Over the last five seasons, only two NBA players have averaged 15 points, 6.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocked shots per game.
Ben Simmons and James Harden.
How about that.
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Simmons and Harden have both been stat machines (when they’ve been on the court) during their careers, and while everybody in Philly is more than familiar with ups and downs of Simmons’ career — and there really were some ups, once upon a time — now that Harden is a Sixer, we thought it would be fun to take a deep dive into just how wild his career numbers have been up to this point.
So here are 10 mind-blowing James Harden stats. And if you want 10 Ben Simmons stats, go find a web site in New York. He’s not our problem anymore!
Filling the box score: With career averages of 25 points, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, Harden is one of only three players in NBA history to average 25 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in his career. The others are LeBron James and Jerry West.
Harden stands alone: Over the last 11 years, Harden has averaged 27.9 points, 7.7 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. No other player in NBA history has ever reached those averages over any 11-year period at any point in their career.
NBA
Along with Wilt, Michael and Elgin: Harden’s 36.1 points per game for the Rockets in 2019 is the eighth-highest average in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain (five times) and Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan (once each) have averaged more points per season. Harden averaged 34.3 points the next year, making him one of only four players to average 34 points per game in consecutive seasons. Chamberlain did it six straight seasons from 1960 through 1965, Baylor in 1961 and 1962 and Jordan in 1987 and 1988.
Only NBA player ever: Harden is the only player to average 34 points and 7.5 assists per game for a season, and he did it twice — 36.1 and 7.5 in 2019 and 34.3 and 7.5 in 2020, both for Houston. He averaged 33.7 points per game from 2018 through 2020. Only Chamberlain, Baylor and Jordan have had higher averages over any three-year span.
Seven-year stretch: Harden and Oscar Robertson are the only players in NBA history to average 30 points and 7 assists over any seven-year period. Harden was at 30.4 and 8.5 from 2015 through 2021. Robertson averaged 30.3 and 10.6 from 1961 through 1968.
Not a tiny accomplishment: Harden is also one of only four players with at least one career season with 11 assists and one season with 30 points. Robertson had four 11-assist seasons and six 30-point seasons and Tiny Archibald and Russell Westbrook have had one of each.
Prolific shooter: With 7,035 career 3-point attempts, Harden trails only Ray Allen (7,429) and Stephen Curry (7,159). But his 36.2 career shooting percentage from 3 ranks 95th out of 164 players who’ve taken at least 2,500 3s.
Doing it year after year: Harden averaged at least 24 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists for nine straight years — every year from 2013 through last season. The only longer streaks in NBA history with 24 points, 4.5 boards and 5.5 assists are by James (18 straight from 2005 through this year) and Robertson (10 straight from 1961-70 — his first 10 NBA seasons). Harden can extend his streak to 10 straight seasons if he can increase his scoring average from 22.5 to 24.0 or better. But the Sixers only have 28 games left, so depending on when he joins the team he’d probably have to average somewhere around 26.5 points per game the rest of the year to get there.
Among the best for a decade: In 11 years since becoming a full-time starter, Harden ranks first in the NBA in scoring, third in assists and third in steals. Westbrook is the only other player in the top-five in all three categories.
And the flip side: In the interest of balance, we will finish with this one: Harden has had eight seasons where he’s shot worse than 45 percent and averaged over 3.5 turnovers per game. No player in NBA history has had more. Westbrook and John Wall have also had eight. Only seven players have shot worse than 45 percent and averaged 3.5 turnovers in their career, a group that includes Harden, Westbrook, Wall, Pete Maravich, Allen Iverson, Trae Young and Steve Francis.