18.9 composite · lower is better
Explore rankings
Player profile · BOS / MIL
Dave Cowens
Dave Cowens advanced stats and career rankings
12.6 average league finish
2,798 total value
Bottom line · Career overview
Dave Cowens ranks #133 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #10.3. His full-career value ranks #102, so longevity is a major reason he lands this high. Explore Dave Cowens's advanced stats by season, era-adjusted impact, workload, and historical comparisons.
Career standing
How Dave Cowens ranks all time
These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.
Best in the league
Elite finishes
Upper-tier finishes
Standard deviations across scoring seasons
Career Composite18.9
Equal average of Best 3, Prime 5, and Best 10 league finishes. The overlapping windows make this explicitly peak-weighted. Lower is better.
- Best 3 weight
- 63.3%
- Score
- 18.9
- Qualified seasons
- 11
- All-time rank
- #133
Strongest seasons
Every season
Dave Cowens advanced stats by season
Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.
| Season | Team | Age | GP | MP | Era-centered box impact | Impact Rate | Rate rank | Season Value | Value percentile | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83Historical Defense Estimate | MIL | 34 | 40 | 1,014 | -0.34 | 52.2 | #122 | 35.1 | 46th | Strong |
| 1979–80Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 31 | 66 | 2,159 | -0.11 | 55.4 | #104 | 87.3 | 61st | Strong |
| 1978–79Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 30 | 68 | 2,517 | +0.05 | 62.1 | #87 | 114.2 | 69th | Strong |
| 1977–78Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 29 | 77 | 3,215 | +3.22 | 93.2 | #17 | 370.3 | 97th | Strong |
| 1976–77Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 28 | 50 | 1,888 | +2.58 | 90.5 | #24 | 193.8 | 88th | Strong |
| 1975–76Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 27 | 78 | 3,101 | +3.25 | 94.1 | #12 | 362.4 | 97th | Strong |
| 1974–75Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 26 | 65 | 2,632 | +3.73 | 96.3 | #8 | 333.3 | 95th | Strong |
| 1973–74Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 25 | 80 | 3,352 | +1.89 | 88.6 | #21 | 299.0 | 94th | Strong |
| 1972–73Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 24 | 82 | 3,425 | +3.19 | 94.2 | #11 | 424.1 | 97th | Modeled |
| 1971–72Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 23 | 79 | 3,186 | +2.63 | 91.5 | #15 | 357.0 | 95th | Modeled |
| 1970–71Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 22 | 81 | 3,076 | +0.88 | 77.8 | #38 | 221.6 | 84th | Modeled |
Career movement
Dave Cowens's career impact by season
Peak +3.73 in 1974–75 · 11 seasons · 29,565 minutes
The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. This is separate from the current lineup-context ranking.
Era-centered box impactMinutesModeled estimate
—’81
—’82
Across-era box estimateWorkload
Career comparison
Compare the shape, not the calendar
Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.
Dave CowensChris Bosh
NBA season number · fixed impact axis −5 to +15
Similar career arcs
Players with careers similar to Dave Cowens
The score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and trajectory aligned by NBA experience. It describes career shape, not playing style or equal ability.
C · All-Time Career #393
Chris Bosh
92%career match
97% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 2009–10C · All-Time Career #129Sam Lacey
92%career match
94% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 1976–77C · All-Time Career #81Clyde Lovellette
91%career match
95% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 1955–56C · All-Time Career #89Willis Reed
91%career match
93% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 1968–69PF · All-Time Career #74Bailey Howell
91%career match
89% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 1960–61PF · All-Time Career #57Jerry Lucas
90%career match
90% season match · 1974–75 ↔ 1964–65Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played. The career ranking rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →