Joe Fulks vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Joe Fulks, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

Joe Fulks played 8 years in the NBA, 7 less than James Harden, who played 15. Joe Fulks had the first of his seasons in 1946-47, while James Harden had his rookie season in 2009-10. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15
Rookie Season
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1946-47	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
	Scoring Leader	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Thunder 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		%
Joe Fulks	60	-	23.2	-	-	-	0.4	-	-	-	3.3	7.9	26.0	.305	-	-	-	7.3	10.0	.730
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	10	-	22.2	-	-	-	0.3	-	-	-	3.2	7.4	25.7	.288	-	-	-	7.4	9.4	.787
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

Season 2
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1947-48	2010-11
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost NBA Finals	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	43	-	22.1	-	-	-	0.6	-	-	-	3.8	7.6	29.3	.259	-	-	-	6.9	9.1	.762
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	13	-	21.7	-	-	-	0.2	-	-	-	4.2	7.1	29.2	.242	-	-	-	7.5	9.3	.810
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

Season 3
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1948-49	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	60	-	26.0	-	-	-	1.2	-	-	-	4.4	8.8	28.2	.313	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.787
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	1	-	0.0	-	-	-	0.0	-	-	-	1.0	0.0	0.0	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
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

Season 4
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1949-50	2012-13
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	68	-	14.2	-	-	-	0.8	-	-	-	3.5	4.9	17.8	.278	-	-	-	4.3	6.2	.696
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	2	-	7.5	-	-	-	1.0	-	-	-	5.0	2.5	13.0	.192	-	-	-	2.5	5.0	.500
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

Season 5
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1950-51	2013-14
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	66	-	18.7	-	-	7.9	1.8	-	-	-	3.7	6.5	20.6	.316	-	-	-	5.7	6.7	.855
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	2	-	26.0	-	-	8.0	0.5	-	-	-	4.5	8.0	24.5	.327	-	-	-	10.0	13.5	.741
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

Season 6
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1951-52	2014-15
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors Lost East Div Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	61	31.2	15.1	-	-	6.0	2.0	-	-	-	4.2	5.5	17.7	.312	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.825
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	3	23.3	5.7	-	-	4.0	0.7	-	-	-	4.3	1.7	11.0	.152	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.778
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

Season 7
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1952-53	2015-16
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	70	29.8	11.9	-	-	5.5	2.0	-	-	-	4.6	4.7	13.7	.346	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.727
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 8
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	1953-54	2016-17
Team	Philadelphia Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	61	8.2	2.5	-	-	1.7	0.5	-	-	-	1.5	1.0	3.8	.266	-	-	-	0.5	0.8	.571
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 9
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	-	2017-18
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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

Season 10
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	-	2018-19
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 11
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	-	2019-20
Team	-	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Rockets 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		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 12
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Nets 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		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 13
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
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		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 14
	Joe Fulks	James Harden
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		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joe Fulks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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