Dave Cowens vs. Rik Smits Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rik Smits and Dave Cowens, 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.

Dave Cowens played 11 years in the NBA, 1 less than Rik Smits, who played 12. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Rik Smits 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 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1970-71	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Rik Smits	82	24.9	11.7	2.3	3.8	6.1	0.9	0.5	1.8	1.6	3.8	4.7	9.1	.517	0.0	0.0	.000	2.2	3.1	.722
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rik Smits	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1971-72	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Rik Smits	82	29.3	15.5	1.6	4.6	6.2	1.7	0.5	2.1	1.7	4.0	6.3	11.8	.533	0.0	0.0	.000	2.9	3.6	.811
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596
Rik Smits	3	32.0	12.3	1.3	4.0	5.3	1.0	0.7	1.3	1.7	4.0	4.7	9.3	.500	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.7	.818

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1972-73	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Rik Smits	76	22.2	10.9	1.5	3.2	4.7	1.1	0.3	1.5	1.1	3.2	4.5	9.3	.485	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	2.5	.762
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659
Rik Smits	5	17.6	9.8	0.8	2.8	3.6	0.4	0.2	1.4	1.0	4.6	4.2	7.4	.568	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	1.6	.875

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1973-74	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
Rik Smits	74	23.9	13.8	1.7	4.0	5.6	1.6	0.4	1.4	1.8	3.1	5.9	11.6	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	2.1	2.6	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797
Rik Smits	3	9.3	3.3	1.0	1.0	2.0	0.0	0.7	0.3	1.0	2.3	1.3	3.7	.364	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.7	1.000

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1974-75	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
Rik Smits	81	25.6	14.3	1.6	3.8	5.3	1.5	0.3	0.9	1.8	3.5	6.1	12.6	.486	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	2.8	.732
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885
Rik Smits	4	35.8	22.5	3.3	4.8	8.0	1.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	4.5	9.3	16.0	.578	0.0	0.3	.000	4.0	5.5	.727

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1975-76	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
Rik Smits	78	27.1	15.7	1.7	4.5	6.2	2.0	0.6	1.1	1.9	3.6	6.3	11.8	.534	0.0	0.0	.000	3.1	3.8	.793
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759
Rik Smits	16	28.1	16.0	1.4	3.8	5.3	1.9	0.6	0.6	2.7	4.0	6.4	13.6	.472	0.0	0.0	-	3.1	3.9	.806

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1976-77	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
Rik Smits	78	30.5	17.9	2.5	5.2	7.7	1.4	0.5	1.0	2.4	3.6	7.2	13.6	.526	0.0	0.0	.000	3.6	4.8	.753
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773
Rik Smits	17	32.1	20.1	1.9	5.1	7.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	2.0	4.3	7.5	13.6	.547	0.1	0.1	1.000	5.1	6.3	.804

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1977-78	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pacers Lost East 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		%
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
Rik Smits	63	30.2	18.5	1.9	5.0	6.9	1.7	0.3	0.7	2.5	3.6	7.4	14.2	.521	0.0	0.1	.200	3.7	4.7	.788
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rik Smits	5	33.2	19.0	2.6	4.8	7.4	1.6	0.4	0.4	2.8	4.0	8.4	15.4	.545	0.0	0.0	-	2.2	2.8	.786

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Rik Smits
Season	1979-80	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Pacers Lost East Conf 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		%
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
Rik Smits	73	28.6	16.7	1.7	5.2	6.9	1.4	0.5	1.2	1.8	3.3	7.0	14.2	.495	0.0	0.0	.000	2.6	3.3	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909
Rik Smits	16	29.8	16.6	1.1	4.3	5.3	1.3	0.5	0.9	1.3	4.2	6.6	13.1	.502	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	4.0	.859

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.