Rick Barry vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Rick Barry, 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.

Rick Barry played 10 years in the NBA, 4 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Rick Barry had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, 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 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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1965-66	1976-77
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
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		%
Rick Barry	80	37.4	25.7	-	-	10.6	2.2	-	-	-	3.7	9.3	21.2	.439	-	-	-	7.1	8.3	.862
difference:	+1	+16.8	+16.5			+6.9	+0.7				-1.0	+5.8	+14.2	+.065				+4.9	+4.8	+.238
Dennis Johnson	81	20.6	9.2	2.0	1.7	3.7	1.5	1.5	0.7	-	2.7	3.5	7.0	.504	-	-	-	2.2	3.5	.624
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Rick Barry nor Dennis Johnson played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1966-67	1977-78
Team	San Francisco Warriors	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Supersonics 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		%
Rick Barry	78	40.7	35.6	-	-	9.2	3.6	-	-	-	3.3	13.0	28.7	.451	-	-	-	9.7	10.9	.884
difference:	+3	+13.4	+22.9			+5.6	+0.8				-0.7	+8.5	+17.8	+.034				+6.0	+5.9	+.152
Dennis Johnson	81	27.3	12.7	1.9	1.8	3.6	2.8	1.5	0.6	2.0	2.6	4.5	10.9	.417	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.732
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Rick Barry	15	40.9	34.7	-	-	7.5	3.9	-	-	-	3.3	13.1	32.6	.403	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.809
difference:	+7	+3.3	+18.6			+2.9	+0.6				-0.4	+7.6	+19.2	+.009				+3.4	+3.3	+.105
Dennis Johnson	22	37.6	16.1	2.1	2.5	4.6	3.3	1.0	1.0	2.5	2.9	5.5	13.4	.412	-	-	-	5.1	7.2	.704

Note: Rick Barry didn't play in 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71 and 1971-72.

