Caron Butler vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Caron Butler, 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.

Caron Butler played 14 years in the NBA, 1 less than James Harden, who played 15. Caron Butler had the first of his seasons in 2002-03, while James Harden had his rookie season in 2009-10. 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
Caron Butler	14	7	2002-03 to 2015-16
James Harden	15	15	2009-10 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2002-03	2009-10
Team	Miami Heat	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder 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		%
Caron Butler	78	36.6	15.4	1.7	3.4	5.1	2.7	1.8	0.4	2.5	2.9	5.5	13.2	.416	0.4	1.4	.318	4.0	4.8	.824
James Harden	76	22.9	9.9	0.6	2.6	3.2	1.8	1.1	0.3	1.4	2.6	3.1	7.6	.403	1.2	3.3	.375	2.6	3.2	.808

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	6	20.0	7.7	0.2	2.3	2.5	1.8	1.0	0.2	0.5	2.3	2.0	5.2	.387	1.0	2.7	.375	2.7	3.2	.842


Season 2
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2003-04	2010-11
Team	Miami Heat	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Heat Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder 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		%
Caron Butler	68	29.9	9.2	1.4	3.4	4.8	1.9	1.1	0.2	1.3	2.4	3.5	9.3	.380	0.1	0.6	.238	2.0	2.6	.756
James Harden	82	26.7	12.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	2.1	1.1	0.3	1.3	2.5	3.6	8.3	.436	1.4	4.0	.349	3.5	4.2	.843

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	13	39.2	12.8	1.4	7.1	8.5	2.4	2.2	0.5	1.8	3.5	4.5	11.8	.386	0.2	0.8	.182	3.6	4.4	.825
James Harden	17	31.6	13.0	0.6	4.8	5.4	3.6	1.2	0.8	1.6	2.8	3.9	8.2	.475	1.4	4.5	.303	3.9	4.7	.825


Season 3
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2004-05	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder 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		%
Caron Butler	77	35.7	15.5	1.9	3.9	5.8	1.9	1.4	0.3	1.6	2.8	5.7	12.9	.445	0.5	1.6	.304	3.6	4.1	.862
James Harden	62	31.4	16.8	0.5	3.6	4.1	3.7	1.0	0.2	2.2	2.4	5.0	10.1	.491	1.8	4.7	.390	5.0	6.0	.846

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	20	31.5	16.3	0.7	4.5	5.1	3.4	1.6	0.1	2.1	3.4	4.7	10.7	.435	1.6	3.9	.410	5.4	6.3	.857


Season 4
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2005-06	2012-13
Team	Washington Wizards	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	75	36.1	17.6	1.5	4.7	6.2	2.5	1.7	0.2	2.3	3.2	6.6	14.5	.455	0.5	1.6	.342	3.9	4.4	.870
James Harden	78	38.3	25.9	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.8	1.8	0.5	3.8	2.3	7.5	17.1	.438	2.3	6.2	.368	8.6	10.2	.851

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	6	43.7	18.5	2.7	7.8	10.5	2.7	2.0	0.7	2.3	5.2	7.0	16.8	.416	0.5	2.3	.214	4.0	4.8	.828
James Harden	6	40.5	26.3	0.8	5.8	6.7	4.5	2.0	1.0	4.5	3.0	7.5	19.2	.391	2.5	7.3	.341	8.8	11.0	.803


Season 5
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2006-07	2013-14
Team	Washington Wizards	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	63	39.3	19.1	2.3	5.1	7.4	3.7	2.1	0.3	2.9	3.0	7.2	15.5	.463	0.3	1.1	.250	4.5	5.2	.863
James Harden	73	38.0	25.4	0.8	3.9	4.7	6.1	1.6	0.4	3.6	2.4	7.5	16.5	.456	2.4	6.6	.366	7.9	9.1	.866

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	6	43.8	26.8	0.8	3.8	4.7	5.8	2.0	0.2	3.5	3.5	8.3	22.2	.376	2.7	9.0	.296	7.5	8.3	.900


Season 6
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2007-08	2014-15
Team	Washington Wizards	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Wizards Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	58	39.9	20.3	1.6	5.1	6.7	4.9	2.2	0.3	2.6	2.8	7.6	16.3	.466	1.1	3.2	.357	4.1	4.5	.901
James Harden	81	36.8	27.4	0.9	4.7	5.7	7.0	1.9	0.7	4.0	2.6	8.0	18.1	.440	2.6	6.9	.375	8.8	10.2	.868

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	6	41.0	18.7	1.7	4.0	5.7	3.8	1.8	0.2	2.7	3.2	6.7	14.5	.460	0.8	3.5	.238	4.5	5.2	.871
James Harden	17	37.4	27.2	0.7	5.0	5.7	7.5	1.6	0.4	4.5	2.9	7.6	17.3	.439	2.4	6.3	.383	9.6	10.5	.916


Season 7
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2008-09	2015-16
Team	Washington Wizards	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	67	38.6	20.8	1.8	4.4	6.2	4.3	1.6	0.3	3.1	2.5	7.3	16.2	.453	1.0	3.1	.310	5.1	6.0	.858
James Harden	82	38.1	29.0	0.8	5.3	6.1	7.5	1.7	0.6	4.6	2.8	8.7	19.7	.439	2.9	8.0	.359	8.8	10.2	.860

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	5	38.6	26.6	1.4	3.8	5.2	7.6	2.4	0.2	5.2	2.6	8.2	20.0	.410	2.6	8.4	.310	7.6	9.0	.844


