James Harden vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / 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.

James Harden played 16 years in the NBA, 8 more than Jayson Tatum, who played 8. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Jayson Tatum 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
James Harden	16	16	2009-10 to 2024-25
Jayson Tatum	8	8	2017-18 to 2024-25

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8


Rookie Season
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2009-10	2017-18
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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:	+4	+7.6	+4.0		+1.8	+1.8	+0.2	+0.1	+0.4		-0.5	+1.9	+2.8	+.072	+0.1	+0.3	+.059	+0.1		+.018
Jayson Tatum	80	30.5	13.9	0.6	4.4	5.0	1.6	1.0	0.7	1.4	2.1	5.0	10.4	.475	1.3	3.0	.434	2.7	3.2	.826

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:	+13	+15.9	+10.8	+0.3	+1.5	+1.9	+0.9	+0.2	+0.3	-1.7	-0.3	+4.5	+8.5	+.084	+0.2	+1.0	+.051	+1.6	+1.9	+.003
Jayson Tatum	19	35.9	18.5	0.5	3.8	4.4	2.7	1.2	0.5	2.2	2.6	6.5	13.7	.471	1.2	3.7	.324	4.3	5.1	.845


Season 2
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2010-11	2018-19
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Celtics 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	+4.4	+3.5	+0.4	+2.6	+2.9			+0.4	-0.2	-0.4	+2.3	+4.8	+.014	+0.1	+0.1	+.024	+1.0	+1.3	+.012
Jayson Tatum	79	31.1	15.7	0.9	5.2	6.0	2.1	1.1	0.7	1.5	2.1	5.9	13.1	.450	1.5	3.9	.373	2.5	2.9	.855

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:	+8	+1.2	+2.2	+0.2	+1.1	+1.3	+1.7	+0.1		-0.4	-0.5	+1.5	+4.2	+.037	+0.3	+1.1	+.020	+0.7	+0.4	+.081
Jayson Tatum	9	32.8	15.2	0.8	5.9	6.7	1.9	1.1	0.8	2.0	2.3	5.4	12.4	.438	1.1	3.4	.323	3.2	4.3	.744


Season 3
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2011-12	2019-20
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf 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		%
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:	+4	+2.9	+6.6	+0.5	+2.4	+2.9	+0.7	+0.4	+0.7	-0.1	-0.3	+3.4	+8.5	+.041	+1.1	+2.4	+.013	+1.2	+1.3	+.034
Jayson Tatum	66	34.3	23.4	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.0	1.4	0.9	2.3	2.1	8.4	18.6	.450	2.9	7.1	.403	3.8	4.7	.812

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:	+3	+9.1	+9.4	+0.6	+4.2	+4.9	+1.6	+0.6	+1.1	-0.7	-1.0	+3.8	+8.9	+.001	+1.2	+3.5	+.037	+0.5	+0.9	+.044
Jayson Tatum	17	40.6	25.7	1.3	8.7	10.0	5.0	1.0	1.2	2.8	2.4	8.5	19.6	.434	2.8	7.4	.373	5.9	7.2	.813


Season 4
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2012-13	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East 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		%
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:	+14	+2.5	+0.5		+2.5	+2.5	+1.5	+0.6		-1.1	-0.4	+2.0	+3.5	+.021	+0.6	+1.4	+.018	+4.0	+4.9	+.017
Jayson Tatum	64	35.8	26.4	0.8	6.6	7.4	4.3	1.2	0.5	2.7	1.9	9.5	20.6	.459	2.9	7.6	.386	4.6	5.3	.868

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:	+1	+3.5	+4.3	+0.2	+0.6	+0.9	+0.1	+0.8	+0.6	-1.9		+1.9	+3.0	+.032	+0.3	+0.1	+.048	+0.2	+1.2	+.115
Jayson Tatum	5	37.0	30.6	0.6	5.2	5.8	4.6	1.2	1.6	2.6	3.0	9.4	22.2	.423	2.8	7.2	.389	9.0	9.8	.918


