Kyle Kuzma vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Kuzma, 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.

Kyle Kuzma played 8 years in the NBA, 5 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 13. Kyle Kuzma had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, 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 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
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2017-18	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	77	31.2	16.1	1.1	5.1	6.3	1.8	0.6	0.4	1.8	2.1	6.1	13.5	.450	2.1	5.6	.366	1.9	2.7	.707
difference:	+13	+7.2	+8.2	+0.5	+1.6	+1.2	+0.7	+0.7		-1.1	-0.7	+3.0	+7.2	+.043	+1.5	+3.9	+.010	+0.8	+1.3	+.066
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 3
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2019-20	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	61	25.0	12.8	0.9	3.6	4.5	1.3	0.5	0.4	1.5	2.1	4.8	11.0	.436	1.4	4.5	.316	1.9	2.5	.735
difference:	+5	+4.1		+0.3	+1.5	+1.7	+0.7	+1.2	+0.4	-0.3	-0.2	+0.3	+1.2	+.086	+0.4	+1.7	+.063	+0.4	+0.6	+.067
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	21	23.0	10.0	0.9	2.2	3.1	0.8	0.3	0.3	1.0	2.4	3.7	8.5	.430	1.2	4.0	.313	1.4	1.8	.784
difference:	+2	+9.0	+4.3	+0.4	+3.2	+3.6	+0.9	+1.4	+0.3	-0.3	-0.5	+1.6	+1.9	+.080	+0.1	+0.8	+.106	+0.9	+1.3	+.048
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
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2020-21	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Spurs 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		%
Kyle Kuzma	68	28.7	12.9	1.6	4.5	6.1	1.9	0.5	0.6	1.7	1.8	4.9	11.1	.443	2.0	5.6	.361	1.0	1.4	.691
difference:	+4	+3.1	+3.6	+0.3	+1.4	+1.1	+0.6	+1.8	+0.2	-0.2	-0.2	+1.3	+1.7	+.036	+1.0	+2.6	+.012	+2.2	+2.5	+.111
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	6	21.5	6.3	0.7	3.2	3.8	1.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	1.3	2.3	8.0	.292	0.7	3.8	.174	1.0	1.5	.667
difference:	+1	+14.2	+14.0	+1.2	+2.4	+3.6	+1.4	+0.8	+0.4	-1.1	-1.3	+5.1	+7.6	+.185	+0.9	+0.1	+.249	+2.9	+3.5	+.104
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
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2021-22	2015-16
Team	Washington Wizards	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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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	66	33.4	17.1	1.1	7.4	8.5	3.5	0.6	0.9	2.6	1.9	6.4	14.2	.452	1.9	5.7	.341	2.4	3.3	.712
difference:	+6	+0.3	+4.1	+0.2	+1.9	+1.7	+0.9	+1.2	+0.1	-1.1	-0.1	+1.3	+0.9	+.054	+0.1	+1.7	+.102	+1.7	+1.3	+.162
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2022-23	2016-17
Team	Washington Wizards	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost West 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		%
Kyle Kuzma	64	35.0	21.2	0.9	6.4	7.2	3.7	0.6	0.5	3.0	2.3	8.0	17.8	.448	2.5	7.5	.333	2.7	3.7	.730
difference:	+10	+1.6	+4.3	+0.2	+1.7	+1.4	+0.2	+1.2	+0.2	-0.9	-0.7	+0.6	+0.1	+.037	+0.5	+2.3	+.047	+3.6	+3.5	+.150
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 8
	Kyle Kuzma	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2024-25	2018-19
Team	Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Kyle Kuzma	65	29.8	14.8	0.8	4.9	5.7	2.3	0.6	0.3	2.2	1.8	5.7	13.0	.436	1.5	4.8	.307	2.0	3.1	.634
difference:	+5	+4.2	+11.8	+0.5	+1.1	+1.6	+1.0	+1.2	+0.1	-0.2	-0.3	+3.6	+5.8	+.060	+0.4	+0.2	+.064	+4.1	+4.0	+.220
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		%
Kyle Kuzma	5	20.4	5.8	0.6	1.6	2.2	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.6	2.4	2.4	7.0	.343	0.4	2.0	.200	0.6	1.2	.500
difference:	+19	+18.7	+24.7	+1.7	+5.2	+6.9	+3.1	+1.7	+0.5	-2.5	-0.1	+7.7	+13.7	+.147	+1.9	+4.0	+.179	+7.4	+7.8	+.384
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

Additional Years
* Kawhi Leonard played 5 seasons more than Kyle Kuzma in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 13, from 2020 to 2025—Kawhi Leonard played in 5 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Kyle Kuzma, Kawhi Leonard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 2 All-Defensive Second Team 3 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP