Monta Ellis vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Monta Ellis, 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 / 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.

Monta Ellis played 12 years in the NBA, 5 less than James Harden, who played 17. Monta Ellis had the first of his seasons in 2005-06, 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Monta Ellis	12	6	2005-06 to 2016-17
James Harden	17	16	2009-10 to 2025-26

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


Rookie Season
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2005-06	2009-10
Team	Golden State Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Monta Ellis	49	18.1	6.8	0.4	1.7	2.1	1.6	0.7	0.2	1.2	1.4	2.7	6.5	.415	0.6	1.7	.341	0.9	1.2	.712
difference:	+27	+4.8	+3.1	+0.2	+0.9	+1.1	+0.2	+0.4	+0.1	-0.2	-1.2	+0.4	+1.1	+.012	+0.6	+1.6	+.034	+1.7	+2.0	+.096
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		%
Monta Ellis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2006-07	2010-11
Team	Golden State Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	Most Improved Player	-
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Monta Ellis	77	34.3	16.5	0.8	2.4	3.2	4.1	1.7	0.3	2.9	2.7	6.2	13.1	.475	0.5	1.9	.273	3.5	4.6	.763
difference:	+5	+7.6	+4.3	+0.3	+0.2	+0.1	+2.0	+0.6		-1.6	-0.2	+2.6	+4.8	+.039	+0.9	+2.1	+.076		+0.4	+.080
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		%
Monta Ellis	11	21.6	8.0	0.7	1.5	2.3	0.9	0.9	0.2	1.8	2.1	2.9	7.5	.390	0.1	0.8	.111	2.1	2.5	.821
difference:	+6	+10.0	+5.0	+0.1	+3.3	+3.1	+2.7	+0.3	+0.6	-0.2	-0.7	+1.0	+0.7	+.085	+1.3	+3.7	+.192	+1.8	+2.2	+.004
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2007-08	2011-12
Team	Golden State Warriors	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Monta Ellis	81	37.9	20.2	1.6	3.3	5.0	3.9	1.5	0.3	2.1	2.4	8.0	15.1	.531	0.1	0.6	.231	4.0	5.1	.767
difference:	+19	+6.5	+3.4	+1.1	+0.3	+0.9	+0.2	+0.5	+0.1	-0.1		+3.0	+5.0	+.040	+1.7	+4.1	+.159	+1.0	+0.9	+.079
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		%
Monta Ellis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2008-09	2012-13
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Monta Ellis	25	35.7	19.0	0.6	3.8	4.3	3.7	1.6	0.3	2.7	2.7	7.8	17.2	.451	0.3	1.0	.308	3.1	3.8	.830
difference:	+53	+2.6	+6.9	+0.2	+0.3	+0.6	+2.1	+0.2	+0.2	-1.1	-0.4	+0.3	+0.1	+.013	+2.0	+5.2	+.060	+5.5	+6.4	+.021
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2009-10	2013-14
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Monta Ellis	64	41.4	25.5	0.7	3.3	4.0	5.3	2.2	0.4	3.8	3.0	9.9	22.0	.449	1.2	3.6	.338	4.6	6.1	.753
difference:	+9	+3.4	+0.1	+0.1	+0.6	+0.7	+0.8	+0.6		-0.2	-0.6	+2.4	+5.5	+.007	+1.2	+3.0	+.028	+3.3	+3.0	+.113
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2010-11	2014-15
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Monta Ellis	80	40.3	24.1	0.6	3.0	3.5	5.6	2.1	0.3	3.2	2.5	9.1	20.1	.451	1.7	4.7	.361	4.3	5.4	.789
difference:	+1	+3.5	+3.3	+0.3	+1.7	+2.2	+1.4	+0.2	+0.4	-0.8	-0.1	+1.1	+2.0	+.011	+0.9	+2.2	+.014	+4.5	+4.8	+.079
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		%
Monta Ellis	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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2011-12	2015-16
Team	Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Monta Ellis	58	36.6	20.4	0.3	3.1	3.4	6.0	1.5	0.3	3.1	2.3	7.8	17.9	.433	1.1	3.5	.308	3.8	4.7	.796
difference:	+24	+1.5	+8.6	+0.5	+2.2	+2.7	+1.5	+0.2	+0.3	-1.5	-0.5	+0.9	+1.8	+.006	+1.8	+4.5	+.051	+5.0	+5.5	+.064
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		%
Monta Ellis	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2012-13	2016-17
