Larry Costello vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Larry Costello, 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.

Larry Costello played 12 years in the NBA, 2 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Larry Costello had the first of his seasons in 1954-55, while Dennis Johnson had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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.

Note: Larry Costello didn't play in 1955-56.

Season 3
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1957-58	1978-79
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Larry Costello	72	38.1	14.9	-	-	5.3	4.4	-	-	-	3.4	5.3	12.3	.426	-	-	-	4.4	5.3	.847
Dennis Johnson	80	34.0	15.9	1.8	2.9	4.7	3.5	1.3	1.2	2.4	2.6	6.0	13.9	.434	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.781
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	3	44.7	11.3	-	-	8.3	4.0	-	-	-	2.0	3.3	11.3	.294	-	-	-	4.7	4.7	1.000
Dennis Johnson	17	40.1	20.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	4.1	1.6	1.5	3.0	3.7	8.0	17.8	.450	-	-	-	4.9	6.4	.771

Season 4
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1958-59	1979-80
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Finals	Supersonics 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		%
Larry Costello	70	39.3	15.8	-	-	5.2	5.4	-	-	-	3.8	5.9	13.5	.437	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.802
Dennis Johnson	81	36.3	19.0	2.1	3.0	5.1	4.1	1.8	1.0	2.8	3.3	7.1	16.8	.422	0.1	0.7	.207	4.7	6.0	.780
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	9	40.1	17.7	-	-	5.9	6.0	-	-	-	4.4	6.0	13.4	.446	-	-	-	5.7	6.8	.836
Dennis Johnson	15	38.8	17.1	1.7	2.6	4.3	3.8	1.8	0.7	2.9	3.2	6.7	16.3	.410	0.3	1.0	.333	3.5	4.1	.839

Season 5
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1959-60	1980-81
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Suns 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		%
Larry Costello	71	34.8	14.0	-	-	5.5	6.3	-	-	-	3.3	5.2	11.6	.453	-	-	-	3.5	4.1	.862
Dennis Johnson	79	33.1	18.8	2.0	2.6	4.6	3.7	1.7	0.8	2.6	3.1	6.7	15.4	.436	0.1	0.6	.216	5.2	6.3	.820
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	3	40.7	16.7	-	-	4.7	6.7	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	15.7	.426	-	-	-	3.3	4.0	.833
Dennis Johnson	7	38.1	19.6	1.0	3.7	4.7	2.9	1.3	1.3	2.7	2.6	7.4	15.7	.473	0.1	0.7	.200	4.6	6.0	.762

Season 6
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1960-61	1981-82
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Finals	Suns 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		%
Larry Costello	75	28.9	14.5	-	-	3.9	5.5	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	11.3	.482	-	-	-	3.6	4.5	.799
Dennis Johnson	80	36.7	19.5	1.8	3.4	5.1	4.6	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.2	7.2	15.4	.470	0.1	0.5	.190	5.0	6.2	.806
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	8	33.6	16.4	-	-	4.4	6.5	-	-	-	4.9	5.3	12.9	.408	-	-	-	5.9	6.9	.855
Dennis Johnson	7	38.7	22.3	1.9	2.6	4.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	3.6	4.0	9.0	18.9	.477	0.0	0.4	.000	4.3	5.6	.769

Season 7
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1961-62	1982-83
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	Suns 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		%
Larry Costello	63	29.4	13.8	-	-	3.9	5.7	-	-	-	3.5	4.9	11.5	.427	-	-	-	3.9	4.7	.837
Dennis Johnson	77	33.1	14.2	1.2	3.2	4.4	5.0	1.3	0.5	2.6	2.6	5.2	11.2	.462	0.1	0.4	.161	3.8	4.8	.791
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	5	33.4	14.6	-	-	3.2	5.6	-	-	-	4.2	4.4	10.2	.431	-	-	-	5.8	6.6	.879
Dennis Johnson	3	36.0	18.0	2.0	5.7	7.7	5.7	1.7	0.7	2.7	3.0	7.3	16.0	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.3	4.0	.833

Season 8
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1962-63	1983-84
Team	Syracuse Nationals	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Nationals Lost East Div Semis	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		%
Larry Costello	78	26.5	11.0	-	-	3.0	4.3	-	-	-	3.4	3.7	8.5	.432	-	-	-	3.7	4.2	.881
Dennis Johnson	80	33.3	13.2	1.1	2.4	3.5	4.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	3.1	4.8	11.0	.437	0.1	0.4	.125	3.5	4.1	.852
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	5	26.8	10.2	-	-	0.8	4.6	-	-	-	5.4	3.2	7.4	.432	-	-	-	3.8	4.6	.826
Dennis Johnson	22	36.7	16.6	1.4	2.2	3.6	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	3.4	5.9	14.5	.404	0.1	0.3	.429	4.7	5.5	.867

Season 9
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1963-64	1984-85
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Celtics 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		%
Larry Costello	45	25.3	11.8	-	-	2.3	3.7	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	9.1	.468	-	-	-	3.3	3.8	.865
Dennis Johnson	80	37.2	15.7	1.1	2.8	4.0	6.8	1.2	0.5	2.7	2.8	6.2	13.3	.462	0.1	0.3	.269	3.3	3.8	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	5	7.2	3.2	-	-	0.6	0.8	-	-	-	2.8	0.6	2.8	.214	-	-	-	2.0	2.0	1.000
Dennis Johnson	21	40.4	17.3	1.1	2.9	4.0	7.3	1.5	0.4	3.4	3.1	6.8	15.2	.445	0.0	0.7	.000	3.8	4.4	.860

Season 10
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1964-65	1985-86
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	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		%
Larry Costello	64	30.7	13.5	-	-	2.6	4.3	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	10.9	.445	-	-	-	3.8	4.3	.877
Dennis Johnson	78	35.0	15.6	0.9	2.6	3.4	5.8	1.4	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.2	13.6	.455	0.1	0.5	.143	3.1	3.8	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	10	20.7	5.5	-	-	1.2	2.0	-	-	-	4.3	2.2	5.3	.415	-	-	-	1.1	1.6	.688
Dennis Johnson	18	39.7	16.2	1.3	2.9	4.2	5.9	2.2	0.3	2.8	3.2	6.1	13.6	.445	0.3	0.9	.375	3.7	4.7	.798

Note: Larry Costello didn't play in 1965-66.

Season 11
	Larry Costello	Dennis Johnson
Season	1966-67	1986-87
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Celtics 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		%
Larry Costello	49	19.9	7.8	-	-	2.1	2.9	-	-	-	2.9	2.7	6.0	.444	-	-	-	2.4	2.7	.902
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Costello	2	12.5	8.5	-	-	2.0	1.5	-	-	-	1.0	3.0	4.0	.750	-	-	-	2.5	2.5	1.000
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850