[Media Conspiracy] Who ordered the hit on James harden?

I agree with you, and being actually or potentially better than Curry doesn't mean someone is not a terrible defender. I wasn't comparing him to Curry. I was comparing him to the league. Also important to note: Curry and Durant were worse defenders when they had to carry greater offensive burdens, so it's not even fair to compare them with Harden right now. Harden similarly saw defensive improvement when CP3 reduced his workload.

I don't have a problem with what Harden brings to the team at the price we pay him. He is in the highest tier of NBA players while being in the lowest tier of defenders and that makes sense because he is in a historic tier of points creators. If Harden were an average defender, he would imo easily be one of the top 10 basketball players of all time and I mean that 100% as a compliment. This Harden with the stamina and focus to play average defense for 38 minutes would be able to carry lesser teams to a title than anyone else maybe in history.

I don't think Harden doesn't care about being a good defender. I think he genuinely has a minor attention problem (which imo is why he loses focus on both ends without the ball) and the responsibility he carries for this team exhausts him to the point it affects his attention further. If it's a problem that can only be managed rather than cured, I'd rather not attack his confidence every time it happens as long as he's aware and mitigating it.

My point is just because Harden is a bad defender doesn't mean he should be singled out and it isn't an acceptable counter point to the fact that he brings an unfathomable number of wins to teams (and I think that's kind of your point too). I've never seen a player whose presence essentially guarantees a Western conference playoff spot regardless of what you put around him. I don't believe Curry, Durant or Lebron could have taken Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon to 50+ wins. I know that Harden could win multiple titles with Durant, Curry, Green and Thompson as teammates. The mere fact that we took the Warriors to 7 games is something I doubt any other player in the NBA could achieve with the healthy players we had. These very same commentators were giving the Rockets a pat on the back before the playoffs started, and then proceeded to act like they believed we had a chance all along.

Suffice to say, I'm as big a Harden fan as there is in the world. I'm aware his legacy is underrated.

 

2 things.

Harden getting to league average Defense.

Harden getting to his own average and playing the best D of his life.

League average always changes so it's harder for his stamina to keep up while still playing elite Offense.

 

The best defense of his life is better than the league average, but defense is the kind of thing where consistency matters more. Gerald Green is capable of putting up 30 tomorrow, but if you can't rely on it happening fairly often then you are f'king with the woven fabric of teamwork. From a planning perspective, you're better off assuming you'll get what you routinely get.

It's not a problem. He's a bad defender. He more than makes up for it. He's not better than I think. He's not an underrated defender. He is a poor defender who like anyone can turn it up when the adrenaline is pumping in an important game or when his character is called into question.

It's like a guy who doesn't show up to work on time regularly, but makes more money for the company than anyone else. Could he make more if he showed up on time? Maybe. Maybe it hurts his ability. I'm sure that guy can be on time on particularly important days. But the most important thing is: he's killing it. We go to work to make money, not to be on time. Playing defense is a means to getting wins, and Harden already gets more wins than almost anyone. It's nothing to be insecure about.

 

Right. No disagreement. I was hoping to stay within the context of the thread title, by pointing out how Curry's defense is not on anyone's Hit list, for some weird reason. He is protected.

Curry is the bad defender who should drop out of everyone's Top 5 list behind the 2-way players, not Harden.

 

AN AWESOME METAPHOR

 

I think you can thank Curry's PR team for that. The artificial good guy image they've crafted for him is impeccable. With American media, it's all about having Jesus-like physical and narrative qualities.

Harden has a lot of that too. In fact, I'd argue he has a far greater story than Curry as far as where he came from and how he also propelled himself to super stardom without many elite natural gifts. It just hasn't been marketed well.

Finally, Curry is in a city that gigantic companies want him to be in. Harden is not. That's always going to work against him too.

 

[OFFICIAL] - Current "Teflon" Leaderboard
The players who get slobbered over for everything great they do. But NO ONE mentions anything bad that they do.

1) Stephen Curry
2) Luka Doncic
.........
.........
.........

??? Anyone I am missing?

 

Russell Westbrook?

 

I gotta put AD up there as well...the guy is leading a 15-20 team that will miss the playoffs yet again, and it’s still crickets from the media

so many claim he is a definite top 5 (some even top 3) player, yet Harden who they will routinely place outside of the top 5 gets criticized 100x more

 

lol... Nike blaming Harden for their mistake is petty as heck. Pay Harden $200 mil, Harden isn't going anywhere. Harden would have pulled a Kawhi and signed with New Balance if they would have forked up $200 mil too. My personal brand loyalty can be bought and NBA players are no different.

 

I wonder if Harden's darker skin tone and more urban lifestyle have something to do with it...

 

Westbrook gets blow back when he goes off the rails. Perhaps not as MUCH as he should, but he gets blowback. He isn't "teflon."

 

AD....you might have a contender there for the "Teflon List." Right now if they WIN it is because of AD....and if they LOSE it is because of "supporting cast." Very much in the "LeBron Media-scape" in that regard.

 

No, with American media it is all about winning.

If Harden had 3-4 rings right now, everyone would be drooling over him. He doesn't and so he isn't the golden child.

 

For those AD doubters, yes he could do more but a big guy cannot control the game like a guard can.

He cannot control the pace, needs to wait for the ball.

Bigs should be evaluated differently. They need a valid backcourt to help them.

 

Nah. There are plenty of people without 3-4 rings (and without any rings) that are treated more "golden" than Harden.

Winning certainly helps, but it doesn't explain the disparity in media positioning.

 

U prolly right since most hyped basketball player ever named Michael Jordan is known to be almost white

 

CP3

Don't @ me

 

Russell Westbrook
Klay Thompson
------
And these guys are ascending the list due to social media / media glorifying them and not being willing to criticize them:
Kyrie Irving
Donovan Mitchell
Lonzo Ball
Brandon Ingram
Joel Embiid
Giannis Antentokounmpo
DeAaron Fox
Damian Lillard

A season ago I would've put Draymond Green but I think people are finally coming around to his antics.

2-3 seasons ago I would've put Lebron, but he's finally become more polarizing.