Michael Cooper vs. Steve Kerr Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Steve Kerr 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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, 3 less than Steve Kerr, who played 15. Michael Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, while Steve Kerr had his rookie season in 1988-89. 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Michael Cooper	12	11	1978-79 to 1989-90
Steve Kerr	15	11	1988-89 to 2002-03

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12


Rookie Season
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1978-79	1988-89
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
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:	+23	+3.7	+0.1	+0.1	+0.5	+0.7	+0.9			-0.1	-0.2	+0.2	+0.2	+.065				+0.2	+0.3
Steve Kerr	26	6.0	2.1	0.1	0.5	0.7	0.9	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.5	0.8	1.8	.435	0.3	0.7	.471	0.2	0.3	.667

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Michael Cooper nor Steve Kerr played in the postseason in their season 1


Season 2
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1979-80	1989-90
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+4	+2.8	+2.1	+1.0	+0.5	+1.5	+0.5	+0.4	+0.4	-0.8	-1.8	+1.2	+1.5	+.080	+0.8	+1.6	+.257	+0.6	+0.8	+.087
Steve Kerr	78	21.3	6.7	0.2	1.1	1.3	3.2	0.6	0.1	0.9	0.8	2.5	5.5	.444	0.9	1.8	.507	0.8	0.9	.863

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
difference:	+11	+14.4	+7.5	+1.6	+0.9	+2.5	+1.6	+0.7	+0.7	-1.4	-2.2	+2.8	+6.0	+.121		+0.5		+1.9	+2.3
Steve Kerr	5	14.6	1.6	0.2	1.0	1.2	2.0	0.8	0.0	0.4	1.2	0.8	2.8	.286	0.0	0.6	.000	0.0	0.0	-


Season 3
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1980-81	1990-91
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
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:	+24	+16.5	+4.6	+1.4	+2.1	+3.5	+1.8	+1.1	+0.9	-1.3	-2.2	+2.3	+4.2	+.047	+0.5	+0.9	+.241	+0.6	+0.9	+.064
Steve Kerr	57	15.9	4.8	0.1	0.6	0.6	2.3	0.5	0.1	0.7	0.9	1.7	3.9	.444	0.5	1.1	.452	0.8	0.9	.849

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
Steve Kerr	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1981-82	1991-92
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+28	+11.3	+5.3	+0.8	+1.1	+1.9	+0.7	+1.0	+0.6	-1.4	-2.2	+2.5	+4.9	+.006	+0.7	+1.3	+.314	+0.9	+1.2	+.020
Steve Kerr	48	17.6	6.6	0.3	1.3	1.6	2.3	0.6	0.2	0.6	0.6	2.5	4.9	.511	0.7	1.5	.432	0.9	1.1	.833

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:	+2	+15.0	+8.2	+1.3	+2.6	+3.9	+3.6	+1.3	+0.8	-1.8	-2.4	+3.5	+5.5	+.126	+0.2	+0.8	+.227	+1.4	+2.0	+.265
Steve Kerr	12	12.4	3.7	0.1	0.4	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.0	0.3	1.0	1.5	3.4	.439	0.3	0.9	.273	0.4	0.4	1.000


Season 5
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1982-83	1992-93
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic
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:	+30	+16.9	+5.2	+0.9	+1.5	+2.4	+2.5	+1.2	+0.6	-1.1	-1.8	+2.2	+3.8	+.101		+0.2	+.007	+0.8	+1.1	+.132
Steve Kerr	52	9.3	2.6	0.1	0.8	0.9	1.3	0.2	0.0	0.5	0.7	1.0	2.3	.434	0.1	0.5	.231	0.4	0.5	.917

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
Steve Kerr	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1983-84	1993-94
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Michael Cooper	82	29.1	9.0	0.6	2.5	3.2	5.9	1.4	0.8	1.8	3.3	3.3	6.7	.497	0.5	1.5	.314	1.9	2.3	.838
difference:		+4.3	+0.4	+0.3	+1.2	+1.6	+3.3	+0.5	+0.8	-1.1	-2.1	+0.2	+0.3		+0.1		+.105	+0.9	+1.1	+.018
Steve Kerr	82	24.8	8.6	0.3	1.3	1.6	2.6	0.9	0.0	0.7	1.2	3.5	7.0	.497	0.6	1.5	.419	1.0	1.2	.856

