Why isnt James Harden more popular with fans? The Jump

He didn't win the fan vote for all star game.
Houston barely cares about the Rockets.

 

It's up to the owner to fix that

Les Alexander made China care about the Rockets but forgot about the fans in Houston

You go to the arena and just see Chinese ads for nothing that is local

Tilman needs to promote his own brands more

 

"Inefficient, disappears in the playoffs, plays boring foul baiting and flopping basketball. Should I go on?"

That's, by far, the most voted comment in that youtube video. It's just so wrong I can't even get started... inefficient? What the f***? Foul baiting and flopping I can understand (don't agree with, but can understand), but inefficient? Do these people know anything about basketball?

And about 'dissapearing in the playoffs', I don't get that either. In 2017 against the Spurs, yes, but when did he have any help? Last year he was great for us.

These are some jealous fans over there. I lost a little bit of faith in humanity after reading those comments. So much hate.

 

Inefficient is a word dumb nba fans throw around often and likely believe it means FG%.

Extemely common descriptor of Hardens game by the masses, when the reality is the complete polar opposite.

 

Yes. I can sort of understand some of the other criticisms, but saying he is "inefficient" means you literally don't know what you're talking about. I think people mentally block out his positive plays because they don't like how he creates them and only focus on the negative plays. So they end up thinking that he's inefficient as a result, I guess.

 

lots of reasons:

• started off his Rockets career with that viral no-defense youtube video
• doesn't play for a team with a huge social media fanbase (Lakers, Celtics, 76ers, Bulls, Warriors)
• plenty of people hate his teammates which can shift some hate onto him, by association (Dwight, Bev, Cp3)
• poor performances in spotlight games which started a narrative he's a playoff choker (okc finals, elim games: spurs, warriors)
• plays very nonchalantly, he doesn't do crazy layups or shots all the time like a Kyrie/Curry or dunks with the force of a Lebron/Westbrook
• flops a couple times throughout the year but labeled as the biggest flopper (outside of Smart)
• draws the most amount of fouls using a "foul-baiting" technique which non-Rocket fans claim is the "most unwatchable" playstyle

All of these narratives have stuck with him for years now, in the social and news media.
Also, Harden is always polite to the media but it seems like nowadays fans (or kids) gravitate towards players who are douche-bags to the media and or says stupid **** on social media (Westbrook, Embiid, Giannis, Lebron)

imo if Harden wants to improve his image, he should just start being a d******d to the media and make more social media fan interactions. Right now he gives 0 ****s but he should if he wants to be more popular. Media and kids love being abused verbally for whatever reason these days. MEMEs

Also Adidas is so **** at marketing him. Harden is a good fit for comedic commercials that Nike did but Adidas puts him in serious/artistic commercials that kids don't care about these days.

 

Harden is actually getting more popular since becoming MVP last year. This year especially, I noticed he's been getting cheers in Away games. People are starting to warm up to him.

I feel like it's because of his reputation from back in the day (Even with OKC) as a Flopper and Not playing Defense. There's also his reputation for disappearing in the Playoffs. Of course, he is not the same player now and has elevated his game to crazy new heights. He even plays better Defense now. But that kind of stuff will stick with him for a long time. Something that can only be cured by winning a Championship or two and coming up big in those play off games. He just needs to explode in the Playoffs and get that title. And you'll see all the bandwagon fans coming out the woodwork.

 

Doing whatever it takes to keep your team in the playoff picture (as opposed to collapsing like the pre-season darling Lakers) is win-padding.

 

Harden's step back, drive by and ankle breaking moves are flashy as ****.

But only the true BB afficianados appreciate the difficulty and legendary accomplishments.

Casual fans are clueless and those formulate the majority of uninformed opinions and hate.

 

HyperCritical

Rocket River

 

It’s annoying how some sheep think of Harden (including my former favorite player TMac who has been a b**** ass b****), but like Harden says, nothing can stop him! Theyre playing well now, and if they can get on a big run to end the year, it won’t matter what the sheep think

 

Skillful troll post by OP. "Why is Harden unpopular? Why do they think he is a statpadder?"
Is your brain full of more wondrous questions, OP? "Do you think we would be better if CP wasn't broken down? Hmmm. . . . If the Rockets didn't screw over House, would the Rockets be less of a-holes? I wonder. . . ."

 

even the other criticisms

disappears in the playoffs - so someone else could have carried the rockets farther???
plays boring foul baiting and flopping basketball - so they're not actually fouls???

 

and replace Steph with harden and harden has 3 rings while Steph is lucky to make the playoffs

 

Harden's lack of respect has some to do with the defensive rep, for sure, and his well-publicized poor playoff performances. I don't think it has much at all to do with the popularity of his team, the likability of his teammates, or that he's not super-athletic.

The main thing I'd point to, instead, is the way in which he draws fouls and creates shots for himself. The calls he gets on a lot of the fouls are right on the edge of being a no-call, and the way he creates shots for himself again is often very close to being a push-off offensive foul or a travel, if not (at times) outright a violation. When much of your success on the basketball court comes from routinely receiving the benefit of close calls or no-calls, you're simply not going to get much love/respect from fans of opposing teams. Personally, I think his ability to routinely get the benefit of those calls speaks more to the effectiveness of his technique rather than a problem with the officials.

Unfortunately, if the way he plays is ultimately able to translate to playoff success and a championship, I think a large segment of fans still will not be willing to give him his due. The narrative will shift from hating on him for not winning in the playoffs to hating on the league for "allowing" him to win in the playoffs. Maybe if he repeats as a champion that narrative will shift and people will start to appreciate more what he does.

 

The media is by far more critical of him than any other star player I’ve ever seen. That’s the start and the end of it. The masses generally just repeat stuff they hear and see on tv. Most people only watch Harden on sportscenter.

If they talked about him like they talk about Anthony Davis, he’d be more popular.

 

LOL at t-mac.....this dude is an idiot man

 

We need to get off this masturbatory "Why don't people recognize our/my/Harden's greatness? I deserve so much more."
Watch the opposing team's announcers and many of them are effusive with praise for Harden.
This is a bunch of self-centered "Why don't people like me?" stuff (started by a troll).
Harden's living wayyyyyyyy larger than we are. Don't worry about him. He's all right.

 

Did he go for his 30? Absolutely, and why not? 30 for 30 sounds much cooler than 29 straight 30 point games, in the same way 'averaging a triple double' sounds better than being 2 rebounds away from a triple double.

He wanted the moment, he looked over at his mum afterward. It was cool.

Now, EVERY record sustained over a long period of time has involved a little padding. Wilt's 100 point game turned into a farce by the end, the Spurs actively and consistently fed The Admiral in his 70pt game to secure the scoring title against the god awful Clippers.

Russ...oh Russ. Dude would LEAVE his man on the perimeter to chase rebounds. He would assist hunt in a close game to get the triple double when the team had no other reliable scorers. He has actively gone against the best interests of his team. That's the difference.

Rockets were up comfortably, who cares? What, he was going to get 90 seconds of rest?

Just the other day Russ and PG were aware of how close George was to a triple double and drew up a play to make it happen.

It's everywhere.

It's annoying now, but you look at those records now from 30, 40, 50 years back and the context and situation vanishes over time and what's left is a name on a list. Every player wants to be on those lists.