James Harden's age-28 season was one for the ages

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Not only did James Harden have the best season of his NBA career as a 28-year-old. The six-time All-Star matched up pretty well with some of the greatest players the league has ever seen at that age.


According to Basketball Reference, only six players in NBA history have averaged more points per game in their age-28 season than Harden did (30.4) in 2017-18. Their names, in ascending order: Oscar Robertson (30.5), Dominique Wilkins (30.7), Kobe Bryant (31.6), Russell Westbrook (31.6), Elgin Baylor (34.0) and Wilt Chamberlain (34.7). 

The Houston Rockets guard also finished behind only five players (Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and John Stockton) in assists per game and 11 guards (including Robertson, Westbrook, West and Jason Kidd) in rebounds per game.

There's plenty more where all of that came from, too...

Where Harden's age-28 season ranks all-time

  • 2nd in 3-pointers made (265)
  • 2nd in 3-pointers attempted (722)
  • 9th in free throws made (624)
  • 12th in free throws attempted (727)
  • 2nd in usage (36.1)
  • 5th in Player Efficiency Rating (29.8)
  • 9th in True Shooting Percentage (61.9)
  • 6th in Offensive Win Shares (11.6)
  • 9th in Win Shares (15.4)
  • 2nd in Offensive Box Plus/Minus (9.6)
  • 3rd in Box Plus/Minus (10.9)

The Rockets can only hope that year 29 will treat Harden just as well.

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Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News