James Harden vs Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson leads 6 of 8 career categories against James Harden, including rebounding (7.2 RPG) and playmaking (11.2 APG). The two never shared an NBA floor — Magic Johnson's last season was 1995-96, and James Harden debuted in 2025-26.
The case for James Harden: scoring (23.6 PPG), shooting efficiency (61.0% TS%).
The case for Magic Johnson: rebounding (7.2 RPG), playmaking (11.2 APG), per-minute impact (25.3 PER), and 3 more.
PPG
23.619.5
RPG
4.87.2
APG
8.011.2
TS%
61.0%61.0%
PER
20.625.3
Win Shares
7.789.4
games played
70906
MVPs / All-Star nods
—3 MVP · 3 FMVP · 10 All-NBA · 12 AS
Per Game
| James Harden | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| G | 70 | 906 |
| MIN | 34.9 | 36.7 |
| PTS | 23.6 | 19.5 |
| REB | 4.8 | 7.2 |
| AST | 8.0 | 11.2 |
| STL | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| BLK | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| FG% | 43.4 | 52.0 |
| 3P% | 37.5 | 30.4 |
| FT% | 88.4 | 84.8 |
Advanced
| James Harden | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| PER | 20.6 | 25.3 |
| TS% | 61.0 | 61.0 |
| USG% | 28.9 | 24.0 |
| WS | 7.7 | 89.4 |
| WS/48 | 0.151 | 0.240 |
| BPM | 4.3 | 8.6 |
| VORP | 3.9 | 48.1 |
Accolades
| James Harden | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | — | 3 |
| Finals MVP | — | 3 |
| All-NBA | — | 10 |
| All-Star | — | 12 |
| All-Star MVP | — | 2 |
| All-Rookie | — | 1 |
Career percentiles
Scoring9590
Efficiency7795
Playmaking99100
Rebounding7186
Defense7485
Compare James Harden to someone else · Compare Magic Johnson to someone else