Michael Cooper vs. Cade Cunningham Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Cade Cunningham and Michael Cooper, 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.

Michael Cooper played 12 years in the NBA, 7 more than Cade Cunningham, who played 5. Michael Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, while Cade Cunningham had his rookie season in 2021-22. 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
	Michael Cooper	Cade Cunningham
Season	1978-79	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
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		%
Michael Cooper	3	2.3	2.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.0	2.0	.500	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+61	+30.3	+15.4	+0.9	+4.6	+5.5	+5.6	+0.9	+0.7	-3.4	-2.8	+5.7	+14.1	+.084				+2.2	+2.6
Cade Cunningham	64	32.6	17.4	0.9	4.6	5.5	5.6	1.2	0.7	3.7	3.1	6.7	16.1	.416	1.8	5.7	.314	2.2	2.6	.845
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Michael Cooper nor Cade Cunningham played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Michael Cooper	Cade Cunningham
Season	1979-80	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Michael Cooper	82	24.1	8.8	1.2	1.6	2.8	2.7	1.0	0.5	1.7	2.6	3.7	7.0	.524	0.1	0.2	.250	1.4	1.7	.776
difference:	+70	+9.2	+11.1	+0.2	+3.6	+3.4	+3.3	+0.2	+0.1	-1.6	-0.2	+4.1	+11.7	+.109	+1.3	+4.9	+.029	+1.6	+1.9	+.061
Cade Cunningham	12	33.3	19.9	1.0	5.2	6.2	6.0	0.8	0.6	3.3	2.8	7.8	18.7	.415	1.4	5.1	.279	3.0	3.6	.837
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	16	29.0	9.1	1.8	1.9	3.7	3.6	1.5	0.7	1.8	3.4	3.6	8.8	.407	0.0	0.1	.000	1.9	2.3	.861
Cade Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Michael Cooper	Cade Cunningham
Season	1980-81	2023-24
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Michael Cooper	81	32.4	9.4	1.5	2.7	4.1	4.1	1.6	1.0	2.0	3.1	4.0	8.1	.491	0.0	0.2	.211	1.4	1.8	.785
difference:	+19	+1.1	+13.3	+1.0	+1.1	+0.2	+3.4	+0.7	+0.6	-1.4	-0.6	+4.5	+10.7	+.042	+1.9	+5.2	+.144	+2.4	+2.6	+.084
Cade Cunningham	62	33.5	22.7	0.5	3.8	4.3	7.5	0.9	0.4	3.4	2.5	8.5	18.8	.449	1.9	5.4	.355	3.8	4.4	.869
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	3	34.0	10.7	0.7	2.7	3.3	2.3	2.0	0.0	2.3	2.3	3.7	6.7	.550	0.0	1.0	.000	3.3	4.7	.714
Cade Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Michael Cooper	Cade Cunningham
Season	1981-82	2024-25
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pistons Lost East 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		%
Michael Cooper	76	28.9	11.9	1.1	2.4	3.5	3.0	1.6	0.8	2.0	2.8	5.0	9.8	.517	0.0	0.2	.118	1.8	2.3	.813
difference:	+6	+6.1	+14.2	+0.3	+2.9	+2.6	+6.1	+0.6		-2.4		+4.8	+11.0	+.048	+2.1	+5.8	+.238	+2.7	+3.0	+.033
Cade Cunningham	70	35.0	26.1	0.8	5.3	6.1	9.1	1.0	0.8	4.4	2.8	9.8	20.8	.469	2.1	6.0	.356	4.5	5.3	.846
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	14	27.4	11.9	1.4	3.0	4.4	4.4	1.7	0.8	2.1	3.4	5.0	8.9	.565	0.1	0.1	.500	1.8	2.4	.735
difference:	+8	+13.9	+13.1	+0.4	+4.3	+3.9	+4.3	+0.1	+0.5	-3.2	-0.1	+4.2	+12.6	+.139	+0.7	+4.6	+.321	+4.0	+4.6	+.098
Cade Cunningham	6	41.3	25.0	1.0	7.3	8.3	8.7	1.8	1.3	5.3	3.3	9.2	21.5	.426	0.8	4.7	.179	5.8	7.0	.833

Season 5
	Michael Cooper	Cade Cunningham
Season	1982-83	2025-26
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
Michael Cooper	82	26.2	7.8	1.0	2.3	3.3	3.8	1.4	0.6	1.6	2.5	3.2	6.1	.535	0.1	0.3	.238	1.2	1.6	.785
difference:	+77	+9.0	+14.4	+0.2	+2.1	+2.3	+4.4	+0.6	+0.6	-2.8	-1.1	+4.4	+13.1	+.139	+1.5	+6.3	+.004	+4.2	+5.0	+.033
Cade Cunningham	5	35.2	22.2	1.2	4.4	5.6	8.2	0.8	1.2	4.4	3.6	7.6	19.2	.396	1.6	6.6	.242	5.4	6.6	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	15	30.2	9.4	0.8	3.1	3.9	2.9	1.7	0.4	1.3	3.6	3.5	7.6	.465	0.1	0.5	.143	2.3	2.7	.829
Cade Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Michael Cooper played 7 seasons more than Cade Cunningham in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 12, from 1984 to 1990—Michael Cooper played in 7 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those 7 extra years over Cade Cunningham, Michael Cooper got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 All-Defensive First Team 1 All-Defensive Second Team 1 Defensive Player of the Year