Marques Johnson vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Marques 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.

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.

Marques Johnson played 11 years in the NBA, 1 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 12. Marques Johnson 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
Marques Johnson	11	6	1977-78 to 1989-90
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1977-78	2011-12
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	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		%
Marques Johnson	80	34.6	19.5	3.7	6.9	10.6	2.4	1.2	1.3	2.2	2.8	7.9	15.1	.522	-	-	-	3.8	5.1	.736
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		%
Marques Johnson	9	35.7	24.0	3.9	8.6	12.4	3.4	1.1	1.9	1.6	2.8	9.3	17.0	.549	-	-	-	5.3	7.1	.750
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1978-79	2012-13
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Marques Johnson	77	36.1	25.6	2.8	4.9	7.6	3.0	1.5	1.2	2.2	2.4	10.6	19.4	.550	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.760
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1979-80	2013-14
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf 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		%
Marques Johnson	77	34.9	21.7	2.8	4.5	7.4	3.5	1.3	0.9	2.4	2.2	8.9	16.5	.544	0.0	0.1	.222	3.8	4.8	.791
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		%
Marques Johnson	7	43.3	19.9	2.4	4.4	6.9	2.9	0.7	0.9	1.1	2.9	7.7	18.3	.422	0.1	0.4	.333	4.3	5.7	.750
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1980-81	2014-15
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	76	33.4	20.3	3.0	3.9	6.8	4.6	1.5	0.5	2.5	2.6	8.4	15.2	.552	0.0	0.1	.000	3.5	5.0	.706
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		%
Marques Johnson	7	38.0	24.7	5.9	3.6	9.4	4.9	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.0	10.7	19.3	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.6	.719
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1981-82	2015-16
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	60	31.7	16.5	2.6	3.5	6.1	3.6	1.0	0.6	2.4	2.4	6.7	12.7	.532	0.0	0.1	.000	3.0	4.3	.700
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		%
Marques Johnson	6	39.2	18.8	3.8	3.5	7.3	3.3	1.0	0.3	2.0	4.2	7.3	16.7	.440	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	7.0	.571
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1982-83	2016-17
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Finals	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	80	35.7	21.4	2.5	4.6	7.0	4.5	1.3	0.7	2.5	2.6	9.0	17.8	.509	0.1	0.3	.200	3.3	4.5	.735
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		%
Marques Johnson	9	42.4	22.0	3.1	4.9	8.0	4.2	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.4	9.4	19.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	3.1	4.8	.651
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1983-84	2017-18
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Marques Johnson	74	36.7	20.7	2.3	4.1	6.5	4.3	1.6	0.6	2.4	2.6	8.7	17.4	.502	0.0	0.2	.154	3.3	4.6	.709
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		%
Marques Johnson	16	37.8	20.3	1.8	3.5	5.3	3.4	1.1	0.4	2.7	3.1	8.1	17.1	.473	0.1	0.3	.250	4.1	5.6	.722
Kawhi Leonard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1984-85	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	72	34.0	16.4	2.6	3.3	5.9	3.4	1.0	0.4	2.4	2.7	6.9	15.2	.452	0.0	0.2	.231	2.6	3.6	.731
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1985-86	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	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		%
Marques Johnson	75	34.7	20.3	2.1	3.5	5.5	3.8	1.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	8.2	16.0	.510	0.0	0.2	.067	4.0	5.2	.760
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1986-87	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	10	30.2	16.6	0.9	2.4	3.3	2.8	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.4	6.8	15.5	.439	0.0	0.6	.000	3.0	4.2	.714
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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: Marques Johnson didn't play in 1987-88 and 1988-89.

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


Season 11
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1989-90	2022-23
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	10	9.9	4.0	0.8	0.9	1.7	0.9	0.0	0.1	1.0	1.2	1.2	3.2	.375	0.2	0.3	.667	1.4	1.7	.824
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Marques Johnson	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Marques Johnson vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Marques 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.

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