James Harden vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic 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, 6 more than Nikola Jokic, who played 10. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Nikola Jokic had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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
Nikola Jokic	10	7	2015-16 to 2024-25

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


Rookie Season
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2009-10	2015-16
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

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	+1.2	+0.1	+1.7	+2.1	+3.8	+0.6	+0.1	+0.3	-0.1		+0.7	+0.1	+.109	+0.8	+2.2	+.042	+0.7	+0.8	+.003
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811

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
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2010-11	2016-17
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

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	+1.2	+4.5	+2.4	+4.3	+6.7	+2.8	+0.3	+0.5	-1.0	-0.4	+3.2	+3.4	+.142	+0.8	+2.1	+.025	+0.9	+1.1	+.018
Nikola Jokic	73	27.9	16.7	2.9	6.9	9.8	4.9	0.8	0.8	2.3	2.9	6.8	11.7	.578	0.6	1.9	.324	2.6	3.1	.825

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
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2011-12	2017-18
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

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:	+13	+1.2	+1.7	+2.1	+4.5	+6.6	+2.4	+0.2	+0.6	-0.6	-0.4	+1.7	+3.4	+.008	+0.3	+1.0	+.006	+1.5	+1.8	+.004
Nikola Jokic	75	32.6	18.5	2.6	8.1	10.7	6.1	1.2	0.8	2.8	2.8	6.7	13.5	.499	1.5	3.7	.396	3.5	4.2	.850

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
Nikola Jokic	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2012-13	2018-19
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+2	+7.0	+5.8	+2.1	+3.9	+5.9	+1.5	+0.4	+0.2	-0.7	-0.6	+0.2	+2.0	+.073	+1.3	+2.8	+.061	+5.0	+5.8	+.030
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821

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	+0.7	+1.2	+3.1	+3.3	+6.3	+3.9	+0.9	+0.1	-1.9	-0.9	+1.9	+0.6	+.115	+0.9	+3.3	+.052	+4.1	+5.4	+.043
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846


Season 5
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2013-14	2019-20
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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:		+6.0	+5.5	+1.5	+3.6	+5.0	+0.9	+0.4	+0.2	-0.5	-0.6	+0.2	+1.8	+.072	+1.3	+3.1	+.052	+4.5	+5.0	+.049
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817

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:	+13	+7.3	+2.4	+1.1	+4.1	+5.1	+0.1	+0.9	+0.6	-0.2	-0.1	+1.1	+4.1	+.143	+0.5	+3.8	+.133	+4.0	+4.1	+.065
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835


Season 6
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2014-15	2020-21
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+9	+2.2	+1.0	+1.9	+3.3	+5.1	+1.3	+0.6		-0.9	-0.1	+2.2	+0.1	+.126	+1.3	+3.6	+.013	+4.0	+4.7
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868

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	+2.9	+2.6	+3.0	+2.9	+5.9	+2.5	+1.0	+0.5	-2.1	-0.6	+4.0	+5.5	+.070	+0.4	+1.0	+.006	+5.0	+5.0	+.080
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836


Season 7
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2015-16	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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	+4.6	+1.9	+2.0	+5.7	+7.7	+0.4	+0.2	+0.3	-0.8	-0.2	+1.6	+2.0	+.144	+1.6	+4.1	+.022	+3.7	+3.9	+.050
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810

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:		+4.4	+4.4	+2.0	+6.0	+8.0	+1.8	+0.8	+0.8	-0.4	-1.4	+4.0	+1.2	+.165	+1.6	+4.8	+.032	+2.0	+2.4	+.004
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848


Season 8
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2016-17	2022-23
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

more >>

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:	+12	+2.7	+4.6	+1.2	+2.4	+3.7	+1.4	+0.2	+0.2	-2.1	-0.2	+1.1	+4.1	+.192	+2.4	+7.1	+.036	+4.3	+4.9	+.025
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822

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:	+9	+2.5	+1.5	+2.9	+5.2	+8.0	+1.0	+0.8	+0.5	-1.9	-0.4	+3.2	+0.9	+.135	+1.1	+6.7	+.183	+3.6	+3.5	+.079
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799


Season 9
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2017-18	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+7	+0.8	+4.0	+2.2	+4.7	+7.0	+0.2	+0.4	+0.2	-1.4	-0.2	+1.4	+2.2	+.134	+2.6	+7.1	+.008	+4.2	+4.6	+.041
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817

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	+3.7	+0.1	+2.8	+5.4	+8.2	+1.9	+0.8	+0.1	-0.5		+1.8	+2.3	+.135	+1.9	+5.8	+.035	+1.6	+1.9	+.014
Nikola Jokic	12	40.2	28.7	3.6	9.8	13.4	8.7	1.4	0.7	3.3	2.7	11.1	20.3	.545	1.2	4.4	.264	5.3	5.9	.901


Season 10
	James Harden	Nikola Jokic
Season	2018-19	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

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:	+8	+0.1	+6.5	+2.1	+4.1	+6.1	+2.7	+0.2	+0.1	-1.7	-0.8	+0.4	+5.0	+.134	+2.8	+8.5	+.049	+4.5	+4.6	+.079
Nikola Jokic	70	36.7	29.6	2.9	9.9	12.7	10.2	1.8	0.6	3.3	2.3	11.2	19.5	.576	2.0	4.7	.417	5.2	6.4	.800

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:	+3	+1.7	+5.4	+1.3	+4.6	+5.9	+1.4	+0.2		-0.7	-0.3	+0.5	+4.9	+.076	+2.5	+7.4	+.030	+1.9	+1.7	+.065
Nikola Jokic	14	40.2	26.2	2.1	10.6	12.7	8.0	2.0	0.9	3.9	3.4	9.4	19.1	.489	1.9	5.1	.380	5.6	7.2	.772


Additional Years
* James Harden played 6 seasons more than Nikola Jokic in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 16, from 2020 to 2025—James Harden played in 6 Playoffs. In those 6 extra years over Nikola Jokic, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 1 Scoring Leader 1 Assists Leader 4 All-Star Game

James Harden vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic 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

Additional Years