James Harden vs. Spencer Haywood Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Spencer Haywood 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, 3 more than Spencer Haywood, who played 12. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Spencer Haywood had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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
Spencer Haywood	12	4	1970-71 to 1982-83

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15


Rookie Season
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2009-10	1970-71
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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
Spencer Haywood	33	35.2	20.6	-	-	12.0	1.5	-	-	-	2.5	7.9	17.5	.449	-	-	-	4.8	6.6	.734

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2010-11	1971-72
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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
Spencer Haywood	73	43.4	26.2	-	-	12.7	2.0	-	-	-	2.8	9.8	21.3	.461	-	-	-	6.6	8.0	.819

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2011-12	1972-73
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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
Spencer Haywood	77	42.3	29.2	-	-	12.9	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	11.5	24.3	.476	-	-	-	6.1	7.3	.839

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2012-13	1973-74
Team	Houston Rockets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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
Spencer Haywood	75	40.5	23.5	4.2	9.2	13.4	3.2	0.9	1.4	-	2.6	9.3	20.3	.457	-	-	-	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	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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2013-14	1974-75
Team	Houston Rockets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Supersonics Lost West Conf 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	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
Spencer Haywood	68	37.2	22.4	2.9	6.4	9.3	2.0	0.8	1.6	-	2.5	8.9	19.5	.459	-	-	-	4.5	5.6	.811

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
Spencer Haywood	9	37.4	15.7	2.2	6.8	9.0	2.0	0.8	1.2	-	3.2	5.2	14.6	.359	-	-	-	5.2	6.8	.770


Season 6
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2014-15	1975-76
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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
Spencer Haywood	78	37.1	19.9	3.0	8.3	11.3	1.2	0.7	1.0	-	3.3	7.8	17.4	.445	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.757

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2015-16	1976-77
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Spencer Haywood	31	32.9	16.5	2.5	6.5	9.0	1.6	0.5	0.9	-	2.3	6.5	14.5	.450	-	-	-	3.5	4.2	.832

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2016-17	1977-78
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East 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	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
Spencer Haywood	67	26.3	13.7	2.1	4.5	6.6	1.9	0.6	1.1	2.1	2.8	6.1	12.7	.484	-	-	-	1.4	2.0	.711

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
Spencer Haywood	6	29.5	16.2	3.2	3.8	7.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	1.7	4.0	7.2	14.2	.506	-	-	-	1.8	1.8	1.000


Season 9
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2017-18	1978-79
Team	Houston Rockets	New York Knicks, New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	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	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
Spencer Haywood	68	34.7	20.9	2.5	5.3	7.8	1.9	0.6	1.2	2.9	3.5	8.8	17.7	.494	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	.791

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2018-19	1979-80
Team	Houston Rockets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West 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	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
Spencer Haywood	76	20.3	9.7	1.7	2.8	4.6	1.2	0.5	0.8	1.8	2.6	3.8	7.8	.487	0.0	0.1	.250	2.1	2.7	.772

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
Spencer Haywood	11	13.2	5.7	1.3	1.1	2.4	0.4	0.0	0.5	1.8	1.5	2.3	4.8	.472	0.0	0.1	.000	1.2	1.5	.813

Note: Spencer Haywood didn't play in 1980-81.


Season 11
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2019-20	1981-82
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost East 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	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
Spencer Haywood	76	27.4	13.3	1.9	3.7	5.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	2.3	3.3	5.2	10.9	.476	0.0	0.0	.000	2.9	3.4	.842

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
Spencer Haywood	7	33.0	20.0	2.3	3.3	5.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	2.1	4.0	8.1	16.4	.496	0.0	0.0	-	3.7	5.0	.743


Season 12
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2020-21	1982-83
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nets Lost East 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	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
Spencer Haywood	38	20.4	8.2	2.0	2.8	4.8	0.8	0.3	0.7	1.8	2.5	3.3	8.2	.401	0.0	0.0	.000	1.7	2.3	.724

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2021-22	-
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East 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	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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
Season	2022-23	-
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	-
Honors & Awards	Assists Leader	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East 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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	James Harden	Spencer Haywood
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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Spencer Haywood	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

James Harden vs. Spencer Haywood Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Spencer Haywood 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