Rockets vs. Lakers: Breaking down Harden vs. LeBron by the numbers

Better Passer

As it pertains to their passing abilities, LeBron takes the cake over Harden in this category. This is not to say that Harden isn’t a great facilitator, LBJ is just one of the best floor generals in league history, which is why he’s drawn so many comparisons to Magic Johnson.

LeBron has averaged more assists per game in each of the last three seasons, and is leading the league  with 10.9 assists per contest this season. What’s also impressive is the fact that LBJ also leads the league with 19.2 potential assists, compared to Harden’s 14.8. The Lakers forward also had more potential assists than Harden during the 2018-19 season as well, as he had 16.2 potential assists per game compared to Harden’s 13.8.

LBJ also a career average of 7.3 assists per game, as compared to Harden’s Houston Rockets’ average of 7.67 assists per game, although Harden has had the ball in his hands far more than LeBron ever since the arrival of Mike D’Antoni. Granted, Harden has a career average of 6.3 assists per game, but that’s a flawed statistic considering how his first three seasons were spent as the Sixth Man for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

We’ve constantly seen LeBron throw on-target Hail Mary passes across the floor, which is further proof of LeBron’s ability to set up others with the perfect pass, not to mention the fact that his assist percentage is 50.6 percent this season, compared to Harden’s 35.6 percent. In case you’re unfamiliar with the assist percentage statistic, it measures the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while on the floor.

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