Michael Cooper vs. Rudy Gay Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rudy Gay 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, 5 less than Rudy Gay, who played 17. Michael Cooper had the first of his seasons in 1978-79, while Rudy Gay had his rookie season in 2006-07. 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
Rudy Gay	17	3	2006-07 to 2022-23

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17


Rookie Season
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1978-79	2006-07
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First 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	-
Rudy Gay	78	27.0	10.8	1.2	3.3	4.5	1.3	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.5	4.1	9.7	.422	0.7	1.8	.364	1.9	2.7	.727

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


Season 2
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1979-80	2007-08
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
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
Rudy Gay	81	37.0	20.1	1.7	4.4	6.2	2.0	1.4	1.0	2.3	2.8	7.7	16.7	.461	1.7	4.8	.346	3.1	3.9	.785

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1980-81	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Rudy Gay	79	37.3	18.9	1.4	4.2	5.5	1.7	1.2	0.7	2.6	2.8	7.2	16.0	.453	1.1	3.1	.351	3.3	4.4	.767

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1981-82	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
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	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
Rudy Gay	80	39.7	19.6	1.4	4.5	5.9	1.9	1.5	0.8	2.1	2.5	7.5	16.1	.466	0.8	2.5	.327	3.8	5.0	.753

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1982-83	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
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
Rudy Gay	54	39.9	19.8	1.5	4.7	6.2	2.8	1.7	1.1	2.5	2.4	7.6	16.1	.471	1.1	2.7	.396	3.6	4.5	.805

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1983-84	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Grizzlies 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		%
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
Rudy Gay	65	37.3	19.0	2.0	4.4	6.4	2.3	1.5	0.8	2.5	2.1	7.5	16.4	.455	0.8	2.7	.312	3.2	4.0	.791

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
Rudy Gay	7	39.9	19.0	1.4	5.1	6.6	1.4	1.3	0.3	3.0	2.1	6.9	16.3	.421	0.6	2.7	.211	4.7	5.7	.825


Season 7
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1984-85	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors
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	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
Rudy Gay	75	35.8	18.2	1.3	4.8	6.1	2.7	1.5	0.7	2.6	2.4	6.9	16.7	.416	1.1	3.5	.323	3.2	3.9	.814

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1985-86	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings
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
Rudy Gay	73	34.7	20.0	1.5	4.4	6.0	2.9	1.3	0.8	3.1	2.3	7.4	16.2	.455	0.9	2.7	.330	4.4	5.3	.822

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1986-87	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Honors & Awards	Defensive Player of the Year	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
Rudy Gay	68	35.4	21.1	1.4	4.4	5.9	3.7	1.0	0.6	2.7	2.3	7.5	16.4	.455	1.2	3.2	.359	5.0	5.8	.858

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1987-88	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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	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
Rudy Gay	70	34.0	17.2	1.5	5.0	6.5	1.7	1.4	0.7	2.0	2.6	6.7	14.4	.463	1.1	3.1	.344	2.8	3.6	.780

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1988-89	2016-17
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Sacramento Kings
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
Rudy Gay	30	33.8	18.7	1.2	5.2	6.3	2.8	1.5	0.9	2.5	2.6	6.7	14.7	.455	1.4	3.8	.372	3.9	4.6	.855

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
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	1989-90	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Spurs 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		%
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
Rudy Gay	57	21.6	11.5	1.3	3.8	5.1	1.3	0.8	0.7	1.4	1.7	4.4	9.4	.471	0.6	2.1	.314	2.0	2.5	.772

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	-
Rudy Gay	5	32.0	12.2	1.8	3.8	5.6	2.2	1.6	0.2	1.2	3.2	5.2	13.0	.400	0.8	3.6	.222	1.0	1.8	.556


Season 13
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Spurs 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		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	69	26.7	13.7	0.9	5.9	6.8	2.6	0.8	0.5	1.7	2.3	5.4	10.8	.504	1.1	2.7	.402	1.7	2.1	.816

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Michael Cooper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	7	25.6	11.1	1.9	5.3	7.1	1.7	0.4	0.7	1.4	1.9	4.0	10.0	.400	1.1	2.7	.421	2.0	2.4	.824


Season 14
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	San Antonio Spurs
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	67	21.8	10.8	0.9	4.5	5.4	1.7	0.5	0.5	1.3	1.5	4.0	8.9	.446	1.1	3.3	.336	1.8	2.0	.882

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


Season 15
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	San Antonio Spurs
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	63	21.6	11.4	0.7	4.1	4.8	1.4	0.7	0.6	1.0	1.8	4.2	10.0	.420	1.7	4.4	.381	1.3	1.6	.804

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


Season 16
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Utah Jazz
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	55	18.9	8.1	1.0	3.4	4.4	1.0	0.5	0.3	0.9	1.7	2.9	6.9	.414	1.3	3.7	.345	1.1	1.4	.785

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


Season 17
	Michael Cooper	Rudy Gay
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Utah Jazz
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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	56	14.6	5.2	0.6	2.3	2.9	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.2	1.9	5.1	.380	0.6	2.3	.254	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy Gay	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Michael Cooper vs. Rudy Gay Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rudy Gay 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

Season 15

Season 16

Season 17