Jordan was a lock down defender when he needed to be. He even relished this opportunity against some of the so called best out there. He wanted to prove how much greater he was in every aspect. Lock down defense is the next step Harden needs to improve on to be in that class.
Again, lets not compare him to Jordan/Hakeem. IMO those 2 were in a class of their own at their peak.
And he has the arm length to do it. But so does Durant. Physical tools is not enough to be a lock down defender. We might be asking too much of James, and believing MJ could just turn it on, so why can't others. One thing to note, MJ was also the most physically fit athlete, probably in the entire world. MJ and Hakeem. Like Lance Armstrong fit without the PEDs. The reason many star offensive players can't produce on defense is because it is so physically demanding to do what defensive specialist do...and so it hurts your stamina to produce on the offensive side, too. Many coaches actually try to keep the star player out of draining defensive assignments. Notice how most of the premier wing defenders are also spot up shooters...so they can rest. imo, Harden will need to train vigorously in the Summer to give him top-notch endurance ... then he can use his long wing-span to maximum effectiveness.
it never stopped being amazing to me the full out effort hakeem gave game in game out on both ends of the court. it was noticiable to me as a 12 year old kid because it just seemed extremely tiring, and it still kind of amazes me to this day.
I love Harden because his game is so sustainable, he has no history of injuries and his game is designed to age extremely well.
In 87 noone outside of Chicago put Jordan on the Larry Bird / Magc level yet even though he was scoring 33 a game. Bird and Magics share the ball type of play was still earning MVPs. Certainly the vets got over it as Jordan was ushered into the club and he took over first chair. Noone knows for sure (outside the decission makers) why but a lot of people have pointed to Jordan using his influence to keep Isiah off the Drean Team. A lot off people pointed directly to the all-star game as one off the reasons for Jordan's dislike of Thomas. The hate between the Pistons and Bulls of the late 80s early 90s certainly didn't help either. Neither did Isiahs racist remarks towards Larry Bird help gain him any support. But all that aside I'm certain you either remember or you have read that players when Jordan first came into the league was a selfish player and I'm certain you are aware of the all star game where they allegedly froze Jordan out. This is nothing news breaking here.
LeBron will never be considered great in my books until he wins a ring on his own.....he will never be in the same league with Dream, Magic, Bird, Jordan. He actually had a really good team when he was in Cleveland but he didnt have what it takes to carry a team on his own....he froze big time when it counted....until he wins it on his own...he will forever be known as Wade's Robin. Beard OTOH, still have plenty to prove.....im liking what i see from him so far, we'll see what he's made of in a couple of seasons
What the hell? He took a horrible Cavs team to the NBA finals when he was 23.. he didn't win because he ran into the Spurs dynasty. Magic had Kareem, Jordan had a team that went deep even when he retired, Bird had a team full of HOFers.
Harden was never a selfish player... At the beginning when he first came to Houston, he knew that his role increase dramatically, from a sixth man to the main option, so he thought he had to score and force a lot of things up. It wasn't selfishness, it was more of trying to figure out how to fill his role. He wasn't used to it yet and he never had training camp with his new teammates yet. But as time went on, he's starting to learn more and became more comfortable with his new role and he finally was able to take his time and not force anything up as much. During the Warriors game, it really show the type of player Harden is. He could easily get a ton of points also but Lin and Parsons were both on fire that game so he deferred to them. For a 23 year old star player to do that, that's saying a lot about Harden...
Definitely not Wilt. Despite his incredible dominance, he had quite a few playoff/important games far below his standard, and his mindset wasn't win-at-all-costs. That season he won the assisting title, he played to shut up critics that said he was too selfish.