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	21	34.4	11.3	1.0	3.0	3.9	5.7	1.1	1.0	1.4	3.8	4.2	9.1	.461	0.6	1.7	.333	2.4	3.0	.806
difference:	+11	+15.8	+7.8	+0.8	+1.8	+2.5	+4.7	+0.4	+1.0	-1.3	-2.5	+2.9	+5.5	+.100		+0.1	+.042	+2.1	+2.7	+.194
Steve Kerr	10	18.6	3.5	0.2	1.2	1.4	1.0	0.7	0.0	0.1	1.3	1.3	3.6	.361	0.6	1.6	.375	0.3	0.3	1.000


Season 7
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1984-85	1994-95
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls Lost East 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		%
Michael Cooper	82	26.7	8.6	0.7	2.4	3.1	5.2	1.1	0.6	1.9	2.5	3.4	7.2	.465	0.4	1.5	.285	1.4	1.6	.865
difference:		+4.3	+0.4	+0.5	+1.2	+1.6	+3.4	+0.6	+0.6	-1.3	-1.1	+0.2	+1.2	+.062	+0.7	+0.6	+.239	+0.6	+0.6	+.087
Steve Kerr	82	22.4	8.2	0.2	1.2	1.5	1.8	0.5	0.0	0.6	1.4	3.2	6.0	.527	1.1	2.1	.524	0.8	1.0	.778

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	19	26.4	10.4	0.6	3.4	4.0	4.9	1.1	0.5	1.9	2.4	3.7	6.6	.563	0.4	1.4	.308	2.5	2.7	.923
difference:	+9	+7.1	+5.3	+0.5	+2.9	+3.4	+3.4	+1.0	+0.5	-1.9	-1.0	+1.8	+2.6	+.088	+0.4	+0.5	+.113	+2.0	+2.2	+.077
Steve Kerr	10	19.3	5.1	0.1	0.5	0.6	1.5	0.1	0.0	0.0	1.4	1.9	4.0	.475	0.8	1.9	.421	0.5	0.5	1.000


Season 8
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1985-86	1995-96
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Michael Cooper	82	27.7	9.2	0.5	2.4	3.0	5.7	1.1	0.5	1.8	2.9	3.3	7.4	.452	0.8	2.0	.387	1.8	2.1	.865
difference:		+4.3	+0.8	+0.2	+1.4	+1.7	+3.4	+0.3	+0.5	-1.3	-1.6	+0.3	+1.5	+.054	+0.7	+0.9	+.128	+0.8	+1.1	+.064
Steve Kerr	82	23.4	8.4	0.3	1.0	1.3	2.3	0.8	0.0	0.5	1.3	3.0	5.9	.506	1.5	2.9	.515	1.0	1.0	.929

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	14	30.1	9.7	1.1	2.1	3.3	4.9	1.3	0.3	1.5	1.7	3.9	8.2	.470	1.4	2.9	.463	0.6	0.8	.818
difference:	+4	+10.3	+2.9	+0.9	+1.3	+2.3	+3.2	+0.5	+0.3	-0.8	-0.5	+1.7	+3.4	+.022	+0.5		+.142	+0.9	+0.9	+.053
Steve Kerr	18	19.8	6.8	0.2	0.8	1.0	1.7	0.8	0.0	0.7	1.2	2.2	4.8	.448	0.9	2.9	.321	1.5	1.7	.871


Season 9
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1986-87	1996-97
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	Defensive Player of the Year	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Michael Cooper	82	27.5	10.5	0.7	2.4	3.1	4.5	1.0	0.5	1.2	2.4	3.9	9.0	.438	1.1	2.8	.385	1.5	1.8	.851
difference:		+4.8	+2.4	+0.3	+1.2	+1.5	+2.4	+0.2	+0.5	-0.7	-1.2	+0.9	+3.3	+.095	+0.2	+0.1	+.079	+0.8	+1.0	+.045
Steve Kerr	82	22.7	8.1	0.4	1.2	1.6	2.1	0.8	0.0	0.5	1.2	3.0	5.7	.533	1.3	2.9	.464	0.7	0.8	.806

