James Harden vs. James Worthy Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Worthy 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 17 years in the NBA, 5 more than James Worthy, who played 12. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while James Worthy had his rookie season in 1982-83. 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	James Worthy
Season	2009-10	1982-83
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+1	+2.7	+3.5	+1.4	+0.5	+2.0	+0.1	+0.1	+0.5	-0.9	-0.3	+2.7	+2.4	+.176	+1.2	+3.2	+.125	+0.8	+0.3	+.184
James Worthy	77	25.6	13.4	2.0	3.1	5.2	1.7	1.2	0.8	2.3	2.9	5.8	10.0	.579	0.0	0.1	.250	1.8	2.9	.624
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
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2011-12	1984-85
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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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:	+18	+2.3	+0.8	+1.6	+0.7	+2.3	+1.2	+0.1	+0.6	-0.3	-0.1	+2.6	+3.2	+.081	+1.8	+4.6	+.390	+2.6	+2.9	+.070
James Worthy	80	33.7	17.6	2.1	4.3	6.4	2.5	1.1	0.8	2.5	2.5	7.6	13.3	.572	0.0	0.1	.000	2.4	3.1	.776
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
difference:	+1	+1.4	+5.2	+1.1	+1.3		+1.2	+0.7	+0.6	-0.7	-0.6	+4.0	+3.4	+.187	+1.5	+3.8	+.090	+1.5	+0.5	+.181
James Worthy	19	32.9	21.5	1.8	3.2	5.1	2.2	0.9	0.7	1.4	2.8	8.7	14.1	.622	0.1	0.1	.500	3.9	5.8	.676

Season 4
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2012-13	1985-86
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+3	+5.6	+5.9	+1.0	+0.8	+0.3	+3.1	+0.7	+0.5	-1.8	-0.3	+0.9	+2.6	+.141	+2.3	+6.0	+.368	+5.4	+6.0	+.080
James Worthy	75	32.7	20.0	1.8	3.3	5.2	2.7	1.1	1.0	2.0	2.6	8.4	14.5	.579	0.0	0.2	.000	3.2	4.2	.771
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:	+8	+2.0	+6.7	+0.8	+2.7	+2.1	+1.3	+0.9	+0.3	-1.9	-0.1	+1.1	+3.7	+.167	+2.5	+7.0	+.341	+6.5	+7.6	+.122
James Worthy	14	38.5	19.6	1.6	3.1	4.6	3.2	1.1	0.7	2.6	3.1	8.6	15.5	.558	0.0	0.3	.000	2.3	3.4	.681

Season 5
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2013-14	1986-87
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+9	+3.6	+6.0	+1.1	+0.1	+1.0	+3.3	+0.3	+0.6	-1.6	-0.1	+0.4	+1.8	+.083	+2.4	+6.4	+.366	+4.3	+4.4	+.115
James Worthy	82	34.4	19.4	1.9	3.8	5.7	2.8	1.3	1.0	2.0	2.5	7.9	14.7	.539	0.0	0.2	.000	3.6	4.7	.751
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
difference:	+12	+6.0	+3.2	+0.9	+0.1	+0.9	+2.3	+0.4	+1.0	-1.3	-1.2	+1.5	+5.6	+.215	+2.7	+8.9	+.296	+3.4	+2.9	+.147
James Worthy	18	37.8	23.6	1.7	3.9	5.6	3.5	1.6	1.2	2.2	2.3	9.8	16.6	.591	0.0	0.1	.000	4.1	5.4	.753

Season 6
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2014-15	1987-88
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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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:	+6	+1.4	+7.7	+0.8	+1.4	+0.7	+3.1	+0.9		-1.9	-0.3	+0.2	+2.6	+.091	+2.6	+6.7	+.250	+5.6	+6.1	+.072
James Worthy	75	35.4	19.7	1.7	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	2.1	2.3	8.2	15.5	.531	0.0	0.2	.125	3.2	4.1	.796
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
difference:	+7	+0.1	+6.1	+1.5	+1.4	+0.1	+3.1	+0.2	+0.4	-2.2	-0.5	+0.9	+1.0	+.084	+2.4	+5.9	+.272	+5.6	+5.2	+.158
James Worthy	24	37.3	21.1	2.2	3.6	5.8	4.4	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.4	8.5	16.3	.523	0.0	0.4	.111	4.0	5.3	.758