Season 3
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1972-73	1978-79
Team	Golden State Warriors	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Rick Barry	82	37.5	22.3	-	-	8.9	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	9.0	19.9	.452	-	-	-	4.4	4.8	.902
difference:	+2	+3.5	+6.4			+4.2	+1.4				-0.4	+3.0	+6.0	+.018				+0.6	+0.1	+.121
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		%
Rick Barry	11	26.5	16.4	-	-	4.9	2.2	-	-	-	3.7	5.9	14.9	.396	-	-	-	4.5	5.0	.909
difference:	+6	+13.6	+4.5			+1.2	+1.9					+2.1	+2.9	+.054				+0.4	+1.4	+.138
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1973-74	1979-80
Team	Golden State Warriors	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Supersonics Lost West 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		%
Rick Barry	80	36.5	25.1	1.3	5.5	6.8	6.1	2.1	0.5	-	3.3	10.0	21.8	.456	-	-	-	5.2	5.8	.899
difference:	+1	+0.2	+6.1	+0.8	+2.5	+1.7	+2.0	+0.3	+0.5			+2.9	+5.0	+.034				+0.5	+0.2	+.119
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		%
Rick Barry	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1974-75	1980-81
Team	Golden State Warriors	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns 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		%
Rick Barry	80	40.4	30.6	1.2	4.6	5.7	6.2	2.9	0.4	-	2.8	12.9	27.7	.464	-	-	-	4.9	5.5	.904
difference:	+1	+7.3	+11.8	+0.8	+2.0	+1.1	+2.5	+1.2	+0.4		-0.3	+6.2	+12.3	+.028				+0.3	+0.8	+.084
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		%
Rick Barry	17	42.7	28.2	1.3	4.2	5.5	6.1	2.9	0.9	-	3.0	11.1	25.1	.444	-	-	-	5.9	6.5	.918
difference:	+10	+4.6	+8.6	+0.3	+0.5	+0.8	+3.2	+1.6	+0.4		-0.4	+3.7	+9.4	+.029				+1.3	+0.5	+.156
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1975-76	1981-82
Team	Golden State Warriors	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Finals	Suns Lost West 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		%
Rick Barry	81	38.5	21.0	0.9	5.2	6.1	6.1	2.5	0.3	-	2.7	8.7	20.0	.435	-	-	-	3.5	3.8	.923
difference:	+1	+1.8	+1.5	+0.9	+1.8	+1.0	+1.5	+1.2	+0.4		-0.5	+1.5	+4.6	+.035				+1.5	+2.4	+.117
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		%
Rick Barry	13	40.9	24.0	1.5	4.9	6.5	6.5	2.9	1.1	-	3.1	9.7	22.2	.436	-	-	-	4.6	5.2	.882
difference:	+6	+2.2	+1.7	+0.4	+2.3	+2.1	+1.9	+0.8	+0.5		-0.9	+0.7	+3.3	+.041				+0.3	+0.4	+.113
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1976-77	1982-83
Team	Golden State Warriors	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Rick Barry	79	36.8	21.8	0.9	4.4	5.3	6.0	2.2	0.7	-	2.5	8.6	19.6	.440	-	-	-	4.5	5.0	.916
difference:	+2	+3.7	+7.6	+0.3	+1.2	+0.9	+1.0	+0.9	+0.2		-0.1	+3.4	+8.4	+.022				+0.7	+0.2	+.125
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		%
Rick Barry	10	41.5	28.4	2.5	3.4	5.9	4.7	1.7	0.7	-	3.2	12.2	26.2	.466	-	-	-	4.0	4.4	.909
difference:	+7	+5.5	+10.4	+0.5	+2.3	+1.8	+1.0				-0.2	+4.9	+10.2	+.008				+0.7	+0.4	+.076
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1977-78	1983-84
Team	Golden State Warriors	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Rick Barry	82	36.9	23.1	0.9	4.6	5.5	5.4	1.9	0.5	2.7	2.3	9.3	20.6	.451	-	-	-	4.6	5.0	.924
difference:	+2	+3.6	+9.9	+0.2	+2.2	+2.0	+1.2	+0.7	+0.2	-0.5	-0.8	+4.5	+9.6	+.014				+1.1	+0.9	+.072
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		%
Rick Barry	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1978-79	1984-85
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Rick Barry	80	32.1	13.5	0.5	3.0	3.5	6.3	1.2	0.5	2.5	2.4	5.8	12.5	.461	-	-	-	2.0	2.1	.947
difference:		+5.1	+2.2	+0.6	+0.2	+0.5	+0.5			-0.2	-0.4	+0.4	+0.8	+.001				+1.3	+1.7	+.094
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		%
Rick Barry	2	32.5	12.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	4.5	0.0	1.0	1.0	4.0	4.0	12.5	.320	-	-	-	4.0	4.0	1.000
difference:	+19	+7.9	+5.3	+0.1	+0.1		+2.8	+1.5	+0.6	-2.4	-0.9	+2.8	+2.7	+.125				+0.2	+0.4	+.140
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
	Rick Barry	Dennis Johnson
Season	1979-80	1985-86
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Rockets Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Rick Barry	72	25.2	12.0	0.7	2.5	3.3	3.7	1.1	0.4	2.1	2.5	4.5	10.7	.422	1.0	3.1	.330	2.0	2.1	.935
difference:	+6	+9.8	+3.6	+0.2	+0.1	+0.1	+2.1	+0.3		-0.1	-0.1	+1.7	+2.9	+.033	+0.9	+2.6	+.187	+1.1	+1.7	+.117
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		%
Rick Barry	6	13.2	5.5	0.0	1.0	1.0	2.5	0.2	0.2	1.7	1.8	2.0	5.5	.364	0.5	2.0	.250	1.0	1.0	1.000
difference:	+12	+26.5	+10.7	+1.3	+1.9	+3.2	+3.4	+2.0	+0.1	-1.1	-1.4	+4.1	+8.1	+.081	+0.2	+1.1	+.125	+2.7	+3.7	+.202
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

Additional Years
* Dennis Johnson played 4 seasons more than Rick Barry in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 14, from 1987 to 1990—Dennis Johnson played in 4 Playoffs. In those 4 extra years over Rick Barry, Dennis Johnson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Defensive First Team