James Harden vs. Klay Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Klay Thompson 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, 4 more than Klay Thompson, who played 12. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Klay Thompson had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Klay Thompson	12	9	2011-12 to 2024-25

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12


Rookie Season
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2009-10	2011-12
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	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:	+10	+1.5	+2.6	+0.2	+0.5	+0.8	+0.2	+0.4		-0.2	-0.3	+1.7	+3.3	+.040	+0.5	+0.8	+.039	+1.4	+1.8	+.060
Klay Thompson	66	24.4	12.5	0.4	2.1	2.4	2.0	0.7	0.3	1.6	2.3	4.8	10.9	.443	1.7	4.1	.414	1.2	1.4	.868

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
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2010-11	2012-13
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Warriors Lost West 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:		+9.1	+4.4	+0.1	+0.7	+0.6	+0.1	+0.1	+0.2	-0.6	-0.4	+2.6	+6.4	+.014	+1.2	+2.4	+.052	+1.9	+2.3	+.002
Klay Thompson	82	35.8	16.6	0.4	3.3	3.7	2.2	1.0	0.5	1.9	2.9	6.2	14.7	.422	2.6	6.4	.401	1.6	1.9	.841

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	+9.7	+2.2	+0.2	+1.0	+0.8	+1.8	+0.2	+0.2	-0.4	-0.9	+2.4	+6.3	+.038	+0.7	+0.4	+.121	+3.5	+4.2	+.008
Klay Thompson	12	41.3	15.2	0.8	3.8	4.6	1.8	1.0	0.6	2.0	3.7	6.3	14.5	.437	2.1	4.9	.424	0.4	0.5	.833


Season 3
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2011-12	2013-14
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Warriors Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+19	+4.0	+1.6		+1.0	+1.0	+1.5	+0.1	+0.3	-0.5	-0.5	+1.9	+5.4	+.047	+1.0	+1.9	+.027	+3.2	+3.7	+.051
Klay Thompson	81	35.4	18.4	0.5	2.6	3.1	2.2	0.9	0.5	1.7	2.9	6.9	15.5	.444	2.8	6.6	.417	1.8	2.3	.795

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:	+13	+5.2	+0.1	+0.1	+1.6	+1.7	+0.2	+0.6	+0.6			+1.0	+3.3	+.027	+0.7	+2.4	+.046	+2.7	+2.9	+.065
Klay Thompson	7	36.7	16.4	0.6	2.9	3.4	3.6	1.0	0.7	2.1	3.4	5.7	14.0	.408	2.3	6.3	.364	2.7	3.4	.792


Season 4
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2012-13	2014-15
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+1	+6.4	+4.2	+0.4	+1.2	+1.7	+2.9	+0.7	+0.3	-1.9	-0.7	+0.3	+0.2	+.025	+0.8	+0.9	+.071	+5.7	+6.9	+.028
Klay Thompson	77	31.9	21.7	0.4	2.9	3.2	2.9	1.1	0.8	1.9	1.6	7.8	16.9	.463	3.1	7.1	.439	2.9	3.3	.879

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:	+15	+4.3	+7.7	+0.4	+2.4	+2.8	+1.9	+1.2	+0.1	-2.5		+0.4	+3.3	+.055	+0.2	+0.3	+.049	+7.1	+8.9	+.003
Klay Thompson	21	36.2	18.6	0.4	3.4	3.9	2.6	0.8	0.9	2.0	3.0	7.1	15.9	.446	2.7	7.0	.390	1.7	2.1	.800


Season 5
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2013-14	2015-16
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors 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:	+7	+4.7	+3.3	+0.4	+0.5	+0.9	+4.0	+0.8	+0.2	-1.9	-0.5	+0.6	+0.8	+.014	+1.1	+1.5	+.059	+5.5	+6.3	+.007
Klay Thompson	80	33.3	22.1	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.1	0.8	0.6	1.7	1.9	8.1	17.3	.470	3.5	8.1	.425	2.4	2.8	.873

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	+8.4	+2.5	+0.2	+0.8	+1.0	+3.5	+0.9	+0.2	-1.5	-1.3	+0.1	+3.3	+.068	+1.4	+0.6	+.128	+4.1	+4.3	+.046
Klay Thompson	24	35.4	24.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.3	1.1	0.4	2.0	2.2	8.4	18.9	.444	4.1	9.6	.424	3.4	4.0	.854


Season 6
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2014-15	2016-17
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	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:	+3	+2.8	+5.1	+0.3	+1.7	+2.0	+4.9	+1.1	+0.2	-2.4	-0.8	+0.3	+0.5	+.028	+0.8	+1.4	+.039	+6.4	+7.4	+.015
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	22.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.1	0.8	0.5	1.6	1.8	8.3	17.6	.468	3.4	8.3	.414	2.4	2.8	.853

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:		+2.3	+12.2	+0.1	+1.8	+1.8	+5.4	+0.8	+0.1	-3.1	-0.3	+2.1	+3.4	+.042		+0.1	+.004	+8.1	+8.6	+.128
Klay Thompson	17	35.1	15.0	0.6	3.2	3.9	2.1	0.8	0.3	1.4	2.6	5.5	13.9	.397	2.4	6.2	.387	1.5	1.9	.788


