Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 84
- Honours
- 76
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 9.9 | |
| 2010 | 12.2 | |
| 2011 | 16.8 | |
| 2012 | 25.9 | |
| 2013 | 25.4 | |
| 2014 | 27.4 | |
| 2015 | 29 | |
| 2016 | 29.1 | |
| 2017 | 30.4 | |
| 2018 | 36.1 | |
| 2019 | 34.3 | |
| 2020 | 24.6 | |
| 2021 | 21 | |
| 2022 | 21 | |
| 2023 | 16.6 | |
| 2024 | 22.8 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- Olympedia
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why James Harden ranks #51 in Basketball
James Harden ranks 51st among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 383rd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 83.8 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 90, Longevity 84, Honours 76, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 399 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 2009–present with 16 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2018, which sets the Peak component at 90. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes mvp awards 1, scoring titles 3, all-star selections 11, assist titles 2.
Immediately ahead sits Isiah Thomas on 84.2, a gap of 0.4 points. Directly behind is Wes Unseld on 84.1. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
James Harden GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Harden stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2018. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 17 years of competition and 16 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
- Honours76/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 76/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Harden comparisons
James Harden — frequently asked
- Is James Harden the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. James Harden ranks 51st in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 83.8, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is James Harden's GOAT Score?
- 83.8 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 76 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does James Harden rank all time?
- 383rd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 51st within Basketball.
- James Harden vs Isiah Thomas: who ranks higher?
- Isiah Thomas, on 84.2 against James Harden's 83.8 — a margin of 0.4 points.