Elgin Baylor vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Elgin Baylor, 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.

Elgin Baylor played 14 years in the NBA, 1 less than James Harden, who played 15. Elgin Baylor had the first of his seasons in 1958-59, 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
Elgin Baylor	14	12	1958-59 to 1971-72
James Harden	15	15	2009-10 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Rookie Season
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1958-59	2009-10
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	70	40.8	24.9	-	-	15.0	4.1	-	-	-	3.9	8.6	21.2	.408	-	-	-	7.6	9.8	.777
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		%
Elgin Baylor	13	42.8	25.5	-	-	12.0	3.3	-	-	-	4.0	9.4	23.3	.403	-	-	-	6.7	8.7	.770
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1959-60	2010-11
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	70	41.0	29.6	-	-	16.4	3.5	-	-	-	3.3	10.8	25.4	.424	-	-	-	8.1	11.0	.732
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		%
Elgin Baylor	9	45.3	33.4	-	-	14.1	3.4	-	-	-	4.2	12.3	26.0	.474	-	-	-	8.8	10.4	.840
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1960-61	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	73	42.9	34.8	-	-	19.8	5.1	-	-	-	3.8	12.8	29.7	.430	-	-	-	9.3	11.8	.783
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		%
Elgin Baylor	12	45.0	38.1	-	-	15.3	4.6	-	-	-	3.7	14.2	30.2	.470	-	-	-	9.8	11.8	.824
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1961-62	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	48	44.4	38.3	-	-	18.6	4.6	-	-	-	3.2	14.2	33.1	.428	-	-	-	9.9	13.1	.754
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		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.9	38.6	-	-	17.7	3.6	-	-	-	3.5	14.3	32.7	.438	-	-	-	10.0	12.9	.774
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1962-63	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Elgin Baylor	80	42.1	34.0	-	-	14.3	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	12.9	28.4	.453	-	-	-	8.3	9.9	.837
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		%
Elgin Baylor	13	43.2	32.6	-	-	13.6	4.5	-	-	-	3.7	12.3	27.8	.442	-	-	-	8.0	9.7	.825
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1963-64	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Elgin Baylor	78	40.6	25.4	-	-	12.0	4.4	-	-	-	3.0	9.7	22.8	.425	-	-	-	6.0	7.5	.804
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		%
Elgin Baylor	5	44.2	24.2	-	-	11.6	5.6	-	-	-	3.4	9.0	23.8	.378	-	-	-	6.2	8.0	.775
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1964-65	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	74	41.3	27.1	-	-	12.8	3.8	-	-	-	3.2	10.3	25.7	.401	-	-	-	6.5	8.2	.792
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		%
Elgin Baylor	1	5.0	0.0	-	-	0	1.0	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	2.0	.000	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1965-66	2016-17
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	65	30.4	16.6	-	-	9.6	3.4	-	-	-	2.4	6.4	15.9	.401	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	.739
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		%
Elgin Baylor	14	41.9	26.8	-	-	14.1	3.7	-	-	-	2.7	10.4	23.4	.442	-	-	-	6.1	7.5	.810
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1966-67	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West 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		%
Elgin Baylor	70	38.7	26.6	-	-	12.8	3.1	-	-	-	3.0	10.2	23.7	.429	-	-	-	6.3	7.7	.813
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		%
Elgin Baylor	3	40.3	23.7	-	-	13.0	3.0	-	-	-	2.0	9.3	25.3	.368	-	-	-	5.0	6.7	.750
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1967-68	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	77	39.3	26.0	-	-	12.2	4.6	-	-	-	3.0	9.8	22.2	.443	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.786
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		%
Elgin Baylor	15	42.2	28.5	-	-	14.5	4.0	-	-	-	2.7	11.7	25.1	.468	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.679
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1968-69	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	76	40.3	24.8	-	-	10.6	5.4	-	-	-	2.7	9.6	21.5	.447	-	-	-	5.5	7.5	.743
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		%
Elgin Baylor	18	35.6	15.4	-	-	9.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.1	5.9	15.4	.385	-	-	-	3.5	5.6	.630
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1969-70	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Elgin Baylor	54	41.0	24.0	-	-	10.4	5.4	-	-	-	2.4	9.5	19.5	.486	-	-	-	5.1	6.6	.773
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		%
Elgin Baylor	18	37.1	18.7	-	-	9.6	4.6	-	-	-	2.8	7.7	16.4	.466	-	-	-	3.3	4.5	.741
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1970-71	2021-22
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Elgin Baylor	2	28.5	10.0	-	-	5.5	1.0	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	9.5	.421	-	-	-	2.0	3.0	.667
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		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	1971-72	2022-23
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Elgin Baylor	9	26.6	11.8	-	-	6.3	2.0	-	-	-	2.2	4.7	10.8	.433	-	-	-	2.4	3.0	.815
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		%
Elgin Baylor	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Elgin Baylor	James Harden
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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

Elgin Baylor vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Elgin Baylor, 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