Sam Bowie vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Sam Bowie, 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.

Sam Bowie played 10 years in the NBA, 4 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Sam Bowie had the first of his seasons in 1984-85, while Dennis Johnson had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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
Sam Bowie	10	5	1984-85 to 1994-95
Dennis Johnson	14	13	1976-77 to 1989-90

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


Rookie Season
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1984-85	1976-77
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Trail Blazers 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		%
Sam Bowie	76	29.2	10.0	2.7	5.9	8.6	2.8	0.7	2.7	2.3	3.7	3.9	7.3	.537	0.0	0.0	-	2.1	3.0	.711
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	9	28.8	7.3	1.8	6.7	8.4	2.3	0.4	2.3	1.3	4.0	2.9	6.6	.441	0.0	0.0	-	1.6	2.8	.560
Dennis Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1985-86	1977-78
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	38	29.8	11.8	2.4	6.2	8.6	2.6	0.6	2.5	2.3	3.7	4.4	9.1	.484	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.2	.708
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

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


Season 3
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1986-87	1978-79
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
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		%
Sam Bowie	5	32.6	16.0	2.8	3.8	6.6	1.8	0.2	2.0	3.0	3.8	6.0	13.2	.455	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	6.0	.667
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

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

Note: Sam Bowie didn't play in 1987-88.


Season 4
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1988-89	1979-80
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Supersonics 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		%
Sam Bowie	20	20.6	8.6	1.8	3.5	5.3	1.8	0.4	1.7	1.7	2.2	3.5	7.7	.451	0.3	0.4	.714	1.4	2.5	.571
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	3	22.3	10.3	3.3	3.3	6.7	1.0	0.0	2.3	1.0	2.7	4.0	9.3	.429	0.3	0.7	.500	2.0	2.7	.750
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


Season 5
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1989-90	1980-81
Team	New Jersey Nets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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		%
Sam Bowie	68	32.5	14.7	3.0	7.1	10.1	1.3	0.6	1.8	1.8	3.1	5.1	12.3	.416	0.1	0.5	.323	4.3	5.6	.776
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

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


Season 6
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1990-91	1981-82
Team	New Jersey Nets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns 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		%
Sam Bowie	62	30.9	12.9	2.8	4.9	7.7	2.4	0.7	1.5	2.3	2.8	5.1	11.7	.434	0.1	0.4	.182	2.7	3.7	.732
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

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


Season 7
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1991-92	1982-83
Team	New Jersey Nets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	71	30.7	15.0	2.9	5.3	8.1	2.6	0.6	1.7	2.1	3.0	5.9	13.3	.445	0.1	0.4	.320	3.0	3.9	.757
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	4	28.0	9.3	2.0	2.8	4.8	2.3	0.8	0.8	1.3	4.8	3.5	8.3	.424	0.3	0.5	.500	2.0	3.0	.667
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


Season 8
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1992-93	1983-84
Team	New Jersey Nets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Nets Lost East 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		%
Sam Bowie	79	26.5	9.1	2.0	5.0	7.0	1.6	0.4	1.6	1.5	2.9	3.6	8.1	.450	0.0	0.1	.333	1.8	2.3	.779
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	3	23.7	3.3	0.7	3.3	4.0	0.7	2.0	0.3	1.3	3.0	1.3	3.0	.444	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	0.7	1.000
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


Season 9
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1993-94	1984-85
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	25	22.2	8.9	1.1	4.2	5.2	1.9	0.2	1.1	1.7	2.6	3.0	6.9	.436	0.0	0.2	.250	2.9	3.3	.867
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

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


Season 10
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	1994-95	1985-86
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	67	18.3	4.6	1.1	3.2	4.3	1.8	0.3	1.2	1.4	2.7	1.8	4.0	.442	0.0	0.2	.182	1.0	1.3	.764
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	10	13.5	2.1	1.3	2.0	3.3	0.3	0.1	0.9	0.6	2.5	0.8	3.0	.267	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.5	1.000
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


Season 11
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1986-87
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Sam Bowie	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 12
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1987-88
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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		%
Sam Bowie	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 13
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1988-89
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		%
Sam Bowie	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 14
	Sam Bowie	Dennis Johnson
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		%
Sam Bowie	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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

Sam Bowie vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Sam Bowie, 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