Michael Cooper vs. Jameer Nelson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jameer Nelson 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.

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.

Michael Cooper played 12 years in the NBA, 2 less than Jameer Nelson, who played 14. Michael Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, while Jameer Nelson had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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
Michael Cooper	12	11	1978-79 to 1989-90
Jameer Nelson	14	6	2004-05 to 2017-18

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


Rookie Season
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1978-79	2004-05
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second 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		%
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	-
Jameer Nelson	79	20.4	8.7	0.7	1.8	2.4	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.5	2.5	3.6	7.9	.455	0.6	1.8	.312	0.9	1.4	.682

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1979-80	2005-06
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
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
Jameer Nelson	62	28.8	14.6	0.6	2.3	2.9	4.9	1.1	0.1	2.4	2.8	5.6	11.6	.483	1.1	2.7	.424	2.3	2.9	.779

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
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1980-81	2006-07
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Magic 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	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
Jameer Nelson	77	30.3	13.0	0.6	2.4	3.1	4.3	0.9	0.1	2.4	2.9	4.9	11.4	.430	0.8	2.5	.335	2.4	2.9	.828

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
Jameer Nelson	4	32.3	14.3	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.3	0.8	0.0	2.3	4.8	5.3	12.5	.420	1.3	3.5	.357	2.5	2.8	.909


Season 4
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1981-82	2007-08
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost East 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	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
Jameer Nelson	69	28.4	10.9	0.4	3.1	3.5	5.6	0.9	0.1	2.0	2.4	4.1	8.7	.469	0.9	2.2	.416	1.8	2.2	.828

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
Jameer Nelson	10	33.3	16.2	0.4	3.7	4.1	4.7	0.3	0.2	2.1	4.3	5.7	11.3	.504	2.0	4.1	.488	2.8	3.7	.757


Season 5
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1982-83	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Magic 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		%
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
Jameer Nelson	42	31.2	16.7	0.5	3.0	3.5	5.4	1.2	0.1	2.0	2.9	6.4	12.6	.503	2.0	4.3	.453	2.0	2.3	.887

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
Jameer Nelson	5	18.0	3.8	0.2	1.2	1.4	2.8	0.2	0.0	1.4	0.6	1.6	4.6	.348	0.2	1.2	.167	0.4	0.8	.500


Season 6
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1983-84	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Magic 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		%
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
Jameer Nelson	65	28.6	12.6	0.4	2.6	3.0	5.4	0.7	0.0	2.1	2.3	4.9	10.9	.449	1.3	3.5	.381	1.5	1.8	.845

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
Jameer Nelson	14	34.2	19.0	0.6	2.9	3.6	4.8	1.0	0.0	2.5	2.7	6.5	13.6	.479	2.4	6.0	.393	3.6	4.4	.823


Season 7
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1984-85	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic 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
Jameer Nelson	76	30.5	13.1	0.5	2.5	3.0	6.0	1.0	0.0	2.6	2.8	4.9	11.0	.446	1.6	3.9	.401	1.7	2.1	.802

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
Jameer Nelson	6	36.0	13.2	1.2	3.0	4.2	5.0	2.0	0.0	1.3	2.3	5.2	13.7	.378	1.0	4.3	.231	1.8	2.3	.786


Season 8
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1985-86	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Magic 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	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
Jameer Nelson	57	29.9	11.9	0.5	2.7	3.2	5.7	0.7	0.1	2.4	2.3	4.5	10.6	.427	1.5	4.1	.377	1.2	1.5	.807

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
Jameer Nelson	5	36.4	15.6	0.2	3.6	3.8	6.6	0.8	0.2	2.0	2.6	5.8	14.8	.392	1.6	5.0	.320	2.4	3.2	.750


Season 9
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1986-87	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	Defensive Player of the Year	-
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	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
Jameer Nelson	56	35.3	14.7	0.4	3.3	3.7	7.4	1.3	0.1	2.8	2.9	5.5	13.9	.392	2.2	6.3	.341	1.6	1.8	.873

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
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1987-88	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First 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		%
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
Jameer Nelson	68	32.0	12.1	0.4	3.0	3.4	7.0	0.8	0.1	2.4	2.1	4.3	11.0	.394	2.0	5.8	.348	1.4	1.6	.857

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
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1988-89	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jameer Nelson	63	22.3	8.3	0.5	1.8	2.3	4.0	0.7	0.1	1.7	2.2	3.3	8.0	.407	1.4	4.1	.345	0.4	0.6	.667

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


Season 12
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	1989-90	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jameer Nelson	39	26.6	7.7	0.5	2.5	2.9	4.9	0.6	0.1	1.7	2.6	2.9	7.9	.368	1.1	3.7	.299	0.8	0.9	.857

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


Season 13
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	-	2016-17
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jameer Nelson	75	27.3	9.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	5.1	0.7	0.1	1.7	2.6	3.6	8.1	.444	1.4	3.6	.388	0.6	0.8	.714

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	Michael Cooper	Jameer Nelson
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	New Orleans Pelicans, Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jameer Nelson	50	20.3	4.9	0.3	1.8	2.1	3.6	0.5	0.1	1.3	1.6	1.9	4.9	.389	0.8	2.5	.331	0.3	0.4	.800

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jameer Nelson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Michael Cooper vs. Jameer Nelson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jameer Nelson 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.

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