Greg Ballard vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Greg Ballard, 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.

Greg Ballard played 11 years in the NBA, 4 less than James Harden, who played 15. Greg Ballard had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, 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
Greg Ballard	11	7	1977-78 to 1988-89
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1977-78	2009-10
Team	Washington Bullets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	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		%
Greg Ballard	76	12.3	4.9	1.3	2.2	3.5	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.8	1.2	1.9	4.4	.425	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.772
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		%
Greg Ballard	19	12.8	3.9	1.4	2.7	4.2	0.9	0.5	0.2	0.7	1.5	1.1	3.3	.333	-	-	-	1.7	2.2	.780
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1978-79	2010-11
Team	Washington Bullets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bullets Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Greg Ballard	82	18.9	7.8	1.7	3.7	5.5	1.4	0.7	0.4	1.2	2.0	3.2	6.8	.465	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.692
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		%
Greg Ballard	19	16.4	7.2	1.8	3.1	4.8	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.1	1.5	2.8	5.3	.525	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.756
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1979-80	2011-12
Team	Washington Bullets	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	29.7	15.6	2.9	4.9	7.8	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.6	2.4	6.6	13.4	.495	0.2	0.6	.340	2.1	2.8	.753
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		%
Greg Ballard	2	36.5	11.0	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.5	0.5	0.5	4.0	4.0	4.5	14.0	.321	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.5	.571
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1980-81	2012-13
Team	Washington Bullets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Greg Ballard	82	31.8	15.5	2.0	5.0	7.1	2.4	1.4	0.5	1.4	2.4	6.7	14.5	.463	0.1	0.4	.219	2.0	2.4	.847
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1981-82	2013-14
Team	Washington Bullets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	79	37.3	18.8	1.7	6.3	8.0	3.2	1.7	0.3	1.5	2.6	7.9	16.5	.475	0.1	0.3	.409	3.0	3.6	.830
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		%
Greg Ballard	7	38.3	13.3	3.1	5.9	9.0	3.1	2.0	0.4	1.7	2.9	5.1	14.3	.360	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.6	.840
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1982-83	2014-15
Team	Washington Bullets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Greg Ballard	78	36.4	18.0	1.6	4.9	6.5	3.4	1.7	0.3	2.0	2.3	7.7	16.3	.473	0.2	0.5	.351	2.3	3.0	.781
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1983-84	2015-16
Team	Washington Bullets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.9	14.5	1.7	4.2	6.0	3.5	1.1	0.4	1.7	2.6	6.2	12.9	.481	0.0	0.2	.133	2.0	2.5	.798
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		%
Greg Ballard	4	42.0	16.5	1.8	4.3	6.0	3.5	1.8	0.8	2.0	3.0	6.8	14.8	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.0	3.3	.923
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1984-85	2016-17
Team	Washington Bullets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.5	13.1	1.8	4.6	6.5	2.5	1.2	0.4	1.3	2.7	5.7	11.9	.480	0.2	0.6	.304	1.5	1.8	.795
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		%
Greg Ballard	4	16.3	7.5	1.0	2.5	3.5	1.5	0.8	0.0	1.3	1.8	2.8	6.0	.458	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.3	.889
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1985-86	2017-18
Team	Golden State Warriors	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		%
Greg Ballard	75	23.9	8.8	1.8	3.8	5.6	1.1	0.9	0.1	0.7	2.3	3.6	7.6	.477	0.2	0.5	.486	1.3	1.7	.802
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1986-87	2018-19
Team	Golden State Warriors	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Warriors 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		%
Greg Ballard	82	19.3	7.1	1.2	2.9	4.1	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.9	2.0	3.0	6.9	.440	0.2	0.5	.375	0.8	1.1	.747
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		%
Greg Ballard	10	17.9	5.9	1.8	2.2	4.0	1.9	0.8	0.0	0.9	1.6	2.6	4.8	.542	0.4	1.0	.400	0.3	0.4	.750
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

Note: Greg Ballard didn't play in 1987-88.


Season 11
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	1988-89	2019-20
Team	Seattle Supersonics	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		%
Greg Ballard	2	7.5	3.0	1.0	2.5	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	0.5	4.0	.125	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.0	1.000
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	James Harden
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Greg Ballard	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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Greg Ballard vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Greg Ballard, 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