Jalen Brunson vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Jalen Brunson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Jalen Brunson played 7 years in the NBA, 9 less than James Harden, who played 16. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2018-19	2009-10
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	73	21.8	9.3	0.3	2.0	2.3	3.2	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.7	3.6	7.7	.467	0.9	2.5	.348	1.2	1.6	.725
difference:	+3	+1.1	+0.6	+0.3	+0.6	+0.9	+1.4	+0.6	+0.2	-0.2	-0.9	+0.5	+0.1	+.064	+0.3	+0.8	+.027	+1.4	+1.6	+.083
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		%
Jalen Brunson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 3
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2020-21	2011-12
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	68	25.0	12.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	3.5	0.5	0.0	1.2	1.6	4.8	9.2	.523	1.2	2.9	.405	1.8	2.2	.795
difference:	+6	+6.4	+4.2	+0.1	+0.6	+0.7	+0.2	+0.5	+0.2	-1.0	-0.8	+0.2	+0.9	+.032	+0.6	+1.8	+.015	+3.2	+3.8	+.051
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		%
Jalen Brunson	7	16.3	8.0	0.9	1.7	2.6	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	2.9	6.3	.455	0.9	1.9	.462	1.4	1.9	.769
difference:	+13	+15.2	+8.3	+0.2	+2.8	+2.5	+2.0	+1.6	+0.1	-1.5	-2.5	+1.8	+4.4	+.020	+0.7	+2.0	+.052	+4.0	+4.4	+.088
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
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2021-22	2012-13
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	79	31.9	16.3	0.5	3.4	3.9	4.8	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	6.4	12.8	.502	1.2	3.2	.373	2.3	2.7	.840
difference:	+1	+6.4	+9.6	+0.3	+0.7	+1.0	+1.0	+1.0	+0.5	-2.2	-0.4	+1.1	+4.3	+.064	+1.1	+3.0	+.005	+6.3	+7.5	+.011
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	34.9	21.6	0.8	3.8	4.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	1.1	2.1	8.1	17.3	.466	1.4	4.2	.347	4.0	5.0	.800
difference:	+12	+5.6	+4.7		+2.0	+2.1	+0.8	+1.2	+0.9	-3.4	-0.9	+0.6	+1.9	+.075	+1.1	+3.1	+.006	+4.8	+6.0	+.003
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
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2022-23	2013-14
Team	New York Knicks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	68	35.0	24.0	0.6	3.0	3.5	6.2	0.9	0.2	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.6	.491	2.0	4.7	.416	4.8	5.8	.829
difference:	+5	+3.0	+1.4	+0.2	+0.9	+1.2	+0.1	+0.7	+0.2	-1.5	-0.2	+1.1	+1.1	+.035	+0.4	+1.9	+.050	+3.1	+3.3	+.037
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		%
Jalen Brunson	11	40.3	27.8	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.6	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.4	9.9	20.9	.474	2.4	7.3	.325	5.6	6.2	.912
difference:	+5	+3.5	+1.0		+0.3	+0.2	+0.2	+0.5	+0.1	-1.4	-1.1	+1.6	+1.3	+.098	+0.3	+1.7	+.029	+1.9	+2.1	+.012
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
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2023-24	2014-15
Team	New York Knicks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	77	35.4	28.7	0.6	3.1	3.6	6.7	0.9	0.2	2.4	1.9	10.3	21.4	.479	2.7	6.8	.401	5.5	6.5	.847
difference:	+4	+1.4	+1.3	+0.3	+1.6	+2.1	+0.3	+1.0	+0.5	-1.6	-0.7	+2.3	+3.3	+.039	+0.1	+0.1	+.026	+3.3	+3.7	+.021
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		%
Jalen Brunson	13	39.8	32.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	0.8	0.2	2.7	2.0	11.6	26.2	.444	2.0	6.5	.310	7.2	9.2	.775
difference:	+4	+2.4	+5.2	+0.1	+2.3	+2.4		+0.8	+0.2	-1.8	-0.9	+4.0	+8.9	+.005	+0.4	+0.2	+.073	+2.4	+1.3	+.141
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
	Jalen Brunson	James Harden
Season	2024-25	2015-16
Team	New York Knicks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Clutch Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	65	35.4	26.0	0.4	2.5	2.9	7.3	0.9	0.1	2.5	2.1	9.0	18.5	.488	2.3	6.1	.383	5.7	6.9	.821
difference:	+17	+2.7	+3.0	+0.4	+2.8	+3.2	+0.2	+0.8	+0.5	-2.1	-0.7	+0.3	+1.2	+.049	+0.6	+1.9	+.024	+3.1	+3.3	+.039
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	37.8	29.4	0.7	2.8	3.4	7.0	0.4	0.3	3.1	3.3	10.1	21.8	.461	2.7	7.4	.358	6.7	7.8	.851
difference:	+13	+0.8	+2.8	+0.7	+1.0	+1.8	+0.6	+2.0	+0.1	-2.1	-0.7	+1.9	+1.8	+.051	+0.1	+1.0	+.048	+0.9	+1.2	+.007
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

Additional Years
* James Harden played 9 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 16, from 2017 to 2025—James Harden played in 9 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over Jalen Brunson, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 Scoring Leader 2 Assists Leader 7 All-Star Game