Then it must be his diet if he works out so much and still has higher bf% than many people who aren't paid to be professional athletes. Jordan didn't have his work ethic questioned because the dude was ALWAYS in elite shape. Part of MJ's advantage that made him the greatest was having the cardio conditioning to know that in the 4tj quarter when everyone else is huffing and puffing, he still has that extra gear. Harden never had that. He was the opposite.
Lmao, some body types are just built that way. My guess is that he didn't rely on his athleticism early on like Jordan so he actually dunked less and less. He does not play above the rim that much. Harden's extra gear is drawing fouls, finishing with contact, step back 3s and some effort on D when he puts his mind to it. And then facilitating for others. It's not that much but I give him credit for trying, just doesn't work out every time. He was much leaner when he was 24 as most of us would attest but he was never Jordanesque in hangtime at any time in his career. Jordan's body was the prototypical athlete's body model for everyone during the 90s. Harden is more like Rodman in play hard, party harder type.
At the end if the day this summarizes his clutch time issues. All he has when he's tired is chucking threes. When he misses he goes into this negative feedback loop like a snowball rolling down hill where it makes him depressed where then he just starts slow walking everywhere with his head down sulking. Body type is a thing but honestly the right diet allows almost any one to maintain a relatively low bf%. Harden is a professional athlete. He shouldn't have issues with weight but unfortunately there have been a few seasons where it was a problem (2016 is a example). Guys like Kobe, LeBron and CP3 have explicitly stated how important maintaining a low bf% is through a healthy diet to maximize your completive advantage.
I forgot to mention young Jordan looked a lot more like Jalen Green does, young Harden already looked like Prime Jordan but with less athleticism, explosion but more body fat. In terms of body shape. He embraced the cerebral player that does not need athleticism to be successful.
Ya I understand that Harden never had the natural body type of a Jordan type athlete. His peak fit self was the 2015 season and 2018 season. Those were the seasons he seemed to care most about his weight and diet. Coincidentally those were his two best seasons as a Rocket in my opinion.
What sort of ass backwards logic is this? So because "the players" voted for him, that means he never had personal issues with players on the team? (which he did, and has been documented multiple times.) This is almost as stupid as that guy who thinks random numbers he sees predicts the entire universe...
One would think if he is gassed in the fourth the coach has lost control of his rotation. His problem is size of his paycheck because building a team around him is hard with so little cap left. He has to play more minutes because of the lack of talent around him. He is lucky if he has 5 starters on the roster with him. Now he has 2 other superstars but both are often absent from the regular season.
no, that its a sign that he has respect around the league. the media percieves him as well as here as some non committed player who roles out and soemtimes decides to commit to the game. THe league sees him as one of the greats. The players voted for him, not only that the stars out in brooklyn wanted him and his apparent inflexible selfish style of play..as did mda,morey...pj tucker wanted to play with him. its almost as if that narrative was pulled out of the ass.
how is harden not in elite shape though is what I don't understand, I Get he looks that way. but in this nba, when stars even can 'load manage' and sit out games..harden doesnt. plays insane minutes, useage rate...you're doing that against he greatest athletes in the world who have incentive of millions to go at you...hes in shape. yes, even for tha game one. 44/17 and took what turned out to be the worst team in the league almost to the W.
apart of it? Fo sho! no doubt. I agree. the guy who said "My basketball ops was weak, I pushed it through" waas the main guy. The guy who cheaped out on the glue guy who kept the locker room in sync as quoted by paul himself who doesnt seem to blame harden, taht guy hit the first domino. Morey also said while harden wanted his boy, he was fine running it back as he trusted morey and harden himsefl said the guys he trusted left and tahts why he wanted out.
Usage rate just explains percentage of possessions involved such as turnovers, shot attempts etc. Harden didn't load manage by missing games. He load managed IN-game by doing his patented slow walk up and down the court. How many times have we seen the Rockers be like 15 seconds into a offensive possession and Harden still hasn't crossed the half court line.
at the rate that the team was beginning to rely on him more than anyone else, while the owner cheaped out on margins and depths he had more responsiblity than anyone in the league. Even mj didn't have an offense run from start to finish on him, that was out of necessity bc we don't spend on the margins and would cheap out since then. but yea, I'm not sure what to say if you think the guy whose running circles around elite nba athletes who train just to stop him and think hes out of shape. go see tape of mj and kobe, they paced themselves ALOT
James isn’t out of shape when compared to non pro athletes. He’s really not out of shape when it comes to other pro athletes, but he just has a different type of endurance. I said this years ago when we first got Harden, but IMO his endurance is more like a football player where over the course of a game he can give multiple burst of energy often times dealing with powering through contact. Vs more slender wings/guards who have that steady state type of cardiovascular endurance. Generally I don’t think he’s “out of shape”….his endurance is just not the traditional type of basketball endurance we see. I think this helps him with the way he plays and helps him play more games than most and absorb contact all season…. But I also agree with others that he tends to look a bit more gassed late in games during the back end of the season in playoffs.
yea i agree, hes a different type of body. that said, if hes playing against elte athletes and generally among the top tier for minutes played and production...maybe the rest of the league shoudl get fat? Bc the goal isproduction...theres very few who do what he does and he not giannis or lberon who can fall back on just being bigger faster more athletic then everyone ,its skill and intelligence. I also agree that he looks gassed at times n the end and in the playoffs. I'd wonder if everyone whose carrying the load like he is and having more responsiblities than most stars not named lebron would as well. thats about team building, it may very well be why he told curry he wants to play different and why he went to brooklyn too. but hte way people talk about him here, you'd be surprised brooklyn wanted him.
