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James Harden sat quietly in front of his locker at Oracle Arena, wrapped only in a towel loosely tied around his waist, like the loincloth of a gladiator who had just emerged victorious from the perils of the Colosseum. Minutes earlier, Harden had wanted to win a seemingly impossible 3-point over Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to give the Houston Rockets a win over defending champion Golden State Warriors in overtime, and to top a 44 points, 15 assists, 10 – the rebound masterpiece.
In the visitors’ locker room, all eyes were on Harden. And the boy did he know.
As the media waited … and waited … and waited for quotes from the Man Who Possessed the Night, Harden casually sat down, scrolling his phone, occasionally chatting briefly with his teammates. He finally stood up, and as the melee formed around him to gather his thoughts, he instead barged in and headed for the shower.
It was Harden’s time, and he was treating him for all it was worth.
He finally got out of the shower as media deadlines passed and reporters grew increasingly frustrated, and Harden slowly adorned himself with perfumes, jewelry and finally the trendy shiny green slip with a piece. of paper stapled to the back which had goes around on social networks hours earlier when he entered the arena.
“I’ve got the full package,” Harden said, finally addressing the exhausted scrum of reporters, assuming the nickname and greatness of professional wrestling legend Lex Luger. “I get to the aggressive basket and pull my shot.”
The entire footage encapsulated everything about Harden’s tenure in Houston, which officially ended when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for massive transport Wednesday. His breathtaking attacking assault during the match. His contempt for standard protocols thereafter. His statement of his own abilities, with the chip on his shoulder staring down at anyone who dares to question his place among the greatest basketball players of all time.
But perhaps the most important part of the whole proceeding, when it comes to Harden’s run with the Rockets, is the fact that one of his greatest moments and grandstand moments came after a regular season victory. Despite his consistent historic offensive performances year after year, Harden’s time as the Rocket will ultimately be remembered as a disappointment due to the trophy that eluded him.
No matter how you feel about Harden, whether it be the aesthetics of his offensive approach, his reputation off the pitch, or the way he has treated his teammates, you can’t argue about his offensive abilities and his accomplishments in the field. ‘another world. An MVP who finished second by voting three times and third once. A triple leader of the NBA. A seven-time All-NBA player. An All-Star for his full eight seasons in Houston.
In 2018-19, Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain (five times) and Michael Jordan (once) as the only players in NBA history to average more than 36 points per game in a season. His 34.3 points per game in 2019-2020 rank 15th all-time. He ranks second (378 in 2018-19) and fifth (299 in 2019-20) on the single-season 3-pointers list, with only Stephen Curry ahead of him. He has led the NBA in free throw attempts for seven of the past eight seasons.
Harden is the Rockets’ all-time leader in points per game (29.6), 3 points, free throws and doubles trebles, and his 26.8 PER and 88.2 win shares are way ahead of Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, according to Basketball Reference. It’s hard to argue against Harden being the second best player in franchise history behind Olajuwon, and efficiency gives him at least an argument for the top spot.
More than the numbers, however, Harden revolutionized the way offense could be played. If Steph Curry is human cheat code, capable of getting hot and throwing puns that have nothing to do, Harden is the kid who figured out the issues of the game, exploiting defenses surgically and relentlessly, knowing that the numbers will eventually tip in its favor. His ability to draw fouls and finish on the edge was ultimately bolstered by one of the most unstoppable shots in NBA history – a 3-point step back that was copied ad nauseam by players in the world since Harden perfected it.
This shot, and the empowerment of Mike D’Antoni, helped turn Harden into an isolation machine. He has led the league in isos in each of the past five seasons, but took things to the extreme in 2018-19, when he completed 1,280 isolates according to NBA.com. The closest player behind him was Russell Westbrook at 353. With all that volume, he always led the league in isolation with 1.11 points per possession.
Harden also held the ball for 6.37 seconds per touch that season, and the methodical attacking style drew criticism from all corners. But there is no doubt about its effectiveness.
Yet in the end, Harden reached a place in Houston where none of it mattered. His success relies solely on playoff, individual and team performance, and it is there that he has developed a reputation that tends to diminish his regular season exploits. Harden was unable to lead the Rockets to victory in Game 5 of the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals against the Warriors after Kevin Durant left the game with an injury, after a win would have yielded to the Rockets a 3-2 lead returning to Houston. He scored five points in the fourth quarter and took just three shots as the Warriors retired, and the Rockets were eliminated at home in the next game.
The year before, Harden had been fortunate enough to send the Rockets to the NBA Finals with injured Chris Paul on the sidelines against those same Warriors, but he had turned frigid from the field – like the rest of the Rockets – making just two of his 13 3-point attempts as Houston watched his best chance to win a title with Harden slip through their fingers.
The biggest red flag on Harden’s playoff resumption, however, came in the 2017 Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs. Harden had narrowly lost the MVP that season to Westbrook and third, Kawhi Leonard, was out for Game 6 with an ankle injury. It was a done deal that the Rockets would win the home game, forcing a Game 7 in San Antonio with Leonard status potentially in the air.
What followed was one of the most disconcerting NBA playoff performances in recent memory. Harden, who averaged 27.4 points in the first five games of the series, scored just 10 points and took just 11 shots (including nine 3-pointers) as the Rockets lost 39 points in a game six elimination. This led to theories that Harden was concussed or otherwise physically embarrassed, and it fueled the belief that while formidable in the regular season, Harden’s style of play would never lead the Rockets to a championship. .
That was not the case.
Whether this is Harden’s fault is up for debate, but his effectiveness has tended to drop significantly in the playoffs.
|
2019-20 |
1.093 |
1.099 |
|
2018-19 |
1.073 |
0.98 |
|
2017-18 |
1.064 |
0.968 |
|
2016-17 |
1.007 |
0.96 |
|
2015-16 |
1.015 |
0.911 |
|
2014-15 |
1.031 |
1,024 |
|
2013-14 |
1.056 |
0.915 |
|
2012-13 |
1.027 |
0.924 |
As with most great players who failed to win a championship, questions abound about Harden’s conditioning, desire, and ability to blend in with his teammates. A scathing report emerged in the wake of Harden’s trade demand this fall detailing the “Anything James Wants” policy that had permeated Rockets culture for the past several years. Harden dictated travel schedules and forced the dismissal of former head coach Kevin McHale, as well as the departures of former teammates Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, ESPN previously reported.
The optic of attending a social gathering without a mask in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as the rest of his team headed to training camp certainly didn’t help his image as a prima donna ahead of the season. His final audience didn’t act as Rocket either, disparaging his teammates following a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers by saying they were “just not good enough”, before walking away from the team. podium.
We don’t know how time will shape Harden’s legacy. Maybe he, Durant and Kyrie Irving win a title or two in Brooklyn so Harden can finally add “NBA champion” to his long list of accomplishments. But as his new (and former) teammate Durant knows, not all championships are created equal.
Despite jaw-dropping numbers and a lasting impact on the game already looming, Harden failed in his eight attempts to lead the Rockets to a title. Any material that comes after allying with two of the game’s best players in Brooklyn will come with an asterisk, and a lingering implication that he “just wasn’t good enough” to do it alone in Houston.
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