Markelle Fultz vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Markelle Fultz, 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.

Markelle Fultz played 8 years in the NBA, 8 less than James Harden, who played 16. Markelle Fultz had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, 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 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.

Rookie Season
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2017-18	2009-10
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	14	18.1	7.1	0.8	2.3	3.1	3.8	0.9	0.3	1.2	1.6	3.2	7.9	.405	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.5	.476
difference:	+62	+4.8	+2.8	+0.2	+0.3	+0.1	+2.0	+0.2		-0.2	-1.0	+0.1	+0.3	+.002	+1.2	+3.2	+.375	+1.9	+1.7	+.332
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		%
Markelle Fultz	3	7.7	1.7	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.7	0.7	0.0	0.3	1.3	0.3	2.3	.143	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.3	.750
difference:	+3	+12.3	+6.0	+0.2	+1.3	+1.5	+0.1	+0.3	+0.2	-0.2	-1.0	+1.7	+2.9	+.244	+1.0	+2.7		+1.7	+1.9	+.092
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 3
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2019-20	2011-12
Team	Orlando Magic	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	72	27.7	12.1	0.6	2.7	3.3	5.1	1.3	0.2	2.0	2.0	5.0	10.7	.465	0.5	1.9	.267	1.6	2.2	.730
difference:	+10	+3.7	+4.7	+0.1	+0.9	+0.8	+1.4	+0.3		-0.2	-0.4		+0.6	+.026	+1.3	+2.8	+.123	+3.4	+3.8	+.116
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		%
Markelle Fultz	5	29.4	12.0	0.0	2.2	2.2	5.2	1.0	0.6	2.6	4.0	4.8	12.0	.400	1.2	3.2	.375	1.2	1.4	.857
difference:	+15	+2.1	+4.3	+0.7	+2.3	+2.9	+1.8	+0.6	+0.5	-0.5	-0.6	+0.1	+1.3	+.035	+0.4	+0.7	+.035	+4.2	+4.9
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
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2020-21	2012-13
Team	Orlando Magic	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	8	26.9	12.9	0.6	2.5	3.1	5.4	1.0	0.3	2.3	2.3	5.1	13.0	.394	0.5	2.0	.250	2.1	2.4	.895
difference:	+70	+11.4	+13.0	+0.2	+1.6	+1.8	+0.4	+0.8	+0.2	-1.5		+2.4	+4.1	+.044	+1.8	+4.2	+.118	+6.5	+7.8	+.044
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		%
Markelle Fultz	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2021-22	2013-14
Team	Orlando Magic	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	18	20.0	10.8	0.2	2.5	2.7	5.5	1.1	0.3	2.2	1.2	4.6	9.7	.474	0.2	0.9	.235	1.4	1.7	.806
difference:	+55	+18.0	+14.6	+0.6	+1.4	+2.0	+0.6	+0.5	+0.1	-1.4	-1.2	+2.9	+6.8	+.018	+2.2	+5.7	+.131	+6.5	+7.4	+.060
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		%
Markelle Fultz	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2022-23	2014-15
Team	Orlando Magic	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	60	29.6	14.0	1.2	2.8	3.9	5.7	1.5	0.4	2.3	2.2	5.8	11.3	.514	0.5	1.5	.310	1.9	2.4	.783
difference:	+21	+7.2	+13.4	+0.3	+1.9	+1.8	+1.3	+0.4	+0.3	-1.7	-0.4	+2.2	+6.8	+.074	+2.1	+5.4	+.065	+6.9	+7.8	+.085
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		%
Markelle Fultz	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2023-24	2015-16
Team	Orlando Magic	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	43	21.2	7.8	1.3	1.9	3.2	2.8	1.0	0.3	1.2	1.5	3.6	7.6	.472	0.1	0.4	.222	0.5	0.8	.697
difference:	+39	+16.9	+21.2	+0.5	+3.4	+2.9	+4.7	+0.7	+0.3	-3.4	-1.3	+5.1	+12.1	+.033	+2.8	+7.6	+.137	+8.3	+9.4	+.163
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		%
Markelle Fultz	7	15.1	6.4	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.1	0.4	0.0	1.1	1.7	2.9	4.9	.588	0.0	0.1	.000	0.7	1.3	.556
difference:	+2	+23.5	+20.2	+0.4	+2.8	+3.2	+6.5	+2.0	+0.2	-4.1	-0.9	+5.3	+15.1	+.178	+2.6	+8.3	+.310	+6.9	+7.7	+.288
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
	Markelle Fultz	James Harden
Season	2024-25	2016-17
Team	Sacramento Kings	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Markelle Fultz	21	8.8	2.9	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.3	0.5	0.1	0.7	0.6	1.3	3.2	.418	0.2	0.4	.500	0.0	0.0	-
difference:	+60	+27.6	+26.2	+0.9	+6.3	+7.1	+9.9	+1.0	+0.4	-5.0	-2.1	+7.0	+15.7	+.022	+3.0	+8.9	+.153	+9.2	+10.9
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		%
Markelle Fultz	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* James Harden played 8 seasons more than Markelle Fultz in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 16, from 2018 to 2025—James Harden played in 8 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Markelle Fultz, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 Scoring Leader 1 Assists Leader 6 All-Star Game