Dennis Johnson vs. Tom Sanders Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tom Sanders and Dennis Johnson, 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

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.

Dennis Johnson played 14 years in the NBA, 1 more than Tom Sanders, who played 13. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Tom Sanders had his rookie season in 1960-61. 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
Dennis Johnson	14	13	1976-77 to 1989-90
Tom Sanders	13	11	1960-61 to 1972-73

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1976-77	1960-61
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	68	15.9	5.3	-	-	5.7	0.6	-	-	-	1.9	2.2	5.2	.420	-	-	-	1.0	1.5	.670

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	10	21.6	8.9	-	-	8.4	0.7	-	-	-	4.2	3.7	7.5	.493	-	-	-	1.5	2.4	.625


Season 2
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1977-78	1961-62
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	80	29.1	11.2	-	-	9.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.1	.435	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.749

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	14	31.4	10.1	-	-	8.2	1.0	-	-	-	4.6	4.0	9.3	.431	-	-	-	2.1	2.6	.806


Season 3
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1978-79	1962-63
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	80	26.9	10.8	-	-	7.2	1.2	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	9.3	.456	-	-	-	2.3	3.2	.738

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	13	29.8	9.8	-	-	7.4	1.5	-	-	-	4.7	4.0	9.2	.437	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.774


Season 4
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1979-80	1963-64
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	80	29.6	11.4	-	-	8.3	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.5	.417	-	-	-	2.7	3.5	.761

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	10	30.2	9.1	-	-	6.8	0.6	-	-	-	4.5	3.4	9.4	.362	-	-	-	2.3	3.4	.676


Season 5
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1980-81	1964-65
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns 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		%
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
Tom Sanders	80	30.7	11.8	-	-	8.3	1.2	-	-	-	4.0	4.7	10.9	.429	-	-	-	2.4	3.2	.745

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	12	30.4	13.3	-	-	8.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.8	5.3	12.7	.421	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.721


Season 6
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1981-82	1965-66
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns 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		%
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
Tom Sanders	72	26.3	12.6	-	-	7.1	1.3	-	-	-	4.4	4.8	11.3	.428	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.764

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	17	29.4	13.5	-	-	6.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.1	5.7	11.8	.483	-	-	-	2.1	2.8	.750


Season 7
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1982-83	1966-67
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Div 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		%
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
Tom Sanders	81	23.8	10.2	-	-	5.4	1.1	-	-	-	3.8	4.0	9.3	.428	-	-	-	2.2	2.7	.817

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	9	16.0	4.9	-	-	4.8	0.6	-	-	-	3.4	2.3	6.8	.344	-	-	-	0.2	0.6	.400


Season 8
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1983-84	1967-68
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	78	25.4	10.2	-	-	5.8	1.3	-	-	-	3.8	3.8	8.9	.428	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.784

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	14	20.6	8.3	-	-	4.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.8	3.6	7.1	.505	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.762


Season 9
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1984-85	1968-69
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	82	26.6	11.2	-	-	7.0	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	4.4	10.3	.430	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.733

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Tom Sanders	15	13.1	5.8	-	-	3.2	0.5	-	-	-	2.7	2.1	4.9	.438	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.742


Season 10
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1985-86	1969-70
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
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
Tom Sanders	57	28.4	11.5	-	-	5.5	1.6	-	-	-	3.5	4.3	9.7	.443	-	-	-	2.8	3.2	.880

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


Season 11
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1986-87	1970-71
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833
Tom Sanders	17	7.1	2.3	-	-	1.0	0.6	-	-	-	1.5	0.9	2.6	.364	-	-	-	0.4	0.5	.875

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850
Tom Sanders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1987-88	1971-72
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Celtics 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		%
Dennis Johnson	77	34.7	12.6	0.8	2.3	3.1	7.8	1.2	0.4	2.5	2.6	4.6	10.4	.438	0.2	0.6	.261	3.3	3.9	.856
Tom Sanders	82	19.9	6.6	-	-	4.3	1.2	-	-	-	3.1	2.6	6.4	.410	-	-	-	1.4	1.7	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	17	41.3	15.9	0.9	3.6	4.5	8.2	1.4	0.5	2.6	3.0	5.4	12.4	.433	0.4	0.9	.375	4.8	6.1	.796
Tom Sanders	11	16.9	4.3	-	-	2.4	0.9	-	-	-	3.3	1.5	4.8	.321	-	-	-	1.2	1.9	.619


Season 13
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1988-89	1972-73
Team	Boston Celtics	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	72	32.1	10.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.6	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.9	3.8	8.9	.434	0.1	0.7	.140	2.2	2.7	.821
Tom Sanders	59	7.2	2.0	-	-	1.5	0.5	-	-	-	1.4	0.8	2.5	.315	-	-	-	0.4	0.6	.657

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	3	19.7	2.7	0.7	0.7	1.3	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.7	1.3	5.0	.267	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
Tom Sanders	5	4.8	2.0	-	-	1.0	0.2	-	-	-	1.4	1.0	1.8	.556	-	-	-	0.0	0.4	.000


Season 14
	Dennis Johnson	Tom Sanders
Season	1989-90	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	75	27.1	7.1	0.6	2.0	2.7	6.5	1.1	0.2	1.6	2.4	2.7	6.3	.434	0.0	0.3	.042	1.6	1.9	.843
Tom Sanders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	5	32.4	13.8	0.4	2.4	2.8	5.6	0.4	0.4	2.0	3.4	6.0	12.4	.484	0.4	1.2	.333	1.4	1.4	1.000
Tom Sanders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Dennis Johnson vs. Tom Sanders Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tom Sanders and Dennis Johnson, 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

Season 13

Season 14