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	18	29.0	13.0	0.4	2.8	3.3	5.0	1.4	0.8	2.1	2.6	4.3	8.8	.484	1.9	3.9	.486	2.6	3.0	.852
difference:	+1	+11.1	+8.0	+0.2	+2.1	+2.4	+3.9	+0.5	+0.7	-1.7	-1.3	+2.6	+4.7	+.055	+1.1	+1.7	+.105	+1.9	+2.3	+.077
Steve Kerr	19	17.9	5.0	0.2	0.7	0.9	1.1	0.9	0.1	0.4	1.3	1.7	4.1	.429	0.8	2.2	.381	0.7	0.7	.929


Season 10
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1987-88	1997-98
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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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		%
Michael Cooper	61	29.4	8.7	0.8	2.9	3.7	4.7	1.1	0.4	1.7	2.2	3.1	7.9	.392	0.9	2.9	.320	1.6	1.9	.858
difference:	+11	+7.0	+1.2	+0.5	+1.6	+2.2	+2.8	+0.6	+0.3	-1.2	-0.8	+0.4	+1.9	+.062	+0.2	+0.3	+.118	+0.7	+0.9	+.060
Steve Kerr	50	22.4	7.5	0.3	1.3	1.5	1.9	0.5	0.1	0.5	1.4	2.7	6.0	.454	1.1	2.6	.438	0.9	1.0	.918

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	24	24.5	6.4	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.8	0.8	0.4	0.9	2.4	2.3	5.5	.412	1.0	2.6	.403	0.8	1.1	.741
difference:	+3	+4.7	+1.5	+0.2	+1.4	+1.6	+1.1	+0.5	+0.4	-0.7	-1.2	+0.7	+1.9	+.022	+0.1	+0.6	+.060	+0.1	+0.1	+.077
Steve Kerr	21	19.8	4.9	0.4	0.4	0.8	1.7	0.3	0.0	0.2	1.2	1.6	3.6	.434	0.9	2.0	.463	0.9	1.0	.818


Season 11
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1988-89	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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		%
Michael Cooper	80	24.3	7.3	0.4	2.0	2.4	3.9	0.9	0.4	1.2	2.3	2.7	6.2	.431	1.0	2.6	.381	1.0	1.2	.871
difference:	+36	+7.6	+2.9	+0.3	+1.1	+1.4	+2.8	+0.4	+0.3	-0.7	-1.7	+1.2	+2.2	+.040	+0.4	+0.8	+.068	+0.3	+0.4	+.015
Steve Kerr	44	16.7	4.4	0.1	0.9	1.0	1.1	0.5	0.1	0.5	0.6	1.5	4.0	.391	0.6	1.8	.313	0.7	0.8	.886

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	15	27.6	7.7	0.6	2.1	2.7	4.7	0.6	0.5	1.1	2.5	2.5	5.9	.416	1.4	3.7	.382	1.3	1.6	.833
difference:	+4	+18.9	+5.5	+0.3	+1.6	+1.9	+4.0	+0.4	+0.5	-0.7	-2.0	+1.8	+3.2	+.149	+1.1	+2.5	+.151	+0.8	+1.1
Steve Kerr	11	8.7	2.2	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.7	0.2	0.0	0.4	0.5	0.7	2.7	.267	0.3	1.2	.231	0.5	0.5	.833


Season 12
	Michael Cooper	Steve Kerr
Season	1989-90	1999-00
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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		%
Michael Cooper	80	23.1	6.4	0.7	2.1	2.8	2.7	0.8	0.5	1.1	2.6	2.4	6.2	.387	0.6	2.0	.318	1.0	1.2	.883
difference:	+48	+14.7	+3.6	+0.6	+1.6	+2.2	+2.3	+0.7	+0.5	-0.9	-2.2	+1.4	+3.9	+.045	+0.1	+1.0	+.198	+0.7	+0.9	+.065
Steve Kerr	32	8.4	2.8	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.4	1.0	2.3	.432	0.5	1.0	.516	0.3	0.3	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	9	19.2	2.6	1.2	1.4	2.7	2.8	0.8	0.4	0.8	2.3	1.1	3.9	.286	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.0	-
Steve Kerr	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years

* Steve Kerr played 3 seasons more than Michael Cooper in the NBA.

In that period—his seasons 13 to 15, from 2001 to 2003—Steve Kerr played in 3 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship.

Michael Cooper vs. Steve Kerr Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Steve Kerr 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years