Hate Him If You Want, James Harden Is On A Different Level Right Now
Let me start this blog with a disclaimer. I’m a James Harden guy. Loved him ever since we were at ASU at the same time and he brought that program to heights us Sun Devil fans haven’t seen since. I am one of the few that enjoy watching him play, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen an offensive weapon quite like him. He is going to one day go down as one of the best scorers and SGs this league has ever seen. For someone who has followed his career since he was like 18, that’s pretty cool. But I also understand that there are a bunch of people out there that don’t like Harden’s game. They find his style hard to watch, and after his most recent performance on Monday where he dropped 43 points on just 8 FGM and took 27 FTA (!!!!), I can see both sides. It may be boring to some to watch him break down his defender with 17 seconds of dribbling and then draw a foul. I get it. But look, when you’re doing what James Harden is currently doing, on the NBA’s hottest team, you have to tip your cap. You don’t have this sort of month because you always get the calls.
What Harden has done is figured out how to use getting fouled as a weapon. Are some bullshit? Of course, but what superstar player doesn’t get bullshit calls on opponents? Does he travel on his stepbacks? Sometimes. But the majority of them aren’t travels and he’s hitting nothing but net consistently on these ridiculous 27ft contested stepbacks. If that doesn’t impress you when you see it you’re just being a hater. I mean just look at his run right now, four straight 40/6 performances, he joined Kobe and Jordan as the only players in the last 30 years to get 400 points over a 10 game span and when you factor in his rebounds and assists, nobody in the HSTORY OF THE NBA has more over that stretch. He broke Oscar Robertson’s record of consecutive 35/5 performances with 8 straight, we’re seeing some pretty historic shit from Harden all while the Rockets suddenly find themselves winners of 5 in a row, 10 of their last 11 and currently in the 4 spot in the West all while CP3 has been out with a hammy.
Harden is on pace for back to back scoring titles, something not done since Durant won three straight from 2009-12, and I don’t see how you can leave him out of your top 5 for MVP right now. It’s also important to look at his biggest criticism with some perspective. This season Harden is averaging 11.1 FTA a night. That obviously leads the league, and as a result people think that’s all he is. But honestly that is doing his offensive arsenal a disservice. It’s not like his ONLY way of scoring are FTs, it’s just that he’s better than anyone else at using his FTs in addition to cooking the shit out of defenses. What we’re seeing from Harden in terms of a combination of his scoring and his passing is extremely rare in NBA history, and why I always get confused when I hear people say they don’t like watching Harden play. His passing ability is one of the best things about his game, and few players pass like he does. Sure some of them are easy lobs to Capela, but to think that’s all he does would be a disservice.
Whether it’s fair or not, the narrative with Harden won’t change until he wins. His postseason failures can’t be denied, but in 62 playoff games in HOU he’s averaging a decent 27.6/5.5/7.0 so it certainly could be worse. He does have no shows on his resume, most notably Game 6 against SA in the 2016-17 season. But we’re talking about right now, and right now Harden looks like maybe he should be the back to back MVP. To me, Giannis is still the leader in the clubhouse, but Harden is right there. Basketball Reference has him currently 2nd
and I think that’s fair. We’re seeing things done on a basketball court not done for decades, things done by titans of the league, and I don’t know how you can see that and say Harden isn’t fun to watch. I feel like he’s the classic example of the type of player that if he’s on your team you love him and if he’s not then you can’t stand him. But the facts are the facts and those say James Harden is dominating the league right now in a way we haven’t seen in forever.