James Harden vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith 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.

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

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, 2 more than Josh Smith, who played 13. James Harden had the first of his seasons in 2009-10, while Josh Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. 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
James Harden	15	15	2009-10 to 2023-24
Josh Smith	13	8	2004-05 to 2017-18

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


Rookie Season
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2009-10	2004-05
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Thunder 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	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
Josh Smith	74	27.7	9.7	2.0	4.2	6.2	1.7	0.8	1.9	1.8	2.1	3.7	8.1	.455	0.1	0.3	.174	2.2	3.2	.688

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2010-11	2005-06
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
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
Josh Smith	80	32.0	11.3	2.2	4.4	6.6	2.4	0.8	2.6	2.0	3.3	4.1	9.7	.425	0.4	1.4	.309	2.6	3.7	.719

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2011-12	2006-07
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Sixth Man of the Year	-
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
Josh Smith	72	36.8	16.4	2.3	6.3	8.6	3.3	1.4	2.9	3.2	3.3	6.1	13.8	.439	0.5	2.1	.250	3.7	5.4	.693

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2012-13	2007-08
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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
Josh Smith	81	35.5	17.2	2.0	6.2	8.2	3.4	1.5	2.8	3.0	3.3	6.4	14.0	.457	0.3	1.2	.253	4.1	5.8	.710

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
Josh Smith	7	33.9	15.7	1.0	5.4	6.4	2.9	1.7	2.9	3.7	3.7	5.0	12.6	.398	0.4	2.6	.167	5.3	6.3	.841


Season 5
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2013-14	2008-09
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks 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
Josh Smith	69	35.1	15.6	1.9	5.3	7.2	2.4	1.4	1.6	2.3	2.7	6.1	12.3	.492	0.4	1.3	.299	3.1	5.2	.588

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
Josh Smith	11	37.3	17.1	2.2	5.3	7.5	2.2	1.1	1.5	1.9	3.3	6.1	14.5	.421	0.2	1.4	.133	4.7	6.5	.732


Season 6
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2014-15	2009-10
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks 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		%
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
Josh Smith	81	35.4	15.7	2.8	6.0	8.7	4.2	1.6	2.1	2.4	3.0	6.2	12.3	.505	0.0	0.1	.000	3.2	5.2	.618

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
Josh Smith	11	35.6	14.1	3.4	5.6	9.0	2.6	1.2	1.7	1.5	2.7	5.6	11.7	.481	0.2	0.5	.333	2.6	4.0	.659


Season 7
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2015-16	2010-11
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks 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		%
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
Josh Smith	77	34.4	16.5	1.7	6.8	8.5	3.3	1.3	1.6	2.6	2.8	6.5	13.5	.477	0.7	2.0	.331	3.0	4.1	.725

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
Josh Smith	12	36.5	15.1	1.5	7.0	8.5	2.9	1.1	2.1	2.2	3.3	5.8	14.3	.404	0.3	2.0	.125	3.3	5.6	.597


Season 8
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2016-17	2011-12
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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
Josh Smith	66	35.3	18.8	2.1	7.5	9.6	3.9	1.4	1.7	2.5	2.6	7.6	16.7	.458	0.4	1.7	.257	3.1	4.9	.630

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
Josh Smith	5	39.2	16.8	2.0	11.6	13.6	4.8	0.6	1.0	3.0	2.8	6.8	17.6	.386	0.0	0.8	.000	3.2	4.2	.762


Season 9
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2017-18	2012-13
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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
Josh Smith	76	35.3	17.5	1.8	6.7	8.4	4.2	1.2	1.8	3.0	2.3	7.2	15.6	.465	0.8	2.6	.303	2.2	4.2	.517

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
Josh Smith	6	33.2	17.0	1.7	5.8	7.5	3.5	1.8	0.5	2.7	3.5	6.5	15.0	.433	0.8	3.3	.250	3.2	6.0	.528


Season 10
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2018-19	2013-14
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

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
Josh Smith	77	35.5	16.4	1.3	5.4	6.8	3.3	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.6	6.7	16.0	.419	0.9	3.4	.264	2.1	3.9	.532

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 11
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2019-20	2014-15
Team	Houston Rockets	Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 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		%
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
Josh Smith	83	27.7	12.4	1.8	4.6	6.4	3.3	1.0	1.4	2.5	2.7	5.0	11.9	.419	0.9	2.7	.316	1.5	3.1	.498

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
Josh Smith	17	23.3	13.5	1.5	4.1	5.6	2.7	0.5	1.0	2.2	2.4	5.0	11.4	.438	1.6	4.2	.380	1.9	4.4	.432


Season 12
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2020-21	2015-16
Team	Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets	Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nets 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		%
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
Josh Smith	55	16.0	6.0	0.9	2.6	3.5	1.6	0.6	0.9	1.4	2.1	2.3	6.3	.364	0.7	2.6	.287	0.7	1.2	.552

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
Josh Smith	4	9.5	4.0	0.3	0.3	0.5	1.0	0.3	0.3	1.3	1.8	1.5	3.3	.462	1.0	2.0	.500	0.0	0.5	.000

Note: Josh Smith didn't play in 2016-17.


Season 13
	James Harden	Josh Smith
Season	2021-22	2017-18
Team	Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

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
Josh Smith	3	4.0	0.7	1.0	0.3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3	1.3	.250	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 14
	James Harden	Josh Smith
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		%
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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 15
	James Harden	Josh Smith
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		%
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
Josh Smith	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

James Harden vs. Josh Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Josh Smith 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.

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