Nick Wright on James Harden is the 'best offensive player' D'Antoni ever seen

I do think his playoff history tarnishes his legacy. There can be many excuses made to explain why for example he did what he did vs the Spurs but in the end they are right. He has more years ahead of him and keeps getting better. I hope for him and Houston he becomes a force in the playoffs. The one thing about his game though is the longevity, its not based around dominate athleticism which means he still has room to grow.

 

He’s better than Steve Nash

 

Not having a legit superstar and playoff team along side him tarnishes his legacy

 

Hardens been to the WCF's twice and the finals once. One bad game does not make a legacy.

 

The narrative is the narrative until it suddenly isn't.

Remember when Dirk was considered soft and couldn't win a championship?

 

Yeah, I know. Even on that Championship run, no one believed what they were seeing. The narrative was he was soft. The narrative is the narrative until it isn't.

 

Harden doesn't need all that to negate his criticism. He just needs to maintain (or improve) his regular season production in the postseason.

LeBron has had meltdowns, but he's judged by a higher standard due to GOAT potential. So he needs multiple championships and FMVPs.

Dirk earned his reputation with two of the worst chokes in playoff history.

LeBron and Dirk redeemed themselves. Harden can too.

 

Once he has a chip no one will remember his current legacy. What people say about Harden today was...

what people said about Lebron before he won a ring

what people said about Kober before he won a ring

what people said about Jordan before he won a ring

 

fify. Mostly agree with last part. But his first step is crazy, and that's athleticism.

 

Great post Skip.

A portrait of James Harden and his tarnished Rockets playoff legacy:

2nd in points at 27.27 ppg (a fraction behind Tmac at 27.7 over fewer games)

2nd in assists at 7.13 apg (a fraction behind Steve Francis, though Francis only had 5 games )

1st in steals at 1.89 spg

A mere 26th in rebounding at 5.58.

Leading Hakeem, Moses, Clyde etc in most categories....Tarnished indeed.

 

nobody actually knows his current legacy now.

 

He is also better than Chris Paul in the last few years, but he needs a Chris Paul or Steve Nash to run the team for him.

Especially when he is on the bench or gassed.

 

Who would have thought a 2nd star at least is needed

Lets hope lebron, curry, kd hasnt figured that out yet

 

The portrait's main view is Harden @ .413 FG% and .481 eFG%.

He's hasn't been bad, just, more *bad* than good in the playoffs.

This year is his best team and he's been more clutch than ever, so future looks good.

 

Well, some are better playmakers and less TO prone.

 

Whose a better playmaker than harden and could have single handedly carried the rockets farther last year

Lol @ another never harden fan because rockets kicked dwert to the curb

 

You guys that are just plugging your ears and posting Harden's PPG in the playoffs aren't being totally honest with the data.

He's had some rough playoff showings at key times, which is the rub that subhumans like Skip Bayless hold onto. Specifically, the finals series with OKC, the infamous Spurs game 6, but also even parts of the Clippers series, and more.

People can deflect the reasons a million different ways, onto teammates, coaches, fatigue, opponents, maturity, whatever - and there's probably some validity to everything. But there ARE some games in his playoff past, especially pivotal games, that make you scratch your head. People aren't being "bad Rockets fans" for recognizing them.

Yes, I understand that people ignore these things for Westbrook, and Curry, and others. That makes them the idiots - Curry is overrated as a total player and Westbrook has no business ever being an MVP. It's not bad to be realistic about flaws. We're casually talking about Harden being "the greatest offensive player ever", so don't expect NO scrutiny to come with a title like that.

I can see his growth and maturity as a Rockets fan, but you can see how haters are latching onto things that are actually there. It's up to him (& the team) to bust some of those this year. That's why I feel so much anticipation about this playoff run.