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Monta Ellis	82	37.5	19.2	0.5	3.3	3.9	6.0	2.1	0.4	3.1	2.0	7.3	17.5	.416	1.1	4.0	.287	3.5	4.6	.773
difference:	+1	+1.1	+9.9	+0.7	+3.7	+4.2	+5.2	+0.6	+0.1	-2.6	-0.7	+1.0	+1.4	+.024	+2.1	+5.3	+.060	+5.7	+6.3	+.074
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		%
Monta Ellis	4	38.0	14.3	0.5	2.8	3.3	5.5	2.5	0.3	3.5	2.0	6.0	13.8	.436	0.8	4.8	.158	1.5	4.0	.375
difference:	+7	+1.0	+14.2	+0.1	+2.0	+2.2	+3.0	+0.6	+0.2	-1.9	-1.9	+2.2	+6.0	+.023	+2.1	+5.7	+.120	+7.7	+6.5	+.503
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2013-14	2017-18
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
Monta Ellis	82	36.9	19.0	0.5	3.1	3.6	5.7	1.7	0.3	3.2	2.4	7.0	15.6	.451	0.8	2.5	.330	4.1	5.2	.788
difference:	+10	+1.5	+11.4	+0.1	+1.7	+1.8	+3.1	+0.1	+0.4	-1.2	-0.1	+2.0	+4.5	+.002	+2.9	+7.5	+.037	+4.6	+4.9	+.070
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		%
Monta Ellis	7	35.6	20.4	0.9	1.6	2.4	2.9	1.3	0.1	2.1	2.7	7.4	18.1	.409	1.7	4.9	.353	3.9	4.4	.871
difference:	+10	+0.9	+8.2	+0.1	+2.8	+2.8	+3.9	+0.9	+0.5	-1.7		+1.9	+4.5	+.001	+1.4	+5.3	+.054	+3.0	+3.4	+.016
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2014-15	2018-19
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets 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		%
Monta Ellis	80	33.7	18.9	0.4	2.0	2.4	4.1	1.9	0.3	2.5	2.5	7.5	16.9	.445	1.0	3.6	.285	2.9	3.8	.752
difference:	+2	+3.1	+17.2	+0.4	+3.8	+4.2	+3.4	+0.1	+0.4	-2.5	-0.6	+3.3	+7.6	+.003	+3.8	+9.6	+.083	+6.8	+7.2	+.127
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		%
Monta Ellis	5	39.4	26.0	0.8	2.4	3.2	5.2	2.0	0.6	3.2	3.6	10.4	22.2	.468	2.2	6.0	.367	3.0	4.0	.750
difference:	+6	+0.9	+5.6		+3.6	+3.6	+1.4	+0.2	+0.3	-1.4	-0.1	+0.5	+1.8	+.055	+2.2	+6.5	+.017	+4.5	+4.9	+.087
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2015-16	2019-20
Team	Indiana Pacers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Monta Ellis	81	33.8	13.8	0.5	2.8	3.3	4.7	1.9	0.5	2.5	2.1	5.4	12.6	.427	1.1	3.5	.309	2.0	2.5	.786
difference:	+13	+2.7	+20.5	+0.5	+2.7	+3.3	+2.8	+0.1	+0.4	-2.0	-1.2	+4.5	+9.7	+.017	+3.3	+8.9	+.046	+8.2	+9.3	+.079
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		%
Monta Ellis	7	32.1	11.6	0.6	3.3	3.9	4.3	2.1	0.0	2.4	2.4	4.7	10.9	.434	1.0	3.0	.333	1.1	1.4	.800
difference:	+5	+5.2	+18.0	+0.4	+1.3	+1.7	+3.4	+0.6	+0.8	-1.4	-1.2	+4.4	+8.1	+.044	+2.3	+6.8		+7.1	+8.3	+.045
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
	Monta Ellis	James Harden
Season	2016-17	2020-21
Team	Indiana Pacers	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pacers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Nets Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
Monta Ellis	74	27.0	8.5	0.3	2.5	2.8	3.2	1.1	0.4	1.8	2.0	3.3	7.5	.443	0.6	1.8	.319	1.3	1.7	.727
difference:	+30	+9.6	+16.1	+0.5	+4.6	+5.1	+7.6	+0.1	+0.4	-2.2	-0.3	+4.5	+9.2	+.023	+2.2	+5.8	+.043	+5.0	+5.6	+.134
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		%
Monta Ellis	4	19.0	5.5	0.3	1.8	2.0	1.3	0.5	0.3	1.0	1.3	2.0	5.0	.400	0.5	2.0	.250	1.0	1.3	.800
difference:	+5	+16.8	+14.7	+0.5	+3.8	+4.3	+7.3	+1.2	+0.4	-1.9	-1.3	+3.7	+7.0	+.072	+2.2	+5.3	+.114	+5.2	+5.6	+.103
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


Additional Years
* James Harden played 5 seasons more than Monta Ellis in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 17, from 2022 to 2026—James Harden played in 4 Playoffs. In those 5 extra years over Monta Ellis, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Third Team 1 Assists Leader 2 All-Star Game

Monta Ellis vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Monta Ellis, 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