Season 8
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2009-10	2016-17
Team	Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	74	37.6	16.3	1.4	4.8	6.2	2.1	1.6	0.3	2.2	2.6	6.1	14.2	.428	0.6	2.0	.290	3.6	4.3	.838
James Harden	81	36.4	29.1	1.2	7.0	8.1	11.2	1.5	0.5	5.7	2.7	8.3	18.9	.440	3.2	9.3	.347	9.2	10.9	.847

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	6	33.7	19.7	0.5	5.3	5.8	1.3	1.5	0.8	2.5	2.7	7.2	16.5	.434	1.2	3.8	.304	4.2	4.5	.926
James Harden	11	37.0	28.5	0.6	4.8	5.5	8.5	1.9	0.5	5.4	3.9	8.2	19.8	.413	2.9	10.5	.278	9.2	10.5	.878


Season 9
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2010-11	2017-18
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	29	29.9	15.0	0.8	3.3	4.1	1.6	1.0	0.3	1.7	2.0	5.9	13.0	.450	1.0	2.2	.431	2.3	3.0	.773
James Harden	72	35.4	30.4	0.6	4.8	5.4	8.8	1.8	0.7	4.4	2.3	9.0	20.1	.449	3.7	10.0	.367	8.7	10.1	.858

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	17	36.5	28.6	0.8	4.4	5.2	6.8	2.2	0.6	3.8	2.7	9.3	22.6	.410	3.1	10.2	.299	6.9	7.8	.887


Season 10
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2011-12	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	63	29.7	12.0	0.7	3.0	3.7	1.2	0.8	0.1	1.2	2.0	4.6	11.2	.407	1.5	4.1	.358	1.4	1.7	.813
James Harden	78	36.8	36.1	0.8	5.8	6.6	7.5	2.0	0.7	5.0	3.1	10.8	24.5	.442	4.8	13.2	.368	9.7	11.0	.879

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	10	26.8	8.6	0.4	2.6	3.0	1.0	0.6	0.2	1.6	2.2	3.3	9.2	.359	0.8	3.1	.258	1.2	1.6	.750
James Harden	11	38.5	31.6	0.8	6.0	6.8	6.6	2.2	0.9	4.6	3.7	9.9	24.0	.413	4.4	12.5	.350	7.5	8.9	.837


Season 11
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2012-13	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
Caron Butler	78	24.1	10.4	0.5	2.3	2.9	1.0	0.7	0.1	0.9	1.8	3.9	9.2	.424	1.6	4.2	.388	1.0	1.2	.833
James Harden	68	36.5	34.3	1.0	5.5	6.6	7.5	1.8	0.9	4.5	3.3	9.9	22.3	.444	4.4	12.4	.355	10.2	11.8	.865

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	6	22.7	8.5	0.2	2.5	2.7	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.8	3.7	7.7	.478	0.7	2.7	.250	0.5	0.5	1.000
James Harden	12	37.3	29.6	1.0	4.6	5.6	7.7	1.5	0.8	3.8	3.6	9.1	19.0	.478	3.3	9.8	.333	8.2	9.7	.845


Season 12
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2013-14	2020-21
Team	Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Nets 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		%
Caron Butler	56	25.3	10.5	0.4	3.7	4.1	1.5	0.8	0.3	1.1	2.1	3.8	9.6	.394	1.8	4.4	.394	1.1	1.3	.840
James Harden	44	36.6	24.6	0.8	7.1	7.9	10.8	1.2	0.8	4.0	2.3	7.8	16.7	.466	2.8	7.6	.362	6.3	7.3	.861

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	18	23.3	6.3	0.6	2.6	3.2	0.8	0.3	0.1	0.6	1.8	1.9	6.0	.324	1.2	3.3	.356	1.2	1.6	.786
James Harden	9	35.8	20.2	0.8	5.6	6.3	8.6	1.7	0.7	2.9	2.6	5.7	12.0	.472	2.7	7.3	.364	6.2	6.9	.903


Season 13
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2014-15	2021-22
Team	Detroit Pistons	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers 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		%
Caron Butler	78	20.8	5.9	0.3	2.2	2.5	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.6	1.5	2.1	5.1	.407	1.1	2.8	.379	0.7	0.8	.902
James Harden	65	37.2	22.0	0.8	6.8	7.7	10.3	1.3	0.6	4.4	2.4	6.3	15.3	.410	2.3	6.9	.330	7.2	8.2	.877

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	12	39.9	18.6	0.9	4.8	5.7	8.6	0.8	0.7	4.2	2.4	5.3	13.2	.405	2.3	6.3	.368	5.6	6.3	.893


Season 14
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	2015-16	2022-23
Team	Sacramento Kings	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	76ers 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		%
Caron Butler	17	10.4	3.7	0.3	1.0	1.3	0.6	0.5	0.1	0.2	1.1	1.5	3.5	.424	0.2	1.1	.167	0.6	0.7	.833
James Harden	58	36.8	21.0	0.7	5.4	6.1	10.7	1.2	0.5	3.4	1.9	6.4	14.5	.441	2.8	7.2	.385	5.4	6.2	.867

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	11	38.8	20.3	0.5	5.6	6.2	8.3	1.8	0.4	3.2	2.5	6.5	16.6	.393	2.8	7.5	.378	4.4	5.0	.873


Season 15
	Caron Butler	James Harden
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers 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		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	72	34.3	16.6	0.5	4.7	5.1	8.5	1.1	0.8	2.6	1.8	4.9	11.4	.428	2.6	6.8	.381	4.2	4.8	.878

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Caron Butler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	6	40.3	21.2	0.5	4.0	4.5	8.0	1.0	1.0	2.3	2.2	6.7	14.8	.449	3.0	7.8	.383	4.8	5.3	.906

Caron Butler vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Caron Butler, 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