Season 7
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2015-16	2017-18
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
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:	+9	+3.8	+9.0	+0.4	+1.9	+2.3	+5.0	+0.9	+0.1	-2.8	-1.2	+0.8	+3.5	+.049	+0.2	+0.9	+.081	+7.7	+8.9	+.023
Klay Thompson	73	34.3	20.0	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.5	0.8	0.5	1.8	1.6	7.9	16.2	.488	3.1	7.1	.440	1.1	1.3	.837

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:	+16	+0.8	+7.0	+0.9	+0.2	+1.1	+5.8	+1.6	+0.1	-3.7	-0.3	+0.6	+3.7	+.055	+0.6	+0.9	+.117	+6.3	+7.5	+.027
Klay Thompson	21	37.8	19.6	0.5	3.6	4.1	1.8	0.8	0.3	1.5	2.3	7.6	16.3	.465	3.2	7.5	.427	1.3	1.5	.871


Season 8
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2016-17	2018-19
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+3	+2.4	+7.6	+0.7	+3.6	+4.3	+8.8	+0.4	+0.1	-4.2	-0.7	+0.1	+0.9	+.027	+0.1	+1.6	+.055	+7.5	+8.9	+.031
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	21.5	0.5	3.4	3.8	2.4	1.1	0.6	1.5	2.0	8.4	18.0	.467	3.1	7.7	.402	1.7	2.0	.816

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:	+10	+2.0	+7.8		+1.3	+1.4	+6.4	+0.6	+0.2	-3.6	-1.1	+0.4	+2.7	+.043	+0.4	+3.0	+.165	+7.4	+8.5	+.024
Klay Thompson	21	39.0	20.7	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.1	1.3	0.7	1.8	2.8	7.8	17.1	.456	3.3	7.5	.443	1.8	2.0	.902

Note: Klay Thompson didn't play in 2019-20 and 2020-21.


Season 9
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2017-18	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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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:	+40	+6.0	+10.0	+0.1	+1.4	+1.5	+6.0	+1.3	+0.2	-3.1	-0.6	+1.3	+2.2	+.020	+0.1	+0.7	+.018	+7.3	+8.5	+.044
Klay Thompson	32	29.4	20.4	0.5	3.4	3.9	2.8	0.5	0.5	1.3	1.7	7.7	17.9	.429	3.6	9.3	.385	1.4	1.6	.902

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:	+5	+0.5	+9.6	+0.5	+0.8	+1.3	+4.5	+1.1	+0.1	-2.5	-0.6	+2.1	+5.9	+.019	+0.4	+1.1	+.086	+5.7	+6.4	+.020
Klay Thompson	22	36.0	19.0	0.3	3.6	3.9	2.3	1.1	0.7	1.3	2.1	7.2	16.7	.429	3.5	9.1	.385	1.2	1.4	.867


Season 10
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2018-19	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+9	+3.8	+14.2	+0.2	+2.2	+2.5	+5.1	+1.3	+0.3	-3.2	-1.2	+2.9	+6.4	+.006	+0.4	+2.6	+.044	+8.0	+9.1
Klay Thompson	69	33.0	21.9	0.6	3.6	4.1	2.4	0.7	0.4	1.8	1.9	7.9	18.1	.436	4.4	10.6	.412	1.7	1.9	.879

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
difference:	+2	+2.5	+13.1	+0.7	+1.9	+2.6	+4.4	+1.7	+0.6	-2.6	-1.5	+3.4	+7.2	+.025	+0.6	+2.0	+.018	+5.9	+7.1	+.038
Klay Thompson	13	36.0	18.5	0.1	4.1	4.2	2.2	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.2	6.5	16.8	.388	3.8	10.5	.368	1.6	1.8	.875


Season 11
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2019-20	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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:	+9	+6.8	+16.4	+0.5	+2.7	+3.3	+5.2	+1.2	+0.4	-3.0	-1.7	+3.5	+7.6	+.012	+0.9	+3.4	+.032	+8.6	+10.0	+.062
Klay Thompson	77	29.7	17.9	0.5	2.8	3.3	2.3	0.6	0.5	1.5	1.6	6.4	14.7	.432	3.5	9.0	.387	1.6	1.8	.927

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
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	James Harden	Klay Thompson
Season	2020-21	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Dallas Mavericks
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:	+28	+9.3	+10.6	+0.2	+4.3	+4.5	+8.8	+0.5	+0.4	-2.8	-1.2	+2.8	+4.5	+.054	+0.2	+0.1	+.029	+5.4	+6.3	+.044
Klay Thompson	72	27.3	14.0	0.6	2.8	3.4	2.0	0.7	0.4	1.2	1.1	5.0	12.2	.412	3.0	7.7	.391	0.9	1.0	.905

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
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Additional Years
* James Harden played 4 seasons more than Klay Thompson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 16, from 2022 to 2025—James Harden played in 4 Playoffs. In those 4 extra years over Klay Thompson, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 1 Assists Leader 2 All-Star Game

James Harden vs. Klay Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Klay Thompson 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

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years