Season 7
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2015-16	1988-89
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+1	+1.6	+8.5	+1.3	+1.3	+0.1	+3.9	+0.4	+0.1	-2.4	-0.6		+3.9	+.109	+2.9	+7.7	+.272	+5.7	+6.2	+.078
James Worthy	81	36.5	20.5	2.1	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.3	0.7	2.2	2.2	8.7	15.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.087	3.1	4.0	.782
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:	+10	+1.4	+1.8	+1.1	+0.5	+1.5	+4.8	+1.2	+0.9	-3.0	-0.2	+2.0	+2.0	+.157	+2.4	+7.9	+.065	+3.4	+3.7	+.056
James Worthy	15	40.0	24.8	2.5	4.3	6.7	2.8	1.2	1.1	2.2	2.4	10.2	18.0	.567	0.2	0.5	.375	4.2	5.3	.788

Season 8
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2016-17	1989-90
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis

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8th 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	36.4	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
difference:	+1	+0.6	+8.0	+0.8	+3.0	+2.1	+7.6	+0.3	+0.1	-3.7	-0.3	+0.6	+2.7	+.108	+3.0	+8.7	+.041	+6.1	+6.9	+.065
James Worthy	80	37.0	21.1	2.0	4.0	6.0	3.6	1.2	0.6	2.0	2.4	8.9	16.2	.548	0.2	0.6	.306	3.1	4.0	.782
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+2	+3.7	+4.3	+0.6	+0.5	+0.1	+5.5	+0.3	+0.2	-3.0	-1.9	+1.8	+0.3	+.084	+2.7	+9.6	+.028	+5.2	+5.7	+.041
James Worthy	9	40.7	24.2	1.2	4.3	5.6	3.0	1.6	0.3	2.4	2.0	10.0	20.1	.497	0.2	0.9	.250	4.0	4.8	.837

Season 9
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2017-18	1990-91
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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9th 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	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
difference:	+6	+3.2	+9.0	+0.8	+1.6	+0.8	+5.3	+0.5	+0.3	-2.8	-0.8	+0.2	+1.4	+.043	+3.4	+8.8	+.078	+6.0	+6.7	+.061
James Worthy	78	38.6	21.4	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.5	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.5	9.2	18.7	.492	0.3	1.2	.289	2.7	3.4	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+1	+4.2	+7.5	+0.6	+1.7	+1.1	+2.9	+1.1	+0.5	-1.6	-0.8	+0.4	+3.4	+.055	+2.9	+8.9	+.132	+4.0	+3.8	+.151
James Worthy	18	40.7	21.1	1.4	2.7	4.1	3.9	1.1	0.1	2.2	1.9	8.9	19.2	.465	0.2	1.3	.167	2.9	4.0	.736

Season 10
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2018-19	1991-92
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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10th 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	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
difference:	+24	+2.2	+16.2	+1.0	+2.0	+1.0	+2.8	+0.6	+0.3	-2.6	-1.5	+2.5	+5.9	+.005	+4.6	+12.4	+.159	+6.6	+7.2	+.065
James Worthy	54	39.0	19.9	1.8	3.8	5.6	4.7	1.4	0.4	2.4	1.6	8.3	18.6	.447	0.2	0.8	.209	3.1	3.8	.814
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2019-20	1992-93
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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11th 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	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
difference:	+14	+7.7	+19.4	+0.1	+3.4	+3.6	+4.1	+0.7	+0.6	-2.8	-2.2	+3.7	+8.4	+.003	+4.0	+11.0	+.085	+8.1	+9.2	+.055
James Worthy	82	28.8	14.9	0.9	2.1	3.0	3.4	1.1	0.3	1.7	1.1	6.2	13.9	.447	0.4	1.4	.270	2.1	2.6	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+7	+7.7	+15.8	+0.4	+2.6	+2.2	+5.1	+0.5	+0.8	-2.4	-1.4	+2.7	+1.8	+.106	+2.9	+8.2	+.083	+7.6	+8.7	+.245
James Worthy	5	29.6	13.8	1.4	2.0	3.4	2.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	2.2	6.4	17.2	.372	0.4	1.6	.250	0.6	1.0	.600

Season 12
	James Harden	James Worthy
Season	2020-21	1993-94
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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12th 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	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
difference:	+36	+16.6	+14.4	+0.2	+5.4	+5.6	+8.9	+0.6	+0.6	-2.8	-1.3	+3.5	+6.2	+.060	+2.4	+6.2	+.074	+5.0	+5.6	+.120
James Worthy	80	20.0	10.2	0.6	1.7	2.3	1.9	0.6	0.2	1.2	1.0	4.3	10.5	.406	0.4	1.4	.288	1.3	1.7	.741
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
James Worthy	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* James Harden played 5 seasons more than James Worthy in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 17, from 2022 to 2026—James Harden played in 4 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over James Worthy, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 1 Assists Leader 2 All-Star Game