Let me be clear: James Harden will be remembered. But I really don’t think he’s going to be remembered as he should.
James Harden, for three straight months in 2019, averaged 40 points a game. He did this before the offensive explosion of the 2020s. Does anyone realize how bonkers that is? I don’t think we talk about it enough. For three seasons, he was pretty much the greatest offensive (regular season) player in NBA history.
I understand that blah blah blah playoffs, but I don’t think he’s a “playoff dropper”. It’s more apt to say he couldn’t maintain his ridiculous efficiency from the regular season, but he still in the playoffs managed to put up elite numbers, especially relative to his peers. His biggest detriment was being in the same conference as the KD-era Golden State Warriors, which basically broke the sport for three seasons. Had the Rockets not missed 27 straight 3s — mind you, assuming each 3 is an independent event with a 35% of making them, has a 0.000888506% probability, roughly 6x the probability of getting hit with lightning — we’d be speaking differently about him.
In the 2021 playoffs, he played on an injured hamstring to play point for the 2021 Superteam Nets, missing Kyrie. He nearly brought them across the finish line. The injury practically destroyed his iron man career, and subsequent seasons were fraught with injury concerns. I want people to remember what this man did, how he sacrificed his body.
Let me be clear. I don’t really like James Harden that much. He’s a flopping whiner, he’s quit on multiple teams, and like, look at his stupid-ass beard.
But I will not let anyone deny that he was one of the greatest hoopers this game has ever seen.