Offense gets you fat contracts. Allstar game appearances. NBA2k cover. Addias Deals. Fan appreciation. Khloe? Defense gets you old knees. Until the nba gms decide to stop paying for empty stats and start worrying about what is really important to the bottom line game of basketball, James Harden is absolutely doing what he needs to do and nothing more. I don't blame, "Stir it up" James at all.
Uhm...if offence got you all star then Kanter would have been a three time all star already and a superstar. And Harden got voted not by fans but by coaches who im sure appreciate defence. What the Nba needs to do is to reduce significantly the importance of the fan vote so we dont have the kobes the melos and the wades of the world taking up all star spots they dont deserve.
Oh and as for fan appreciation Harden is not the most popular among non casual nba fans due to his style of play.
NBA is an entertainment product. Of course the league pays a disproportionate premium to players showcasing offensive wizardy. It's what casual fans will pay to see. Only few teams are legitimate contenders every season, and they make for entertaining playoff basketball (there are exceptions). But the league must generate billions in revenue during the regular season, in all markets. This means a faster pace and higher scoring games. Just ask Les. The 90s proved that grind-it-out, Mike Fratello-style basketball is a terrible product earning little in revenue. Therefore, one-dimensional defensive players will always earn less than the Hardens/Carmelos of today. It's product management 101.
Harden got all these promotions like the Adidas deal because he did things like put a team on his back and drag them to the number two seed in a loaded Western Conference with his second star and defensive anchor out for half the season
Harden is a guy that sucks up all the available resources on a team. But again he got paid for it, so he did exactly right. He'll make more in 2 years than Citizen Shane did his whole career. Heck, if the ghost of Rick Mahorn showed up and I was asked which guy I want on my team. It's mahorn all day. Same goes for Dale Davis.
111111 See the thing with the Rox is everybody gelling together. Have they done that this season? NO absoulalutely not
