James Harden vs. Ben Simmons Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ben Simmons and James Harden, 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.

James Harden played 16 years in the NBA, 9 more than Ben Simmons, who played 7. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Ben Simmons had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2009-10	2017-18
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+5	+10.8	+5.9	+1.2	+3.7	+4.9	+6.4	+0.6	+0.6	-2.0		+3.6	+4.7	+.142	+1.2	+3.2	+.375	+0.2	+1.0	+.248
Ben Simmons	81	33.7	15.8	1.8	6.3	8.1	8.2	1.7	0.9	3.4	2.6	6.7	12.3	.545	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	4.2	.560
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+4	+16.9	+8.6	+1.4	+5.5	+6.9	+5.9	+0.7	+0.6	-3.9	-1.1	+4.1	+7.3	+.101	+1.0	+2.6	+.375	+1.4	+2.6	+.135
Ben Simmons	10	36.9	16.3	1.6	7.8	9.4	7.7	1.7	0.8	4.4	3.4	6.1	12.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.8	.707

Season 2
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2010-11	2018-19
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+3	+7.5	+4.7	+1.7	+4.0	+5.7	+5.6	+0.3	+0.5	-2.2	-0.1	+3.2	+3.9	+.127	+1.4	+3.9	+.349	+0.2	+1.2	+.243
Ben Simmons	79	34.2	16.9	2.2	6.6	8.8	7.7	1.4	0.8	3.5	2.6	6.8	12.2	.563	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.600
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+5	+3.5	+0.9	+1.3	+0.3	+1.6	+2.4	+0.1	+0.2	-1.1	-1.0	+2.1	+1.5	+.146	+1.4	+4.5		+2.0	+1.4	+.250
Ben Simmons	12	35.1	13.9	1.9	5.1	7.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	2.7	3.8	6.0	9.7	.621	0.0	0.0	-	1.9	3.3	.575

Season 3
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2011-12	2019-20
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+5	+4.0	+0.4	+1.5	+2.2	+3.7	+4.3	+1.1	+0.4	-1.3	-0.9	+1.6	+1.3	+.089	+1.8	+4.6	+.104	+1.8	+0.8	+.225
Ben Simmons	57	35.4	16.4	2.0	5.8	7.8	8.0	2.1	0.6	3.5	3.3	6.6	11.4	.580	0.0	0.1	.286	3.2	5.2	.621
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2012-13	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	76ers Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+20	+5.9	+11.6	+0.8	+1.5	+2.3	+1.1	+0.2	+0.1	-0.8	-0.6	+1.9	+7.0	+.119	+2.2	+6.0	+.068	+5.6	+5.3	+.238
Ben Simmons	58	32.4	14.3	1.6	5.6	7.2	6.9	1.6	0.6	3.0	2.9	5.6	10.1	.557	0.1	0.2	.300	3.0	4.9	.613
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+6	+7.0	+14.4	+1.3		+1.2	+4.3	+0.7	+0.2	-2.2	-0.3	+2.6	+11.3	+.230	+2.5	+7.2	+.341	+6.7	+4.9	+.461
Ben Simmons	12	33.5	11.9	2.1	5.8	7.9	8.8	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.3	4.9	7.9	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	6.1	.342

Note: Ben Simmons didn't play in 2021-22.

Season 5
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2013-14	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+31	+11.7	+18.5	+0.2	+1.4	+1.6		+0.3	+0.2	-1.3	-0.9	+4.3	+10.9	+.110	+2.4	+6.6		+7.3	+7.7	+.427
Ben Simmons	42	26.3	6.9	1.0	5.3	6.3	6.1	1.3	0.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	5.6	.566	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.4	.439
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2014-15	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+66	+12.9	+21.3	+1.2	+1.2	+2.2	+1.3	+1.1	+0.1	-2.2	-0.2	+5.1	+13.2	+.141	+2.6	+6.9		+8.4	+9.2	+.468
Ben Simmons	15	23.9	6.1	2.1	5.9	7.9	5.7	0.8	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.9	4.9	.581	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	1.0	.400
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Ben Simmons	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	James Harden	Ben Simmons
Season	2015-16	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Clippers 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		%
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
difference:	+31	+16.1	+24.0	+0.1	+1.5	+1.4	+1.9	+1.0	+0.1	-2.6	-0.7	+6.4	+15.3	+.081	+2.9	+8.0		+8.3	+9.6	+.133
Ben Simmons	51	22.0	5.0	0.9	3.8	4.7	5.6	0.7	0.5	2.0	2.1	2.3	4.4	.520	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	0.6	.727
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:		+30.2	+25.8	+0.8	+3.0	+3.8	+6.8	+2.2	+0.6	-4.8	-0.4	+7.8	+18.8	+.077	+2.6	+8.4		+7.6	+9.0
Ben Simmons	5	8.4	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.2	0.4	1.2	.333	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

Additional Years
* James Harden played 9 seasons more than Ben Simmons 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 Ben Simmons, 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