Tom Burleson vs. Michael Cooper Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Cooper and Tom Burleson, 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.

Tom Burleson played 7 years in the NBA, 5 less than Michael Cooper, who played 12. Tom Burleson had the first of his seasons in 1974-75, while Michael Cooper had his rookie season in 1978-79. 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
Tom Burleson	7	2	1974-75 to 1980-81
Michael Cooper	12	11	1978-79 to 1989-90

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


Rookie Season
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1974-75	1978-79
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Tom Burleson	82	23.0	10.1	1.9	5.1	7.0	1.4	0.8	1.9	-	2.7	3.9	9.4	.417	-	-	-	2.2	3.2	.687
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	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Tom Burleson	9	40.4	20.7	3.3	7.3	10.7	1.4	0.8	2.0	-	3.2	8.7	16.9	.513	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.750
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1975-76	1979-80
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Supersonics 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		%
Tom Burleson	82	32.3	15.6	3.1	5.9	9.0	2.2	0.9	1.8	-	3.3	6.0	12.6	.481	-	-	-	3.5	4.7	.750
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Tom Burleson	6	34.7	20.8	2.5	7.0	9.5	1.7	1.0	1.3	-	4.2	7.5	12.5	.600	-	-	-	5.8	7.7	.761
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


Season 3
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1976-77	1980-81
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Tom Burleson	82	22.0	9.7	2.2	4.5	6.7	1.1	0.9	1.4	-	3.2	3.5	8.0	.442	-	-	-	2.7	3.7	.731
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

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


Season 4
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1977-78	1981-82
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
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		%
Tom Burleson	76	20.1	8.6	2.2	4.1	6.3	1.7	0.8	1.1	1.6	3.4	3.0	6.9	.434	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.794
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

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


Season 5
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1978-79	1982-83
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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		%
Tom Burleson	56	16.6	7.8	1.5	3.5	5.0	0.9	0.5	1.0	1.1	3.3	2.8	6.1	.459	-	-	-	2.2	3.0	.716
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

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


Season 6
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1979-80	1983-84
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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		%
Tom Burleson	37	7.4	2.6	0.6	1.3	1.9	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.7	1.3	1.0	2.8	.346	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	1.1	.575
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

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


Season 7
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	1980-81	1984-85
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
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		%
Tom Burleson	31	11.7	3.3	1.4	1.6	3.0	0.4	0.3	0.6	0.8	2.4	1.3	3.2	.414	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.3	.488
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

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


Season 8
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	-	1985-86
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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		%
Tom Burleson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 9
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	-	1986-87
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	Defensive Player of the Year
Playoffs	-	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		%
Tom Burleson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 10
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	-	1987-88
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	-	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		%
Tom Burleson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 11
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	-	1988-89
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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		%
Tom Burleson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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


Season 12
	Tom Burleson	Michael Cooper
Season	-	1989-90
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers 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		%
Tom Burleson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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

Tom Burleson vs. Michael Cooper Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Michael Cooper and Tom Burleson, 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