James Harden vs Karl Malone
Karl Malone leads 6 of 8 career categories against James Harden, including scoring (25.0 PPG) and rebounding (10.1 RPG). The two never shared an NBA floor — Karl Malone's last season was 2003-04, and James Harden debuted in 2025-26.
The case for James Harden: playmaking (8.0 APG), shooting efficiency (61.0% TS%).
The case for Karl Malone: scoring (25.0 PPG), rebounding (10.1 RPG), per-minute impact (23.9 PER), and 3 more.
PPG
23.625.0
RPG
4.810.1
APG
8.03.6
TS%
61.0%57.7%
PER
20.623.9
Win Shares
7.7232.3
games played
701476
MVPs / All-Star nods
—2 MVP · 14 All-NBA · 14 AS
Per Game
| James Harden | Karl Malone | |
|---|---|---|
| G | 70 | 1476 |
| MIN | 34.9 | 37.2 |
| PTS | 23.6 | 25.0 |
| REB | 4.8 | 10.1 |
| AST | 8.0 | 3.6 |
| STL | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| BLK | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| FG% | 43.4 | 51.6 |
| 3P% | 37.5 | 27.4 |
| FT% | 88.4 | 74.2 |
Advanced
| James Harden | Karl Malone | |
|---|---|---|
| PER | 20.6 | 23.9 |
| TS% | 61.0 | 57.7 |
| USG% | 28.9 | 29.5 |
| WS | 7.7 | 232.3 |
| WS/48 | 0.151 | 0.203 |
| BPM | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| VORP | 3.9 | 92.1 |
Accolades
| James Harden | Karl Malone | |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | — | 2 |
| All-NBA | — | 14 |
| All-Star | — | 14 |
| All-Defensive | — | 4 |
| All-Star MVP | — | 2 |
| All-Rookie | — | 1 |
Career percentiles
Scoring9597
Efficiency7784
Playmaking9981
Rebounding7197
Defense7487
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