James Harden vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leads 5 of 8 career categories against James Harden, including scoring (24.6 PPG) and rebounding (11.2 RPG). The two never shared an NBA floor — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's last season was 1988-89, and James Harden debuted in 2025-26.
The case for James Harden: playmaking (8.0 APG), shooting efficiency (61.0% TS%), per-minute impact (20.6 PER).
The case for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: scoring (24.6 PPG), rebounding (11.2 RPG), career value (26.1 Win Shares), and 2 more.
PPG
23.624.6
RPG
4.811.2
APG
8.03.6
TS%
61.0%59.2%
PER
20.617.8
Win Shares
7.726.1
games played
701560
MVPs / All-Star nods
—6 MVP · 2 FMVP · 15 All-NBA · 19 AS
Per Game
| James Harden | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | |
|---|---|---|
| G | 70 | 1560 |
| MIN | 34.9 | 35.9 |
| PTS | 23.6 | 24.6 |
| REB | 4.8 | 11.2 |
| AST | 8.0 | 3.6 |
| STL | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| BLK | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| FG% | 43.4 | 55.9 |
| 3P% | 37.5 | 5.6 |
| FT% | 88.4 | 72.2 |
Advanced
| James Harden | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | |
|---|---|---|
| PER | 20.6 | 17.8 |
| TS% | 61.0 | 59.2 |
| USG% | 28.9 | 23.1 |
| WS | 7.7 | 26.1 |
| WS/48 | 0.151 | 0.138 |
| BPM | 4.3 | 0.9 |
| VORP | 3.9 | 6.7 |
Accolades
| James Harden | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | — | 6 |
| Finals MVP | — | 2 |
| All-NBA | — | 15 |
| All-Star | — | 19 |
| All-Defensive | — | 11 |
| Rookie of the Year | — | 1 |
| All-Rookie | — | 1 |
Career percentiles
Scoring9594
Efficiency7788
Playmaking9978
Rebounding7193
Defense7475
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