	-	-	-	4.4	5.6	.783
difference:	+6	+0.7	+7.1	+2.2	+6.7	+9.0	+4.9	+0.2	+2.8	-0.4	-0.3	+4.6	+7.4	+.043				+1.7	+1.5	+.076
Kevin Johnson	56	35.8	18.7	0.8	3.2	3.9	9.2	1.5	0.2	3.0	2.6	6.1	12.0	.507	0.4	1.0	.368	6.1	7.1	.859
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	3	44.7	27.0	4.7	9.0	13.7	3.7	0.7	4.0	4.7	4.7	12.7	24.3	.521	-	-	-	1.7	3.0	.556
difference:	+1	+6.9	+9.7	+4.2	+5.2	+9.4	+7.1	+0.2	+3.5	-1.9	-2.7	+5.9	+10.0	+.047				+1.8	+1.3	+.268
Kevin Johnson	4	37.8	17.3	0.5	3.8	4.3	10.8	0.5	0.5	2.8	2.0	6.8	14.3	.474	0.3	1.0	.250	3.5	4.3	.824

Season 10
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1978-79	1996-97
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	80	39.5	23.8	2.6	10.2	12.8	5.4	1.0	4.0	3.5	2.9	9.7	16.8	.577	-	-	-	4.4	5.9	.736
difference:	+10	+1.5	+3.7	+1.8	+7.4	+9.2	+3.9	+0.5	+3.8	-0.4	-0.9	+3.4	+4.1	+.081				+1.9	+1.5	+.116
Kevin Johnson	70	38.0	20.1	0.8	2.8	3.6	9.3	1.5	0.2	3.1	2.0	6.3	12.7	.496	1.3	2.9	.441	6.3	7.4	.852
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	8	45.9	28.5	2.3	10.4	12.6	4.8	1.0	4.1	3.6	3.3	11.0	19.0	.579	-	-	-	6.5	7.8	.839
difference:	+3	+4.3	+11.7	+0.7	+7.6	+8.2	+1.2	+1.6	+4.1		-0.3	+5.8	+1.4	+.284				+0.7	+1.2	+.040
Kevin Johnson	5	41.6	16.8	1.6	2.8	4.4	6.0	2.6	0.0	3.6	3.0	5.2	17.6	.295	0.6	4.4	.136	5.8	6.6	.879

Season 11
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1979-80	1997-98
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns Lost West 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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	38.3	24.8	2.3	8.5	10.8	4.5	1.0	3.4	3.6	2.6	10.2	16.9	.604	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	5.8	.765
difference:	+32	+12.5	+15.3	+1.6	+5.9	+7.5	+0.4	+0.5	+3.2	-1.6	-1.5	+7.1	+10.0	+.157	+0.1	+0.5		+1.2	+2.1	+.106
Kevin Johnson	50	25.8	9.5	0.7	2.6	3.3	4.9	0.5	0.2	2.0	1.1	3.1	6.9	.447	0.1	0.5	.154	3.2	3.7	.871
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	15	41.2	31.9	3.4	8.7	12.1	3.1	1.1	3.9	3.7	3.4	13.2	23.1	.572	0.0	0.0	-	5.5	7.0	.790
difference:	+11	+10.7	+18.1	+2.9	+6.9	+9.8	+1.7	+0.6	+3.6	-2.2	-1.9	+7.4	+12.6	+.024	+0.3	+1.0		+3.5	+4.0	+.123
Kevin Johnson	4	30.5	13.8	0.5	1.8	2.3	4.8	0.5	0.3	1.5	1.5	5.8	10.5	.548	0.3	1.0	.250	2.0	3.0	.667

Note: Kevin Johnson didn't play in 1998-99.

Season 12
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Kevin Johnson
Season	1980-81	1999-00
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	80	37.2	26.2	2.5	7.8	10.3	3.4	0.7	2.9	3.1	3.1	10.5	18.2	.574	0.0	0.0	-	5.3	6.9	.766
difference:	+74	+18.4	+19.5	+2.5	+5.1	+7.6	+0.6	+0.4	+2.9	-1.9	-2.1	+7.8	+13.5	+.003	+0.2	+0.2		+4.1	+5.7	+.234
Kevin Johnson	6	18.8	6.7	0.0	2.7	2.7	4.0	0.3	0.0	1.2	1.0	2.7	4.7	.571	0.2	0.2	1.000	1.2	1.2	1.000
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	3	44.7	26.7	4.3	12.3	16.7	4.0	1.0	2.7	3.7	4.7	10.0	21.7	.462	0.0	0.0	-	6.7	9.3	.714
difference:	+6	+30.4	+23.5	+4.3	+10.9	+15.3	+1.4	+0.7	+2.6	-2.3	-3.6	+8.7	+17.6	+.138		+0.3		+6.1	+8.6	+.119
Kevin Johnson	9	14.3	3.2	0.0	1.4	1.4	2.6	0.3	0.1	1.4	1.1	1.3	4.1	.324	0.0	0.3	.000	0.6	0.7	.833

Additional Years
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 8 seasons more than Kevin Johnson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 20, from 1982 to 1989—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 8 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those 8 extra years over Kevin Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 8 All-Star Game