Michael Cooper vs. George Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of George Johnson and Michael Cooper, 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.

Michael Cooper played 12 years in the NBA, 1 less than George Johnson, who played 13. Michael Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, while George Johnson had his rookie season in 1972-73. 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.

Season 2
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1979-80	1973-74
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
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		%
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
George Johnson	66	19.6	6.1	2.9	5.0	7.9	1.1	0.5	1.9	-	2.7	2.6	5.4	.483	-	-	-	0.9	1.6	.551
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1980-81	1974-75
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers 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		%
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
George Johnson	82	17.5	4.4	2.6	4.4	7.0	0.8	0.4	1.7	-	2.5	1.9	3.9	.476	-	-	-	0.7	1.1	.659
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	17	18.9	5.2	3.2	4.2	7.4	0.9	0.5	2.4	-	2.9	2.1	3.7	.571	-	-	-	0.9	1.6	.593

Season 4
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1981-82	1975-76
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost West 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		%
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
George Johnson	82	21.3	4.9	2.4	5.2	7.6	1.0	0.6	2.1	-	3.4	2.0	4.2	.484	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	.673
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	13	20.1	5.8	2.9	3.8	6.7	1.3	1.1	1.8	-	3.5	2.4	4.2	.574	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.737

Season 5
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1982-83	1976-77
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors, Buffalo Braves
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers 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		%
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
George Johnson	78	21.2	6.0	2.6	5.2	7.8	1.3	0.5	2.3	-	3.2	2.5	5.5	.462	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	.724
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1983-84	1977-78
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	Blocks Leader
Playoffs	Lakers 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		%
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
George Johnson	81	29.8	8.7	3.0	6.6	9.6	1.4	1.0	3.4	2.7	4.2	3.5	8.9	.395	-	-	-	1.6	2.3	.719
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1984-85	1978-79
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nets 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		%
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
George Johnson	78	26.4	6.6	2.6	5.3	7.9	1.1	0.9	3.2	2.3	4.0	2.6	6.2	.427	-	-	-	1.3	1.8	.761
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	2	35.0	14.5	4.0	8.5	12.5	1.0	1.0	3.5	2.0	4.0	7.0	10.5	.667	-	-	-	0.5	1.5	.333

Season 8
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1985-86	1979-80
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Jersey Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 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		%
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
George Johnson	81	26.2	7.2	2.4	5.1	7.4	2.1	0.7	3.2	2.5	3.9	3.1	6.7	.457	0.0	0.0	.000	1.1	1.6	.706
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1986-87	1980-81
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	-	Blocks Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	82	23.6	5.0	2.6	4.7	7.3	1.1	0.6	3.4	1.3	3.3	2.0	4.2	.473	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.734
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	7	23.6	4.4	3.4	5.6	9.0	0.9	0.4	2.3	1.0	2.9	1.7	3.7	.462	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.700

Season 10
	Michael Cooper	George Johnson
Season	1987-88	1981-82
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	Blocks Leader
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Spurs Lost West 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		%
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
George Johnson	75	21.0	3.0	2.0	4.0	6.1	1.1	0.3	3.1	1.2	3.5	1.2	2.6	.467	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	0.9	.672
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
George Johnson	9	19.4	1.2	1.3	3.8	5.1	1.3	0.7	1.7	0.4	3.8	0.4	0.9	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.6	.600

Note: George Johnson didn't play in 1983-84.