Season 5
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2013-14	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+3	+2.1	+1.5	+0.3	+3.0	+3.3	+1.7	+0.6	+0.2	-0.7	-0.1	+1.8	+4.1	+.003	+0.6	+2.0	+.013	+2.6	+2.9	+.013
Jayson Tatum	76	35.9	26.9	1.1	6.9	8.0	4.4	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.3	9.3	20.6	.453	3.0	8.6	.353	5.3	6.2	.853

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:	+18	+2.8	+1.2	+0.2	+1.9	+2.0	+0.4	+0.8	+0.7	-0.7	-0.5	+0.1	+2.5	+.050	+0.5	+0.8	+.097	+1.8	+1.2	+.100
Jayson Tatum	24	41.0	25.6	1.0	5.7	6.7	6.2	1.2	0.9	4.2	3.0	8.4	19.7	.426	3.2	8.2	.393	5.7	7.1	.800


Season 6
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2014-15	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Celtics Lost East 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		%
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:	+7	+0.1	+2.7	+0.2	+3.0	+3.1	+2.4	+0.8		-1.1	-0.4	+1.8	+3.0	+.026	+0.6	+2.4	+.025	+1.6	+1.8	+.014
Jayson Tatum	74	36.9	30.1	1.1	7.7	8.8	4.6	1.1	0.7	2.9	2.2	9.8	21.1	.466	3.2	9.3	.350	7.2	8.4	.854

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:	+3	+2.6		+0.6	+4.2	+4.8	+2.2	+0.5	+0.7	-1.7	-0.7	+1.7	+2.9	+.019	+0.3	+1.9	+.060	+3.6	+3.6	+.040
Jayson Tatum	20	40.0	27.2	1.3	9.2	10.5	5.3	1.1	1.1	2.8	2.2	9.3	20.2	.458	2.7	8.2	.323	6.0	6.9	.876


Season 7
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2015-16	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+8	+2.4	+2.1	+0.1	+1.9	+2.0	+2.6	+0.7		-2.1	-0.8	+0.4	+0.4	+.032	+0.2	+0.2	+.017	+3.2	+3.5	+.027
Jayson Tatum	74	35.7	26.9	0.9	7.2	8.1	4.9	1.0	0.6	2.5	2.0	9.1	19.3	.471	3.1	8.2	.376	5.6	6.7	.833

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:	+14	+1.8	+1.6	+0.5	+5.0	+4.5	+1.3	+1.3	+0.5	-2.6	-0.2	+0.2	+0.4	+.017	+0.5	+1.1	+.027	+1.4	+1.8	+.017
Jayson Tatum	19	40.4	25.0	0.9	8.8	9.7	6.3	1.1	0.7	2.6	2.8	8.4	19.6	.427	2.1	7.3	.283	6.2	7.2	.861


Season 8
	James Harden	Jayson Tatum
Season	2016-17	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East 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:	+9		+2.3	+0.5	+1.0	+0.6	+5.2	+0.4		-2.8	-0.5	+0.9	+1.4	+.012	+0.3	+0.8	+.004	+4.2	+4.8	+.033
Jayson Tatum	72	36.4	26.8	0.7	8.0	8.7	6.0	1.1	0.5	2.9	2.2	9.2	20.3	.452	3.5	10.1	.343	5.0	6.1	.814

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:	+3	+3.3	+0.4	+0.5	+5.6	+6.0	+3.1	+0.2	+0.3	-2.1	-1.3	+1.1	+2.1	+.010	+0.7	+0.7	+.094	+3.2	+3.7	+.011
Jayson Tatum	8	40.3	28.1	1.1	10.4	11.5	5.4	2.1	0.8	3.3	2.6	9.3	21.9	.423	3.6	9.8	.372	6.0	6.8	.889


Additional Years
* James Harden played 8 seasons more than Jayson Tatum in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 16, from 2018 to 2025—James Harden played in 8 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Jayson Tatum, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 Scoring Leader 1 Assists Leader 6 All-Star Game

James Harden vs. Jayson Tatum Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jayson Tatum 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.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years