James Harden vs. Elvin Hayes Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Elvin Hayes and James Harden, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

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.

James Harden played 15 years in the NBA, 1 less than Elvin Hayes, who played 16. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Elvin Hayes had his rookie season in 1968-69. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16
Rookie Season
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2009-10	1968-69
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Rockets Lost West Div Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	45.1	28.4	-	-	17.1	1.4	-	-	-	3.2	11.3	25.4	.447	-	-	-	5.7	9.1	.626
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	6	46.3	25.8	-	-	13.8	0.8	-	-	-	3.5	10.0	19.0	.526	-	-	-	5.8	8.8	.660

Season 2
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2010-11	1969-70
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	44.7	27.5	-	-	16.9	2.0	-	-	-	3.3	11.1	24.6	.452	-	-	-	5.2	7.6	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2011-12	1970-71
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	San Diego Rockets
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Thunder Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	44.3	28.7	-	-	16.6	2.3	-	-	-	2.7	11.6	27.0	.428	-	-	-	5.5	8.2	.672
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2012-13	1971-72
Team	Houston Rockets	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	42.2	25.2	-	-	14.6	3.3	-	-	-	2.8	10.1	23.4	.434	-	-	-	4.9	7.5	.649
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2013-14	1972-73
Team	Houston Rockets	Baltimore Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	81	41.3	21.2	-	-	14.5	1.6	-	-	-	2.9	8.8	19.8	.444	-	-	-	3.6	5.4	.671
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	5	45.6	25.8	-	-	11.4	1.0	-	-	-	3.2	10.6	21.0	.505	-	-	-	4.6	6.6	.697

Season 6
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2014-15	1973-74
Team	Houston Rockets	Capital Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	81	44.5	21.4	4.4	13.7	18.1	2.0	1.1	3.0	-	3.1	8.5	20.1	.423	-	-	-	4.4	6.1	.721
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	7	46.1	25.9	4.4	11.4	15.9	3.0	0.7	2.1	-	3.3	10.9	20.4	.531	-	-	-	4.1	5.9	.707

Season 7
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2015-16	1974-75
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Bullets 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		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	42.3	23.0	2.7	9.5	12.2	2.5	1.9	2.3	-	2.9	9.0	20.3	.443	-	-	-	5.0	6.5	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	17	44.2	25.5	2.7	8.2	10.9	2.2	1.5	2.3	-	4.1	10.2	21.9	.468	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.677

Season 8
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2016-17	1975-76
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	80	37.2	19.8	2.6	8.4	11.0	1.5	1.3	2.5	-	3.7	8.1	17.3	.470	-	-	-	3.6	5.7	.628
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	7	43.6	20.0	2.3	10.3	12.6	1.4	0.7	4.0	-	3.4	7.7	17.4	.443	-	-	-	4.6	7.9	.582

Season 9
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2017-18	1976-77
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	41.0	23.7	3.5	9.0	12.5	1.9	1.1	2.7	-	3.8	9.3	18.5	.501	-	-	-	5.1	7.5	.687
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	9	45.0	21.0	3.2	10.3	13.6	1.9	1.1	2.4	-	4.3	8.2	19.2	.428	-	-	-	4.6	6.6	.695

Season 10
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2018-19	1977-78
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	81	40.1	19.7	4.1	9.1	13.3	1.8	1.2	2.0	2.8	3.9	7.9	17.4	.451	-	-	-	4.0	6.3	.634
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	21	41.3	21.8	4.9	8.4	13.3	2.0	1.5	2.5	2.8	4.1	9.0	18.3	.491	-	-	-	3.8	6.3	.594

Season 11
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2019-20	1978-79
Team	Houston Rockets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Bullets Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	37.9	21.8	3.8	8.3	12.1	1.7	0.9	2.3	2.9	3.8	8.8	18.0	.487	-	-	-	4.3	6.5	.654
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	19	41.4	22.5	4.9	9.1	14.0	2.0	0.9	2.7	2.9	4.2	8.9	20.8	.429	-	-	-	4.6	6.8	.669

Season 12
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2020-21	1979-80
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	Bullets Lost East 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		%
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
Elvin Hayes	81	39.3	23.0	3.3	7.7	11.1	1.6	0.8	2.3	2.7	3.8	9.4	20.7	.454	0.0	0.2	.231	4.1	5.9	.699
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	2	46.0	20.0	5.0	6.0	11.0	3.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	8.0	20.5	.390	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	5.0	.800

Season 13
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2021-22	1980-81
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	81	36.2	17.8	2.9	6.8	9.7	1.2	0.8	2.1	2.3	3.7	7.2	16.0	.451	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	5.4	.617
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 14
	James Harden	Elvin Hayes
Season	2022-23	1981-82
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	Assists Leader	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
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
Elvin Hayes	82	37.0	16.1	3.3	5.9	9.1	1.8	0.8	1.3	2.5	3.5	6.3	13.4	.472	0.0	0.1	.000	3.4	5.1	.664
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Elvin Hayes	3	41.3	14.0	2.3	7.7	10.0	1.0	0.7	3.3	2.0	4.0	5.7	16.7	.340	0.0	0.0	-	2.7	5.0	.533