Assuming James Harden plays a couple more seasons - his total career accomplishments are going to be pretty amazing. He will have scored over 30,000 points and will finish in the top 6-7 All Time. He will finish in the top 6-7 all time in VORP and can get as high as #4. He will finish in the top 10 All Time for win shares. He will finish around the top 5 All Time in OBPM. He has been an 11 time all star. 6 time All NBA First Team Finished in the top 5 of NBA voting 6 times Finished 1st of second in scoring 7 straight seasons. Will finish top ten All Time in Assists Lead the league in Assists twice Lead the league in free throws 6 times Is 4th all time in Free Throws Is 2nd all time in free throw percentage per 36 His "similarity" scores are: Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. He won't be remembered as a top 10 All Time Player - but based upon his actual career, he arguably is one of the top 10-15 players to ever play. He also is the rare player that has an all time high prime and second half of his career. His 9 year run with the Rockets included him averaging around 30 points a game.
There was definitely a period in my mind where I thought he was the superior player to Curry. It's still quite close based on counting stats.
Similar to those of Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Steve Nash, John Stockton, Chris Paul and Reggie Miller.
Great list Nook! Harden should have 1 NBA title (like Giannis). That 1 magical season where everything came together. Just went up against an ALL TIME great team and took them to the brink in 7 games. Nothing can take that season away from me. I will always cherish it even though they came up short against that all time opponent.
My hope is that he has an incredible playoff run this season. I want him to get the respect he deserves.
It would probably get him more respect . . .than if he had won a championship in Houston Rocket River
there was a point in time where I thought Harden had completely mastered basketball and the game was entirely effortless for him teams guarded him from behind, that was how scared they were of him getting off a stepback three…for large portions of the 19-20 season, teams just said fck it and were double teaming him at halfcourt to start the game but when it got to the point for me where I was like, “ok, he’s just mastered the game at a level like no one else currently playing” was when he showed up after getting fat and missing most of training camp/preseason fresh off some Turkey Hut leftovers and dropped a casual 44 and 17 against Portland in game 1 almost beating Dame and CJ with a starting lineup Christian Wood, PJ Tucker, David Nwaba, and Danuel House Jr…then the next game against Denver, he dropped 28 points in the 1st half the way he was his 1st season in Brooklyn was a perfect mix of “I can drop 40 literally whenever I want” while also being an elite top-notch passer and distributor…if KD and/or Kyrie are out, I’ll drop 40, and if they’re there, I’ll scale back and do an easy 25 and 10
and even now, harden had powell and zubac playing at a career high level. kawhi missed like what felt had to be 50 games and then as soon as he comes back then the media starts giving kawhi credit like he had anything to do with the clippers record this year. harden will never get credit as long as the nba media is voting on awards. these awards need to be used with technology and must have an algorithm especially with the amount of money tied to these all-nba selections
I will always be a fan of the man I was always a Fan of Stevie Franchise Dream Etc. once a Rocket . . .you a Rocket for life. . . by and large So I want him to be successful ., .. .just not against the Rockets Rocket River
I just realized that fossil Harden Hater/Rockets legend Don McLean is still doing studio commentary for the Clippers pregame? Remember back in 2018 when Harden was demolishing the league and the Clippers in particular ha launched into drunk sounding old man rant about Harden "cheating the game" as the Clippers crashed around on roller skates trying to stop him, which caused a 2 day media cycle **** that guy - I hope he awkwardly avoids Harden around the arena a lot
I am trying to figure out who all they can beat in the 1st round I don't *think* they can beat us I don't think they can beat the Thunder, Warriors or Lakers (NBA won't allow it. . . i worry about this with us) I don't think they can beat the Nuggets But Kawhi is the X-Factor . . .if any of those teams overlook them . . .it could be a problem Rocket River
I think it is more that who can they beat in the later rounds because of their age and durability issues. Harden and Kawhi can go off at any time and also falter at any stage.