Thurl Bailey vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Thurl Bailey, 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.

Thurl Bailey played 12 years in the NBA, 3 less than James Harden, who played 15. Thurl Bailey had the first of his seasons in 1983-84, 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Thurl Bailey	12	9	1983-84 to 1998-99
James Harden	15	15	2009-10 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1983-84	2009-10
Team	Utah Jazz	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	24.8	8.5	1.4	4.3	5.7	1.6	0.5	1.5	1.3	2.4	3.7	7.3	.512	0.0	0.0	-	1.1	1.4	.752
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		%
Thurl Bailey	11	30.9	10.6	1.4	4.2	5.5	0.9	0.2	1.0	1.5	3.0	4.5	8.8	.515	0.0	0.2	.000	1.5	1.9	.810
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1984-85	2010-11
Team	Utah Jazz	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	80	31.0	15.2	1.9	4.7	6.6	1.7	0.6	1.3	1.9	2.7	6.3	12.9	.490	0.0	0.0	1.000	2.5	2.9	.842
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		%
Thurl Bailey	10	37.5	16.9	2.1	7.1	9.2	2.7	0.5	1.8	2.1	3.0	6.2	15.2	.408	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	5.5	.818
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1985-86	2011-12
Team	Utah Jazz	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	28.8	14.6	1.8	4.2	6.0	1.9	0.5	1.4	1.8	2.0	5.9	13.1	.448	0.0	0.1	.000	2.8	3.4	.830
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		%
Thurl Bailey	4	36.8	16.0	2.8	5.3	8.0	3.3	0.5	0.5	1.3	3.3	7.0	19.3	.364	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	2.8	.727
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1986-87	2012-13
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	81	26.6	13.8	1.8	3.5	5.3	1.3	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.9	5.7	12.8	.447	0.0	0.0	.000	2.3	2.9	.805
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		%
Thurl Bailey	5	30.2	15.6	2.8	3.2	6.0	1.8	0.6	1.2	2.4	2.4	6.0	12.6	.476	0.0	0.0	-	3.6	3.6	1.000
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1987-88	2013-14
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	34.2	19.6	1.6	4.8	6.5	1.9	0.6	1.5	2.3	2.3	7.7	15.7	.492	0.0	0.0	.333	4.1	5.0	.826
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		%
Thurl Bailey	11	40.8	23.2	1.9	3.8	5.7	1.6	0.5	2.1	1.9	2.9	9.0	18.5	.488	0.0	0.1	.000	5.2	6.2	.838
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1988-89	2014-15
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	33.9	19.5	1.4	4.0	5.5	1.7	0.6	1.1	2.5	2.3	7.5	15.5	.483	0.0	0.1	.400	4.4	5.4	.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		%
Thurl Bailey	3	40.7	12.0	3.3	5.0	8.3	1.0	0.3	1.3	3.0	3.7	4.0	11.3	.353	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	5.0	.800
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1989-90	2015-16
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	31.5	14.2	1.4	3.6	5.0	1.7	0.4	1.2	1.7	2.1	5.7	11.9	.481	0.0	0.1	.000	2.7	3.5	.779
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		%
Thurl Bailey	5	38.0	21.0	1.6	4.8	6.4	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.0	3.8	8.6	17.6	.489	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	4.8	.792
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1990-91	2016-17
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	82	30.3	12.4	1.2	3.7	5.0	1.5	0.6	1.1	1.6	2.0	4.9	10.6	.458	0.0	0.0	.000	2.7	3.3	.808
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		%
Thurl Bailey	9	25.3	7.6	1.2	2.3	3.6	1.0	0.3	0.7	1.3	3.0	2.6	7.1	.359	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	2.8	.880
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1991-92	2017-18
Team	Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Thurl Bailey	84	25.0	11.3	1.5	4.3	5.8	0.9	0.4	1.4	1.3	1.9	4.4	10.0	.440	0.0	0.0	.000	2.6	3.2	.796
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1992-93	2018-19
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring 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		%
Thurl Bailey	70	18.2	7.5	0.8	2.3	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.9	1.3	2.9	6.4	.455	0.0	0.0	-	1.7	2.0	.838
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1993-94	2019-20
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring 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		%
Thurl Bailey	79	16.4	7.4	0.8	1.9	2.7	0.7	0.3	0.7	0.7	1.2	2.9	5.8	.510	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	1.9	.799
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Note: Thurl Bailey didn't play in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98.


Season 12
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
Season	1998-99	2020-21
Team	Utah Jazz	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Thurl Bailey	43	12.6	4.2	0.8	1.3	2.2	0.6	0.2	0.7	0.6	1.8	1.8	4.1	.446	0.0	0.0	.000	0.6	0.8	.735
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		%
Thurl Bailey	11	10.5	3.4	0.5	0.9	1.4	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.7	1.7	1.5	3.0	.515	0.0	0.0	-	0.3	0.4	.750
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
	Thurl Bailey	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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Thurl Bailey	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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 15
	Thurl Bailey	James Harden
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		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Thurl Bailey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Thurl Bailey vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Thurl Bailey, 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