This is regarding @heypartner 's points per minute comparison with Harden. Wilt averaged 1.038 points per minute during the 61-62 season. So to surpass this, Harden would need to keep his average of 37.5 minutes in this scenario which puts him at an additional 675 minutes for the season. If he does this, he needs 2922 minutes which puts him at 3036 points which means he needs to average 46.5 ppg to surpass Wilt. Crazy thing is... that's not really impossible for this man even though it's probably a bad idea to aim for. tl;dr If Harden averages 46.5 ppg and 37.5 mpg he'll have the most points per minute ever by a scoring champ.
To surpass his own point total from his MVP year, Harden only needed 60 games. It already happened. Last year he played 72 games. He should pass his career best of 2376 points in 5 more games. If Harden averages 35.2 ppg he'll surpass Kobe's total of 2832 total points in 2006.
Reflecting on Lebron's milestone last night I went back to see where Lebron was at the end of his 10th season in terms of scoring compared to Harden. Lebron finished his 10th season with 21081 pts - Harden is currently sitting just over 18k with probably another 500+ points to add to his total before the year is out. Clearly Harden has to put a few similar seasons to this one to even come close to catching up to Lebron's pace and how long Harden could keep this up is definitely something up for debate BUT considering Harden spent his first 3 years as a bench player it's kind of amazing that he has a legit shot to finish as a top 20 all time scorer(Melo is currently #19 all time and had 16k pts after 10 seasons) and if he can manage to stay effective late into his career - he may even push the top 10 all time. Thats really really impressive.
Its always hard to factor in eventual age... BUt Harden has never scored less than 1,800 points as a Rocket. A conservative (aside from injury) 1,400 a year (70 games at 20 ppg) for 4 more years would put him around 25,700 points... which would put him right around 20. KD and Russ are the only active players ahead of him potentially to move up along with him. Top 20 seems pretty likely to almost a guarantee aside form injury. Bear in mind he's likely to top 2k points per season for the next two at least, imo. And when you factor in, imo, his game should translate ok to old age. He relies principally on misdirection... not supreme speed, athleticism or shot making ability.
I used to think that but you can see for him inches can make a difference. The moment he loses the ability to stop on a dime, accelerate for layups and quickly shuffle into step back 3s he won't be in MVP peak form anymore. That being said, he is crafty and smart, he can still put several years after that on skill alone, he'll just get blocked and stopped more due to being unable to create separation.
Lol... I'm not talking about peak MVP form, I'm talking about averaging 20 ppg for 70 games a year in his age 30, 31,32,33 seasons. Major injury aside, it's a layup to happen. And he's much more likely to do 2k+, 2k+, 1.9k+, 1.8k+. And follow that up with 4 more years of call it a 700 point season average. If he does that, he'd be closing in on 30k - current top 10. But it all depends on major injury and how long he wants to play. Knock on wood he's been super injury resilient. If he wants to keep playing... plenty of examples of guys in their late 30s giving you 1k-2k point seasons... well, by plenty, I mean all-time greats, lol.
As of 3-25-19 Games played = 70 Points = 2545 Average = 36.36 His average dropped VERY slightly over the last 10 games, cause he had some monster games but a couple 20 point games as well Remaining potential games = 8. Average needed over remaining games to finish season at: 33 ppg / Must average 3.63 to finish season 34 ppg / Must average 13.38 to finish season 35.4 ppg / Must average 27.03 to finish season (to pass Kobe) 35.6 ppg / Must average 28.75 to finish season (to pass Rick Barry) 36 ppg / Must average 32.88 to finish season 37.1 ppg / Must average 43.50 to finish season (to pass MJ) So to top MJ and only be behind Wilt, Harden has to average 43.50 to finish the season. I mean, I'll go ahead and say IMPOSSIBLE. Cause I'm fine being wrong on that. He may have some monster games left, but consider if he scores 60 points one game, he'd STILL have to put in 27 the next to be averaging that 43.5 needed. Kobe I think is guaranteed. And same with Rick Barry. I think a goal to stay over 36 is noble and doable
Yeah, I agree. Although the tanking teams might put up little resistance to close, we just saw Harden accept being benched for entire 4th in a blow-out. Further, I really DO NOT want to see him needing to score 50 in a final game, and trying to against OKC vs playing a normal game or better yet, resting for a Friday/Sat Game 1. He’d have to be ahead of MJ before the last game, imo, then sit out, while everyone screams that he dodged the last game, unlike Teddy Williams.
Not an altogether outrageous possibility. Since December 13, Harden has only 5 games of less than 30, and 23 of 40 or more.
