Thurl Bailey vs. Michael Cooper Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Cooper and Thurl Bailey, 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 / 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.

Thurl Bailey and Michael Cooper both played 12 years in the NBA. Thurl Bailey had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, while Michael Cooper had his rookie season in 1978-79. 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
Thurl Bailey	12	9	1983-84 to 1998-99
Michael Cooper	12	11	1978-79 to 1989-90

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


Rookie Season
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1983-84	1978-79
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	24.8	8.5	1.4	4.3	5.7	1.6	0.5	1.5	1.3	2.4	3.7	7.3	.512	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.4	.752
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	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	11	30.9	10.6	1.4	4.2	5.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	1.5	3.0	4.5	8.8	.515	0.0	0.2	.000	1.5	1.9	.810
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1984-85	1979-80
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Jazz 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		%
Thurl Bailey	80	31.0	15.2	1.9	4.7	6.6	1.7	0.6	1.3	1.9	2.7	6.3	12.9	.490	0.0	0.0	1.000	2.5	2.9	.842
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	10	37.5	16.9	2.1	7.1	9.2	2.7	0.5	1.8	2.1	3.0	6.2	15.2	.408	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	5.5	.818
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


Season 3
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1985-86	1980-81
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	28.8	14.6	1.8	4.2	6.0	1.9	0.5	1.4	1.8	2.0	5.9	13.1	.448	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	3.4	.830
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	4	36.8	16.0	2.8	5.3	8.0	3.3	0.5	0.5	1.3	3.3	7.0	19.3	.364	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	2.8	.727
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


Season 4
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1986-87	1981-82
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	26.6	13.8	1.8	3.5	5.3	1.3	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.9	5.7	12.8	.447	0.0	0.0	.000	2.3	2.9	.805
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	5	30.2	15.6	2.8	3.2	6.0	1.8	0.6	1.2	2.4	2.4	6.0	12.6	.476	0.0	0.0	-	3.6	3.6	1.000
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


Season 5
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1987-88	1982-83
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	34.2	19.6	1.6	4.8	6.5	1.9	0.6	1.5	2.3	2.3	7.7	15.7	.492	0.0	0.0	.333	4.1	5.0	.826
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	11	40.8	23.2	1.9	3.8	5.7	1.6	0.5	2.1	1.9	2.9	9.0	18.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	6.2	.838
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


Season 6
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1988-89	1983-84
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	33.9	19.5	1.4	4.0	5.5	1.7	0.6	1.1	2.5	2.3	7.5	15.5	.483	0.0	0.1	.400	4.4	5.4	.825
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	3	40.7	12.0	3.3	5.0	8.3	1.0	0.3	1.3	3.0	3.7	4.0	11.3	.353	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	5.0	.800
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


Season 7
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1989-90	1984-85
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	82	31.5	14.2	1.4	3.6	5.0	1.7	0.4	1.2	1.7	2.1	5.7	11.9	.481	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	3.5	.779
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	5	38.0	21.0	1.6	4.8	6.4	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.0	3.8	8.6	17.6	.489	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	4.8	.792
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


Season 8
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1990-91	1985-86
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	30.3	12.4	1.2	3.7	5.0	1.5	0.6	1.1	1.6	2.0	4.9	10.6	.458	0.0	0.0	.000	2.7	3.3	.808
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	9	25.3	7.6	1.2	2.3	3.6	1.0	0.3	0.7	1.3	3.0	2.6	7.1	.359	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	2.8	.880
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


Season 9
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1991-92	1986-87
Team	Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	Defensive Player of the Year
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		%
Thurl Bailey	84	25.0	11.3	1.5	4.3	5.8	0.9	0.4	1.4	1.3	1.9	4.4	10.0	.440	0.0	0.0	.000	2.6	3.2	.796
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 10
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1992-93	1987-88
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
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		%
Thurl Bailey	70	18.2	7.5	0.8	2.3	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.9	1.3	2.9	6.4	.455	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.0	.838
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 11
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1993-94	1988-89
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	79	16.4	7.4	0.8	1.9	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.7	1.2	2.9	5.8	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	1.9	.799
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Note: Thurl Bailey didn't play in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98.


Season 12
	Thurl Bailey	Michael Cooper
Season	1998-99	1989-90
Team	Utah Jazz	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	43	12.6	4.2	0.8	1.3	2.2	0.6	0.2	0.7	0.6	1.8	1.8	4.1	.446	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.8	.735
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	11	10.5	3.4	0.5	0.9	1.4	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.7	1.7	1.5	3.0	.515	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.750
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	-

Thurl Bailey vs. Michael Cooper Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Cooper and Thurl Bailey, 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