Vince Carter vs. James Harden: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of James Harden and Vince Carter to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

James Harden and Vince Carter are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 53,415 points—. James Harden is also one of the all-time leaders in points per game. Here we compare their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that James Harden has better scoring stats than Vince Carter in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.

On this page we compare:

Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers
Games of 30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc
Shooting Stats
Points Year by Year

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 16 NBA regular seasons played, James Harden averages 7.4 points more than Vince Carter in his 22 seasons (24.1 points against 16.7), and he also scored a total of 1,959 points more (27,687 vs. 25,728).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Vince Carter 16.7
22
James Harden 24.1
+7.4
16

Total Points

Seasons
Vince Carter 25,728
22
James Harden 27,687
+1,959
16

Scoring Titles

Vince Carter 0
James Harden 3
Scoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leader
+3

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason James Harden has a better career point average than Vince Carter (+4.4 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,302).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Vince Carter 18.1
11
James Harden 22.5
+4.4
16

Total Points

Playoffs
Vince Carter 1,593
11
James Harden 3,895
+2,302
16

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Vince Carter 0
James Harden 4
+4

50+ Point Games

Vince Carter 2
James Harden 24
+22

40+ Point Games

Vince Carter 32
James Harden 105
+73

30+ Point Games

Vince Carter 185
James Harden 330
+145

20+ Point Games

Vince Carter 597
James Harden 736
+139

10+ Point Games

Vince Carter 1,094
+41
James Harden 1,053

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Vince Carter 1,473
+323
James Harden 1,150

0 Point Games (games without points)

Vince Carter 68
+67
James Harden 1

Playoffs

50+ Point Games

Vince Carter 1
+1
James Harden 0

40+ Point Games

Vince Carter 2
James Harden 11
+9

30+ Point Games

Vince Carter 12
James Harden 49
+37

20+ Point Games

Vince Carter 40
James Harden 101
+61

10+ Point Games

Vince Carter 68
James Harden 155
+87

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Vince Carter 88
James Harden 170
+82

0 Point Games (games without points)

Vince Carter 0
James Harden 3
+3

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Vince Carter 16.7 6.0 13.8 43.5 1.5 4.0 37.1 3.1 3.9 79.8 22 1,541
difference:+7.4+1.1+2.4+0.4+1.3+3.6+0.8+4.0+4.3+6.3+6+390
James Harden 24.1 7.1 16.2 43.9 2.8 7.6 36.3 7.1 8.2 86.1 16 1,151

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Vince Carter 25,728 9,293 21,339 43.5 2,290 6,168 37.1 4,852 6,082 79.8 22 1,541
difference:+1,959+1,119+2,729+0.4+885+2,582+0.8+3,312+3,396+6.3+6+390
James Harden 27,687 8,174 18,610 43.9 3,175 8,750 36.3 8,164 9,478 86.1 16 1,151

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Vince Carter 18.1 6.3 15.2 41.6 1.4 4.0 33.8 4.1 5.1 79.6 11 88
difference:+4.4+0.5+0.8+0.9+1.1+3.4+0.2+2.3+2.3+7.3+5+85
James Harden 22.5 6.8 16.0 42.5 2.5 7.4 34.0 6.4 7.4 86.9 16 173

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Vince Carter 1,593 557 1,340 41.6 119 352 33.8 360 452 79.6 11 88
difference:+2,302+616+1,420+0.9+315+923+0.2+755+831+7.3+5+85
James Harden 3,895 1,173 2,760 42.5 434 1,275 34.0 1,115 1,283 86.9 16 173

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 18.3
+8.4
199950
James Harden 9.9
201076

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 25.7
+13.5
200082
James Harden 12.2
201182

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 27.6
+10.8
200175
James Harden 16.8
201262

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 24.7
200260
James Harden 25.9
+1.2
201378

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 20.6
200343
James Harden 25.4
+4.8
201473

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 22.5
200473
James Harden 27.4
+4.9
201581

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 24.5
200577
James Harden 29.0
+4.5
201682

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 24.2
200679
James Harden 29.1
+4.9
201781

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 25.2
200782
James Harden Scoring leader30.4
+5.2
201872

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 21.3
200876
James Harden Scoring leader36.1
+14.8
201978

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 20.8
200980
James Harden Scoring leader34.3
+13.5
202068

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 16.6
201075
James Harden 24.6
+8.0
202144

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 14.0
201173
James Harden 22.0
+8.0
202265

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 10.1
201261
James Harden 21.0
+10.9
202358

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 13.4
201381
James Harden 16.6
+3.2
202472

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 11.9
201481
James Harden 22.8
+10.9
202579

Vince Carter's additional seasons:

* Vince Carter played 6 seasons more than James Harden in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 17 to 22, from 2015 to 2020—he averaged 6.5 points in a total of 393 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 8 ppg and his lowest 5.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
19990
James Harden 7.7
+7.7
20106

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 19.3
+6.3
20003
James Harden 13.0
201117

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 27.3
+11.0
200112
James Harden 16.3
201220

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20020
James Harden 26.3
+26.3
20136

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20030
James Harden 26.8
+26.8
20146

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20040
James Harden 27.2
+27.2
201517

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 26.8
+0.2
20054
James Harden 26.6
20165

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 29.6
+1.1
200611
James Harden 28.5
201711

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 22.3
200712
James Harden 28.6
+6.3
201817

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20080
James Harden 31.6
+31.6
201911

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20090
James Harden 29.6
+29.6
202012

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 15.5
201014
James Harden 20.2
+4.7
20219

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20110
James Harden 18.6
+18.6
202212

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 8.3
20124
James Harden 20.3
+12.0
202311

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter -
DNP
20130
James Harden 21.2
+21.2
20246

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Vince Carter 12.6
20147
James Harden 18.7
+6.1
20257

Vince Carter's additional Playoffs:

* During his 6 additional NBA seasons, Vince Carter played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 8.0 points in a total of 21 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 11.3 ppg and his lowest 6.3.

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