Nikola Jokic vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic, 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 / Scoring / Stats / 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.

Nikola Jokic played 11 years in the NBA, 3 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 14. Nikola Jokic had the first of his seasons in 2015-16, 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Nikola Jokic	11	7	2015-16 to 2025-26
Kawhi Leonard	14	12	2011-12 to 2025-26

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


Rookie Season
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2015-16	2011-12
Team	Denver Nuggets	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		%
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811
difference:	+16	+2.3	+2.1	+0.7	+1.2	+1.9	+1.3	+0.3	+0.2	-0.6	-1.2	+0.7	+1.2	+.019	+0.2	+0.6	+.043	+0.8	+1.0	+.038
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		%
Nikola Jokic	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 2
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2016-17	2012-13
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Nikola Jokic	73	27.9	16.7	2.9	6.9	9.8	4.9	0.8	0.8	2.3	2.9	6.8	11.7	.578	0.6	1.9	.324	2.6	3.1	.825
difference:	+15	+3.3	+4.8	+1.8	+2.0	+3.8	+3.3	+0.9	+0.2	-1.2	-1.2	+2.3	+2.6	+.084	+0.5	+1.1	+.050	+0.8	+0.9
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		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2017-18	2013-14
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Nikola Jokic	75	32.6	18.5	2.6	8.1	10.7	6.1	1.2	0.8	2.8	2.8	6.7	13.5	.499	1.5	3.7	.396	3.5	4.2	.850
difference:	+9	+3.5	+5.7	+1.4	+3.0	+4.5	+4.1	+0.5		-1.6	-0.9	+1.6	+3.7	+.023	+0.5	+0.9	+.017	+2.0	+2.3	+.048
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		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2018-19	2014-15
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821
difference:	+16	+0.5	+3.6	+1.6	+2.1	+3.6	+4.8	+0.9	+0.1	-1.6	-0.9	+1.5	+2.3	+.032		+0.4	+.042	+0.4	+0.5	+.019
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		%
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846
difference:	+7	+4.1	+4.8	+2.0	+3.5	+5.6	+5.8		+0.3	-0.5	-1.3	+2.0	+3.0	+.029		+0.3	+.030	+0.8	+0.6	+.075
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2019-20	2015-16
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817
difference:	+1	+1.1	+1.3	+1.0	+2.0	+2.9	+4.4	+0.6	+0.4	-1.6	-1.2		+0.4	+.022	+0.7	+0.5	+.129	+0.7	+0.5	+.057
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		%
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835
difference:	+9	+2.6	+1.9	+0.5	+3.0	+3.5	+2.9	+1.5	+0.6	-1.7	-1.5	+1.1	+1.5	+.019	+0.5	+1.3	+.007	+0.7	+0.9	+.011
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2020-21	2016-17
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868
difference:	+2	+1.2	+0.9	+1.7	+3.3	+5.0	+4.8	+0.5		-1.0	-1.1	+1.6	+0.3	+.081	+0.7	+1.9	+.008	+1.5	+1.7	+.012
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		%
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836
difference:	+2	+1.3	+2.1	+2.1	+1.7	+3.8	+0.4	+1.1	+0.4	-0.2	-0.5	+2.8	+6.0	+.016	+0.1	+0.7	+.078	+3.3	+3.0	+.095
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2021-22	2017-18
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810
difference:	+65	+10.2	+10.9	+2.1	+7.0	+9.1	+5.6	+0.5	+0.1	-2.0	-1.6	+4.5	+5.4	+.115	+0.1		+.023	+1.7	+2.1	+.006
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		%
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848
Kawhi Leonard	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2022-23	2018-19
Team	Denver Nuggets	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822
difference:	+9	+0.3	+2.1	+1.1	+3.4	+4.5	+6.5	+0.5	+0.3	-1.6	-1.0	+0.1	+4.0	+.136	+1.1	+2.8	+.012	+1.2	+1.1	+.032
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		%
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799
difference:	+4	+0.4	+0.5	+1.2	+3.2	+4.4	+5.6	+0.6	+0.3	-0.4	-1.2	+1.3		+.058	+0.5	+2.2	+.082	+2.4	+2.0	+.085
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2023-24	2019-20
Team	Denver Nuggets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Clippers Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817
difference:	+22	+2.2	+0.7	+1.9	+3.4	+5.3	+4.1	+0.4	+0.3	-0.4	-0.5	+1.1	+2.0	+.113	+1.1	+2.8	+.019	+1.7	+1.6	+.069
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		%
Nikola Jokic	12	40.2	28.7	3.6	9.8	13.4	8.7	1.4	0.7	3.3	2.7	11.1	20.3	.545	1.2	4.4	.264	5.3	5.9	.901
difference:	+1	+0.9	+0.5	+1.8	+2.3	+4.1	+3.2	+0.9	+0.1	-0.8	-0.5	+1.0	+0.3	+.056	+0.6	+1.2	+.065	+0.9	+1.3	+.039
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
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2024-25	2020-21
Team	Denver Nuggets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	70	36.7	29.6	2.9	9.9	12.7	10.2	1.8	0.6	3.3	2.3	11.2	19.5	.576	2.0	4.7	.417	5.2	6.4	.800
difference:	+18	+2.6	+4.8	+1.8	+4.5	+6.2	+5.0	+0.2	+0.2	-1.3	-0.7	+2.3	+2.0	+.064	+0.1	+0.2	+.019	+0.2	+0.7	+.085
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		%
Nikola Jokic	14	40.2	26.2	2.1	10.6	12.7	8.0	2.0	0.9	3.9	3.4	9.4	19.1	.489	1.9	5.1	.380	5.6	7.2	.772
difference:	+3	+0.9	+4.2	+0.1	+4.9	+5.0	+3.6	+0.1	+0.1	-1.7	-0.8	+1.7	+0.3	+.084	+0.3	+0.4	+.013	+0.4	+0.4	+.108
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: Kawhi Leonard didn't play in 2021-22.


Season 11
	Nikola Jokic	Kawhi Leonard
Season	2025-26	2022-23
Team	Denver Nuggets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nikola Jokic	20	34.9	29.0	3.3	9.6	12.8	11.1	1.5	0.8	3.5	3.0	10.4	16.8	.621	2.1	4.8	.438	6.1	7.1	.852
difference:	+32	+1.3	+5.2	+2.2	+4.2	+6.3	+7.2	+0.1	+0.3	-1.8	-1.4	+1.8		+.109	+0.1		+.022	+1.4	+1.7	+.019
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		%
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Additional Years
* Kawhi Leonard played 3 seasons more than Nikola Jokic in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 14, from 2024 to 2026—Kawhi Leonard played in two Playoffs. In those 3 extra years over Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game

Nikola Jokic vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic, 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

Additional Years