James Harden was sitting in silence in front of his closet in the Oracle Arena, wrapped only in a towel loosely tied around his waist, like the thong of a gladiator who had just emerged victorious from the dangers of the Colosseum. Minutes earlier, Harden had wished home a seemingly impossible 3 points over Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to give Houston Rockets an affirmative victory over defending champion Golden State Warriors in overtime, and ended a 44 points, 15 assists, 10 – work return press.
After that, in the visitors’ locker room, all eyes turned to Harden. And man, he knew that.
While the media waited … and waited … and waited to get quotes from the night’s owner, Harden casually sat down, flipping through his phone, occasionally chatting briefly with teammates. He finally got up, and when the dough formed around him to organize his thoughts, he broke away and headed for the shower.
This was Harden’s time, and he was enjoying everything worthwhile.
He ended up getting out of the shower as media deadlines passed and reporters became increasingly frustrated, and Harden slowly adorned himself with fragrances, jewelry, and eventually the shiny green modern raincoat with a piece of paper stapled to the back of back that had circulated on social networks hours before, when he entered the arena.
“I have the total package,” said Harden when he finally addressed the exhausted crowd of reporters, taking on the nickname and grandeur of professional wrestling legend Lex Luger. “I reach the aggressive basket and shoot my shot.”
The entire sequence summarized everything about Harden’s management in Houston, which officially ended when he was negotiated with Brooklyn Nets for a major acquisition on Wednesday. His jaw-dropping offensive attack during the game. Your challenge to standard protocols later. His pronouncement on his own abilities, with the chip on his shoulder facing anyone who dared to question his place among the greatest basketball players of all time.
But perhaps the most important part of the whole process, with regard to Harden’s race with the Rockets, is the fact that one of his greatest moments and greatest pieces of arrogance came after a victory in the regular season. Despite his consistently historic offensive performances year after year, Harden’s time as a Rocket will eventually be remembered as a disappointment due to the only trophy that eluded him.
No matter what you feel about Harden, be it the aesthetics of his offensive approach, his reputation off the court or the way he handled his teammates, you cannot argue about his supernatural offensive skills and achievements. An MVP who finished second in the poll three times and third once. An NBA scoring leader three times. A seven-time All-NBA artist. An All-Star for all eight seasons in Houston.
In 2018-19, Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain (five times) and Michael Jordan (once) as the only players in NBA history with an average of over 36 points per game in one season. His 34.3 points per game in 2019-20 occupies the 15th place of all time. He ranks second (378 in 2018-19) and fifth (299 in 2019-20) on the 3-point list for a single season, with only Stephen Curry ahead of him. He led the NBA in free-throw attempts in seven of the past eight seasons.
Harden is the Rockets’ all-time leader in points per game (29.6), 3 points, free throws and double triples, and his 26.8 PER wins and 88.2 appearances are well ahead of the Hall of Fame Hakeem Olajuwon, according to the Basketball Reference. It is difficult to argue against Harden being the second best player in the franchise’s history behind Olajuwon, and efficiency at least gives him an argument for first place.
More than the numbers, however, Harden revolutionized the way the attack can be played. If Steph Curry is a human cheat code, capable of getting hot and shooting shots that have nothing to do, Harden is the child who discovered the flaws in the game, exploiting the defenses in a surgical and relentless way, knowing that the numbers will run out lean in your favor. His ability to score fouls and finish on the rim ended up being driven by one of the most unstoppable pitches in NBA history – a 3-point step back that has been copied ad nauseam by players around the world since Harden perfected it.
This photo and Mike D’Antoni’s training helped transform Harden into an isolation machine. He led the league in isos for each of the past five seasons, but took things to the extreme in 2018-19, when he made 1,280 isolations according to NBA.com. The closest player behind him was Russell Westbrook with 353. With all that volume, he still led the championship in isolation efficiency with 1.11 points for possession.
Harden also held the ball for 6.37 seconds per touch, the best in the league that season, and the methodical offensive style drew criticism from every corner. But there is no doubt about its effectiveness.
However, in the end, Harden arrived at a place in Houston where none of that mattered. His success depended exclusively on post-season performance, both individual and team, and it was there that he developed a reputation that tends to diminish his exploits in the regular season. Harden failed to take 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, when a victory would give the Rockets a 3-2 lead on the way back to Houston. He scored five points in the fourth period and gave just three shots at the Warriors’ run, and the Rockets were eliminated at home in the next game.
The previous year, Harden had a chance to send the Rockets to the NBA finals with Chris Paul wounded on the sides against the same Warriors, but he went cold on the field – like the rest of the Rockets – making only two of his 13 3-point attempts. while Houston watched his best chance for a title with Harden to slip through his fingers.
Perhaps the biggest red flag in Harden’s playoff curriculum, 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-placed Kawhi Leonard was out for game 6 with an ankle injury. It was an accomplished fact that the Rockets would win the game at home, forcing a Game 7 in San Antonio, with Leonard’s status potentially in the air.
What followed was one of the most disconcerting performances of the NBA playoffs in recent memory. Harden, who averaged 27.4 points in the first five games of the series, scored just 10 points and scored just 11 shots (nine of them 3 points), while the Rockets lost 39 points in the elimination of Game 6. This led to theories that Harden suffered a concussion or otherwise physically impaired, and fueled the belief that, while shaking in the regular season, Harden’s style of play would never lead the Rockets to a championship.
It was not.
Whether Harden is to blame is still up for debate, but his efficiency tends to drop significantly in the postseason.
|
2019-20 |
1,093 |
1,099 |
|
2018-19 |
1,073 |
0.98 |
|
18-2017 |
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 have failed to win a championship, questions abound about Harden’s conditioning, desire and ability to team up with teammates. A hard-hitting report came after Harden’s commercial demand this fall, detailing the “Whatever James wants” policy that had permeated Rocket culture in recent years. Harden dictated travel schedules and forced the dismissal of former coach Kevin McHale, along with exits from former teammates Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, ESPN previously reported.
The prospect of participating in a maskless social gathering amid the COVID-19 pandemic while the rest of his team reported to the training camp certainly did not help his image of prima donna ahead of the season. Nor was his last public act as a Rocket, disparaging teammates after a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, saying they “just weren’t good enough” before leaving the podium.
We don’t know how time will shape Harden’s legacy. Maybe he, Durant and Kyrie Irving will win a title or two in Brooklyn so that Harden can finally add “NBA champion” to his long list of accomplishments. But, as his new (and old) teammate Durant knows, not all championships are created equal.
Despite the staggering numbers and the lasting impact on the game that is already playing, Harden failed in his eight attempts to take the Rockets to a title. Any hardware that comes after teaming up with two of the game’s best players in Brooklyn will come with an asterisk and a prolonged implication that he “just wasn’t good enough” to do it alone in Houston.