Should prime James Harden deserve any respect?

6 min readJul 29, 2024

While scrolling the other day, I saw a YT short from The Deep 3 Pod (shoutout to those guys. Their content is elite!). It asked a simple question:

“Would X NBA player be remembered as a legend, a star, or just a guy?”

On my other open tab, James Harden’s isolation step-back highlights were playing, the Houston masses barely contained within their seats chanting “MVB! MVB!”

OKC

As it turns out, Harden wasn’t always an offensive juggernaut. He started his career off the bench for the OKC Thunder, a young, up-and-coming team back then (much like how it is now) armed to the teeth with the talent of 3 future MVPs. While Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook (you’ll see him later) were already running the show by the time Harden got there, he would have to wait until the 2011–2012 season for his talents to be put on full display.

Up till then, Harden was more of a catch — and — guy, who gave the young Thunder some additional firepower as a sixth man, as they went into the 2012 playoffs. Sweeping the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks, the Thunder established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Harden played well here, and he did for most of the playoff run, with clutch performances to beat the Kobe-led Lakers and the perennial dynasty Spurs before advancing and meeting the Lebron-led Miami Heat.

Some may call him a choker. Others would call him inexperienced, particularly at this stage in his career. But no matter the opinions, the fact remained that Harden’s performance in the Finals was less than underwhelming. Despite this, it was also clear that the Thunder had a third young star to pair with their duo of Westbrook and Durant.

MOREYBALL, DRAMA, MVP, SCORING TITLES FREETHROWS…….

Harden’s days with the Houston Rockets are hands down one of the most heartbreaking and competitive eras within the Western Conference and has genuinely changed the game more than we give them credit for. It was almost as though the stars had aligned to use every bit of potential James Harden had to offer. A coach who would create an offense surrounding him, analytics obsessed GM, and the three-point breakthrough, the Golden State dynasty at the helm of it all.

Sure, Mike D’Antoni might have only been a coach with the Rockets for four years. And relying on a singular star isn’t the best way to forge towards a championship. However, the Rockets’ system of dunks and threes worked, to a great extent. Moreover, Harden’s game was flourishing, scoring on a whim, and getting to the free throw line at will.

Free throws were an essential part of James Harden’s bag, and since he made them at an elite level, he probably looked at this as an easy scoring option. This was a period of transition, from the midrange mastery of the past to the analytics driven, 3-point era. 3 points are, naturally, more than 2, and even the Association was encouraging this change; referees were, for the first ever time, on the side of the offense, and pioneers of the modern era, Like Harden, merely took advantage of this. The induction on the “0 step”, atrocious clips of carries over 15 feet or more, and flopping, to an extent, led to the offense being rewarded. Am I a fan of flopping? No. It slows the game down, and when you know that most of those points came from the free throw line, it slightly invalidates the story that the stat sheet tells us. But am I a fan of finding loopholes within rules? Heck yes.

Moreyball. It was the style of basketball played in Houston. 3 pointers, dunks and layups. Was he the butt of many jokes? Yes. Did he get made fun of for not being able to pull girls in high school? Of course. But to an extent, every GM, everyone in the front office of any team’s success. Bob Myers inherited the young Dubs’ dynasty and was able to surround them with the right pieces for them to succeed. Sam Presti, GM of Harden’s old team, the Thunder, is one of the smartest men in the business. Former player and GM of the Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, would try to cut one-sided deals in his favor. And Darryl Morey was simply a part of the way the Rockets shaped their game.

BROOKLYN AND BEYOND:

As of now, it has only been 3 years since James Harden was traded away from the Rockets. After 2 more bad years, a reunion with his Thunder teammate, Russel Westbrook (Well, well, well, look who we have here), and a loss in the bubble later, Harden moved on to the super team Brooklyn Nets, where the super team big three played a total of 16 games, the regular season and playoffs combined. He has since played a year with the Philadelphia 76ers, and with both of his recent stints on teams with other star players having tumultuous endings when things went south, not many were willing to bet on him.

Things were looking up for a bit while Harden was still in Philly, but after being forced into a contract where he had to sign for millions less, Harden publically called out Darryl Morey in China, while out for a promotional event. And sure enough, four months later, after Harden publically requested for a trade, he came to the 76ers training camp, after which he was traded to the Clippers. At the time, this was seen as a panicky decision; the Clippers were already strapped in with 3 other star players in Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and a combo guard in Russel Westbrook (Name sound familiar?).

His latest LA Clippers season had beginnings with grey clouds when he was quoted saying “I am not a system player- I am a system”. However, his experiences playing with other star teammates seem to have helped him understand his role as a star on a team with no shortage of similar talent. It was almost as though he had matured, and become a more complete player with the years, as his role shifted, as he played more off the ball, and essentially led the Clippers offense. Some may say that Harden is old, that he has regressed, as he goes on to the back end of his career.