Westbrook do all the dirty work for Durant. He actually plays defense, and really good defense. Technically this year Harden>Kobe.
Seems fair, rather high for ESPN though. If and once he commits to defense, he will be up for top 5 or top 3 in the league discussions.
All these upset NY fans upset about Harden over Anthony! :grin: "Anthony is a much better and more efficient scorer than Harden!" Thoughts on that statement?
8 is borderline superstar territory since lebron/wade, and durant/westbrook are on the same teams, we have a better franchise player than 25 other teams in the nba... and of those players ahead of Harden, he would actually be ranked ~4 or 5 if you count age and projected prime years
30. Paul Pierce 29. Zach Randolph 28. Paul George 27. Kevin Love 26. Brook Lopez 25. LaMarcus Aldridge 24. Tyson Chandler 23. Derrick Rose 22. Rajon Rondo 21. John Wall 20. Al Horford 19. Joakim Noah 18. Chris Bosh 17. Deron Williams 16. Stephen Curry 15. Dirk Nowitzki 14. Marc Gasol 13. Blake Griffin 12. Kyrie Irving 11. Dwight Howard 10. Tim Duncan 9. Carmelo Anthony 8. James Harden 7. Tony Parker 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. LeBron James
Harden's the youngest in the Top 10, everyone else is in/nearing their 30s, except...Durant and Westbrook. WOW
lol I saw that tweet too. They shoot like the same percentages, and both of them shoot a lot of 3's which drag down their overall FG%, but the difference is Harden is the best in the league at getting to the line, and freethrows = most efficient points in basketball. I don't understand the logic behind saying Melo is more efficient. The thing Melo is better at with regards to scoring is he can get it in more ways, but Harden is more efficient. I don't understand Westbrook over Harden/Melo though. Even most OKC fans I talk to admit Harden > Westbrook.
You can go ahead and pencil in Durant for #2. Probably Paul for #3 as well, unless ESPN does something stupid like putting Kobe there (which they totally could).
I agree. I think he will improve his defensive game, but you must first look at his role with OKC. Thabo Sefolosha started and James Harden came in for offensive purposes. It will take awhile, but James Harden will improve defensively.
He's not even in his prime yet . Youngest starter on our young ass team other than the ever changing PF position.
In his first year as the man, with no training camp, an inexperienced roster, and at an age where he won't even truly sniff his prime until 3-4 years, I would say #8 is pretty damn good.
30. Paul Pierce 29. Zach Randolph 28. Paul George 27. Kevin Love 26. Brook Lopez 25. LaMarcus Aldridge 24. Tyson Chandler 23. Derrick Rose 22. Rajon Rondo 21. John Wall 20. Al Horford 19. Joakim Noah 18. Chris Bosh 17. Deron Williams 16. Stephen Curry 15. Dirk Nowitzki 14. Marc Gasol 13. Blake Griffin 12. Kyrie Irving 11. Dwight Howard 10. Tim Duncan 9. Carmelo Anthony 8. James Harden 7. Tony Parker 6. Dwayne Wade 5. Kobe Bryant 4. Russel Westbrook 3. Chris Paul 2. Kevin Durant 1. LeBron James
I'm not arguing that Harden is a good defender, I'm arguing that Kobe isn't :grin:. I agree, James needs to step it up. The playoffs would be the perfect time. Defense is largely about effort which is why "lazy" is thrown around
Parker #7. Now it seems the scores are getting really close. Harden 8.78 and Parker 8.79. That's practically only one point difference from 111 votes.
Take off your homer goggles and maybe you can see better. Kobe averages more points, rebounds, assists, and higher shooting percentage. Not to mention Harden makes Kobe look like Scottie Pippen on defense.
