James Harden's Left Wrist

Yes James is chasing a MVP. That is cute and all, but that isnt going to do anything for the Rockets come playoff time. If he is hurt and favoring his wrist then he will hurt us in the long term. The best thing would be to sit out this entire road trip, and then play almost a week+ later after we are back home. This way, you only miss 3 games, and then have another 6-7 games to get into game shape and still make your case for NBA MVP. I hope the Rockets take this approach, seems like the most logical, if they dont, and he gets hurt or doesnt heal then SHAME on this organization.

 

The MVP is gone if he sits AND if the Thunder win a respectable number of games down the stretch. If Westbrook plays and they lose though, I don't see how that helps his MVP cause.

 

Is the MVP really gone if he sits for a week and comes back and finishes the last few games strong? If the team struggles in his absence that would actually build his MVP case.

And I'm sick of hearing about MVP. Don't care about it. Playoffs or bust.

 

Harden playing hurt is hurting us more than him not playing at all

 

I think he plays the 3 game road trip and after we officially clinch the 3rd spot he rests against the Nuggets and Pistons.

 

Well...last night, yes. Pelicans/Nuggets/Thunder games this certainly wasn't the case.

 

That's the way I'd play it, although I'd keep him out vs the Warriors. The Rockets have a very good shot at clinching 3rd by Sunday night. After that, they don't play til Wednesday. Hold him out of at least that game and he'll have gotten 4 days of rest. Hold him out against the Pistons and the Sactown/LA Clippers road trip and he'd be able to rest for a week and a half before that season finale at home against the T'Wolves.

 

I'm sick and tired of MVP also.

 

That is the teams goal right now in my opinion as well. officially clinch that 3rd seed and then see what may be from there on.This will also allow Lou to play more on ball and get his confidence and game at a high level for the playoffs

 

Clutch Fans high-heel turn

 

I get why fans don't care...

But for James it certainly does and should. Every kid that plays basketball dreams about winning that award. That award says that at one point in time you were the best or one of the best at your trade, no one can take that away from you. Even if you never win a championship you can still say you were one of the best. It is huge for his legacy.

I get why he won't sit and why he's focused on winning this year. You never know when you may have another shot at it.

It really shouldn't matter if he sat out the next 5 games...but the media will be the media and any edge they can give Westbrook they will give it. So he probably thinks he HAS to play every game to get it.

 

I have tickets to the game in Portland so I selfishly want him to play. The logical side of me knows that he should probably sit but the two games in Portland are my only opportunity to see the Rockets. I'm torn.

 

harden would probably feel like it would. ESPN recently asked harden about sitting out games, and mentioned how both harden and westbrook haven't missed a game.

So indirectly, if harden misses a game it gives leverage to westbrook.

 

I said yesterday that this quote would come back and bite him in the ass and here we are. He really does need to let that wrist heal, but he's backed himself into a corner.

 

OK. But then, Coach, GM, teammates, and Owner have to care about playoffs more than MVP. What about them?

If that's true, Mike D'Antoni has some hard decisions to make. And do you think Lou, Gordon, Beverley, etc would choose a Harden MVP over a deep playoff run? (If that's the black/white case we're pretending, here.) There are a lot of people involved here, not just Harden. The curse of being the MVP.

 

He needs to reduce his minutes tremendously. I understand he's a gamer and all that, hell he had a triple double with one hand tied behind his back last night but he needs to play maximum 25 mins a game for the rest of the regular season regardless of opponent. And he should really try to finish with his right until he's confident in that wrist because everything he does right now looks very uncomfortable

 

Part of the problem is that Harden jammed his wrist in Denver and then proceeded to put up some incredible numbers in the next 2 games. He even won Player of the Week last week. I mean, until he complained about his wrist hurting after the OKC game and shot 5-20 against Golden State, were any of us on here even aware it was a problem? I remember being stunned at D'Antoni saying Harden nearly missed the game vs New Orleans. There never seemed to be any indication he was questionable to play that night.

So Harden and his teammates may believe that he can play through this since in a way he already has. Shoot, they nearly came back against the Warriors yesterday despite Harden and nearly everyone not named Capela having a mediocre shooting night.

 

James is a fighter. I wouldn't be surprised if he loaded up on some painkillers and continued playing.

 

Keep playing would likely aggravate the injury and perform poorly, which could hurt his MVP case.