Earl Cureton vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Earl Cureton, 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.

Earl Cureton played 12 years in the NBA, 3 less than James Harden, who played 15. Earl Cureton had the first of his seasons in 1980-81, 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
Earl Cureton	12	7	1980-81 to 1996-97
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1980-81	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	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		%
Earl Cureton	52	10.2	4.2	1.0	2.0	3.0	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.6	1.3	1.8	3.9	.454	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	1.2	.516
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		%
Earl Cureton	9	4.0	1.3	0.1	0.9	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.7	2.0	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.2	.000
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1981-82	2010-11
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	76ers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Earl Cureton	66	14.5	5.3	1.4	2.7	4.1	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.7	2.2	2.3	4.6	.487	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.4	.543
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		%
Earl Cureton	12	6.3	2.7	1.0	1.2	2.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.4	1.0	1.1	3.4	.317	0.0	0.1	.000	0.5	0.8	.667
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1982-83	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Earl Cureton	73	13.5	3.4	1.2	2.5	3.7	0.6	0.5	0.3	1.0	2.0	1.5	3.5	.419	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.9	.493
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		%
Earl Cureton	5	5.0	0.4	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.2	0.4	0.0	0.6	1.0	0.2	0.8	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1983-84	2012-13
Team	Detroit Pistons	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons 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		%
Earl Cureton	73	12.4	2.6	1.2	2.8	3.9	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.8	2.0	1.1	2.4	.458	0.0	0.0	.000	0.4	0.8	.525
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		%
Earl Cureton	5	18.6	6.4	2.8	3.8	6.6	0.4	0.4	0.2	1.0	1.8	3.0	6.2	.484	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	1.2	.333
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1984-85	2013-14
Team	Detroit Pistons	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Earl Cureton	81	20.3	6.1	2.1	3.1	5.2	1.0	0.7	0.5	1.4	2.7	2.6	5.3	.484	0.0	0.0	.000	1.0	1.8	.569
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		%
Earl Cureton	9	14.8	4.1	1.1	3.4	4.6	0.4	1.0	0.2	0.4	2.2	1.8	3.8	.471	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	1.0	.556
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1985-86	2014-15
Team	Detroit Pistons	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons 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		%
Earl Cureton	80	25.2	8.6	2.5	3.8	6.3	1.7	0.7	0.7	1.9	3.0	3.6	7.1	.505	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.6	.555
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		%
Earl Cureton	4	31.5	9.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	2.3	0.8	0.0	1.3	3.5	4.3	7.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.000	0.5	2.0	.250
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1986-87	2015-16
Team	Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers	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		%
Earl Cureton	78	25.3	7.3	2.7	3.1	5.8	1.6	0.4	0.7	1.0	2.4	3.1	6.5	.476	0.0	0.0	.000	1.1	1.9	.539
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1987-88	2016-17
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Earl Cureton	69	16.3	4.3	1.4	2.5	3.9	0.9	0.5	0.5	0.8	2.0	1.9	4.5	.429	0.0	0.0	.000	0.5	0.9	.524
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1988-89	2017-18
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Earl Cureton	82	25.0	6.5	2.3	3.7	6.0	1.6	0.6	0.7	1.4	2.8	2.8	5.7	.501	0.0	0.0	.000	0.8	1.5	.537
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Note: Earl Cureton didn't play in 1989-90.


Season 10
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1990-91	2018-19
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Earl Cureton	9	17.7	1.9	0.7	3.3	4.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.7	1.8	0.9	2.7	.333	0.0	0.1	.000	0.1	0.3	.333
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Note: Earl Cureton didn't play in 1991-92 and 1992-93.


Season 11
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1993-94	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Rockets 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		%
Earl Cureton	2	15.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	6.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	2.0	1.0	4.0	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	1.0	.000
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		%
Earl Cureton	10	10.0	1.8	0.6	2.3	2.9	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.3	2.0	0.8	1.0	.800	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.2	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

Note: Earl Cureton didn't play in 1994-95 and 1995-96.


Season 12
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	1996-97	2020-21
Team	Toronto Raptors	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nets Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Earl Cureton	9	5.1	0.8	0.4	0.6	1.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.1	0.3	0.9	.375	0.0	0.0	-	0.1	0.3	.333
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Earl Cureton	James Harden
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
Playoffs	-	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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Earl Cureton	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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Earl Cureton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Earl Cureton vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Earl Cureton, 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