James Harden vs. Jerry West Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jerry West 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

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 15 years in the NBA, 1 more than Jerry West, who played 14. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Jerry West had his rookie season in 1960-61. 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
James Harden	15	15	2009-10 to 2023-24
Jerry West	14	13	1960-61 to 1973-74

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2009-10	1960-61
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
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
Jerry West	79	35.4	17.6	-	-	7.7	4.2	-	-	-	2.7	6.7	16.0	.419	-	-	-	4.2	6.3	.666

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
Jerry West	12	38.4	22.9	-	-	8.7	5.3	-	-	-	3.3	8.3	16.8	.490	-	-	-	6.4	8.8	.726

Season 2
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2010-11	1961-62
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers 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		%
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
Jerry West	75	41.2	30.8	-	-	7.9	5.4	-	-	-	2.3	10.7	23.9	.445	-	-	-	9.5	12.3	.769

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
Jerry West	13	42.8	31.5	-	-	6.8	4.4	-	-	-	2.9	11.1	23.8	.465	-	-	-	9.3	11.5	.807

Season 3
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2011-12	1962-63
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Lakers 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		%
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
Jerry West	55	39.3	27.1	-	-	7.0	5.6	-	-	-	2.7	10.2	22.1	.461	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.778

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
Jerry West	13	41.4	27.8	-	-	8.2	4.7	-	-	-	2.6	11.1	22.0	.503	-	-	-	5.7	7.7	.740

Season 4
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2012-13	1963-64
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
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
Jerry West	72	40.4	28.7	-	-	6.0	5.6	-	-	-	2.8	10.3	21.2	.484	-	-	-	8.1	9.8	.832

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
Jerry West	5	41.2	31.2	-	-	7.2	3.4	-	-	-	4.0	11.4	23.0	.496	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.792

Season 5
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2013-14	1964-65
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
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	Lakers 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		%
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
Jerry West	74	41.4	31.0	-	-	6.0	4.9	-	-	-	3.0	11.1	22.4	.497	-	-	-	8.8	10.7	.821

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
Jerry West	11	42.7	40.6	-	-	5.7	5.3	-	-	-	3.4	14.1	31.9	.442	-	-	-	12.5	14.0	.890

Season 6
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2014-15	1965-66
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers 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		%
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
Jerry West	79	40.7	31.3	-	-	7.1	6.1	-	-	-	3.1	10.4	21.9	.473	-	-	-	10.6	12.4	.860

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
Jerry West	14	44.2	34.2	-	-	6.3	5.6	-	-	-	2.9	13.2	25.5	.518	-	-	-	7.8	8.9	.872

Season 7
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2015-16	1966-67
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Div Semis

more >>

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
Jerry West	66	40.5	28.7	-	-	5.9	6.8	-	-	-	2.4	9.8	21.0	.464	-	-	-	9.1	10.4	.878

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
Jerry West	1	1.0	0.0	-	-	1.0	0.0	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Season 8
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2016-17	1967-68
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	51	37.6	26.3	-	-	5.8	6.1	-	-	-	3.0	9.3	18.2	.514	-	-	-	7.7	9.5	.811

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
Jerry West	15	41.5	30.8	-	-	5.4	5.5	-	-	-	3.1	11.0	20.9	.527	-	-	-	8.8	11.3	.781

Season 9
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2017-18	1968-69
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	61	39.2	25.9	-	-	4.3	6.9	-	-	-	2.6	8.9	19.0	.471	-	-	-	8.0	9.8	.821

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
Jerry West	18	42.1	30.9	-	-	3.9	7.5	-	-	-	2.9	10.9	23.5	.463	-	-	-	9.1	11.3	.804

Season 10
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2018-19	1969-70
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Scoring Leader	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

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
Jerry West	74	42.0	31.2	-	-	4.6	7.5	-	-	-	2.2	11.2	22.6	.497	-	-	-	8.7	10.6	.824

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
Jerry West	18	46.1	31.2	-	-	3.7	8.4	-	-	-	3.1	10.9	23.2	.469	-	-	-	9.4	11.8	.802

Season 11
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2019-20	1970-71
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

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
Jerry West	69	41.2	26.9	-	-	4.6	9.5	-	-	-	2.6	9.7	19.6	.494	-	-	-	7.6	9.1	.832

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
Jerry West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2020-21	1971-72
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

more >>

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
Jerry West	77	38.6	25.8	-	-	4.2	9.7	-	-	-	2.7	9.5	20.0	.477	-	-	-	6.7	8.2	.814

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
Jerry West	15	40.5	22.9	-	-	4.9	8.9	-	-	-	2.6	8.5	22.7	.376	-	-	-	5.9	7.1	.830

Season 13
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2021-22	1972-73
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jerry West	69	35.7	22.8	-	-	4.2	8.8	-	-	-	2.0	9.0	18.7	.479	-	-	-	4.9	6.1	.805

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jerry West	17	37.5	23.6	-	-	4.5	7.8	-	-	-	2.9	8.9	19.8	.449	-	-	-	5.8	7.5	.780

Season 14
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2022-23	1973-74
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Assists Leader	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
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
Jerry West	31	31.2	20.3	1.0	2.8	3.7	6.6	2.6	0.7	-	2.6	7.5	16.7	.447	-	-	-	5.3	6.4	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jerry West	1	14.0	4.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	2.0	9.0	.222	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-

Season 15
	James Harden	Jerry West
Season	2023-24	-
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jerry West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Jerry West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

James Harden vs. Jerry West Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jerry West 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

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