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Michael Jordan and James Harden are two of NBA history’s most lethal scorers. Daryl Morey, who was with “The Beard” in his peak years with the Houston Rockets, had no doubt one was just better than the other.
Morey had this to say about Harden in comparison to Jordan (via Alykhan Bijani):
“Someone asked me, ‘Who’s the better scorer, him or Michael Jordan?’ It’s just factual that James Harden is the better scorer than Michael Jordan. … You give James Harden the ball and before you’re giving up the ball, how many points do you generate, which is how you should measure offense. James Harden is by far #1 in history.
“The counterargument would be, if you put Michael Jordan in a team now, he would do more than James Harden. That’s possible, but if you’re just saying NBA history, if you give this guy the ball, how much is his team scoring after you give him the ball? It’s James Harden. I know that makes people mad but it’s literally a fact.”
Daryl Morey was one of the top executives who fully embraced advanced analytics in helping his team win. He badly wanted and succeeded in trading for Harden who was the third star with the OKC Thunder behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Once with the Houston Rockets and having a team of his own, Harden started torturing defenses. He became a first-time All-Star with Morey and eventually won the NBA MVP award during the 2017-18 season.
"The Beard" led the NBA in scoring three times, hitting 36.1 PPG during the 2018-19 season. During his peak scoring years, he averaged 33.4 PPG to go with 7.9 APG, 6.2 RPG and 1.9 SPG.
Michael Jordan, on the other hand, was a 10x scoring champ and could have easily won more had he not retired twice. He also played in a different era that was decisively more physical and punishing. Most fans would argue that had Jordan played in an era that favored players on offense, he would have averaged even more mind-boggling numbers.
Michael Jordan was just way better than James Harden in the playoffs
Advanced analytics or not, Michael Jordan was just decidedly way better than the wantaway Philadelphia 76ers star, particularly when the games were the biggest. Harden has gone to the NBA Finals just once and lost to the Miami Heat.
As the main man in Houston, the most he could do was lead the Rockets to two conference finals. He has built a playoff resume that has been criticized and trolled by fans for his often disappearing act.
Michael Jordan, meanwhile, is 6-0 in the NBA Finals. He was named the finals MVP in each of those seasons and averaged 33.4 PPG in the postseason, which is the best in history.
“The Beard,” scoring prowess and ability to generate offense have not been the same in the regular season and the playoffs. He has averaged 22.7 PPG in 160 postseason games. One could easily make an argument that “His Airness” never played a bad game in the playoffs the way Harden has consistently done.
One has been labeled a "choker" in the playoffs while the other is arguably the best in the postseason.
