Harden put up 60pts 11ast 10reb 4stl last night. He also had back to back 50 pt games this season. Last season he put up 53pts 17ast 16reb in a game. Harden has 8 50 point games in his young career. Hakeem had 2 50 point games: 51pts 14reb 3ast 3stl 2blk. 52pts 18reb 4ast 3st 3blk. EXPLOSIVE GAMES: EDGE - HARDEN Harden's career numbers: (MIDWAY OF 9TH SEASON) PTS: 14885 REB: 3294 AST: 3897 STL: 979 BLK: 303 Hakeem's career numbers: (18 SEASONS) PTS: 26946 REB: 13748 AST: 3058 STL: 2162 BLK: 3830 POINTS: TIE REBOUNDS: HAKEEM + ASSISTS: HARDEN + STEALS: TIE BLOCKS: HAKEEM ++ CAREER STATS: EDGE - HAKEEM If James Harden wins 2 rings and plays 8-10 more years with the Rockets, is he the greatest Rocket of all time? I realize this is hypothetical and speculative, but it seemed fun so I did it. Vote and discuss if you wish.
Check out this video I came across while researching those stats. Bill Worrell and Calvin Murphy on the call. They both sound almost exactly the same today.
Only after one of these will he be creeping up on Hakeem Spoiler Until then lets just cool the jets and not even start these theoretical discussions, you'll just summon annoying people. They will then proceed to somehow make hearing about the clutch city teams aggravating.
I chose "creeping up" to signify that he is not yet close, but is at least planting the thought in people's minds. BTW looking at the pic you just posted. I didn't know the SNL Weekend Update host was also a freelance NBA photographer.
Creeping up only in regular season lol........people still underestimate the Playoffs and elite Defense. Hakeem was the best elitist defender this city has seen. Kobe has put up 80 and I wasn't really surprised or interested. The guy relied on a big man his entire career. When it mattered. This said Harden's stats are impressive in the regular Season!
Better ballhandler, more efficient scorer, passer and less intense on D version of Kobe. That guy was an MVP but learned to play very well alongside another Alpha superstar. (arguably Super Beta/Alpha Minus Gasol) Spoiler I think Harden is more adapt at leading scrubs and mediocre players but he still is not as good as other stars playing second fiddle. It aint his fault, his style of play dictates the game. Much like Chris Paul's game minus the leadership and much more scoring,rebounding. If he could move off the ball more, this team with 1 or 2 borderline stars could form a dynasty. Now they are only at 'second place' contending for 1st place. It's very good but still not 'dynasty level great'. If you combine Harden's O with Paul's D and intensity it would be hands down the best player of the last 10 years easily. Slightly better than Lebron in his prime. Be on the level or beyond Jordan (at least in the convo for decades). You got to be 'great' and be great at playing with other stars. Once he gets really old, he has to adapt his game to being a second, third wheel. Everyone did it before him.
Harden doesn’t have to prove anything in the regular season to me. He’s elite as you can get on the offensive end. To creep up on Dream you have to have defensive ability. I recall Hakeem blocking John Starks in game 6 which set up our championship win in game 7. Our center goes out and blocks a guard at the three point line . Champions. It’s a new era and Harden just dropped 60. Not ready to say we are winning back to back championships. Ready to say he’s the mvp
When Harden can play in the playoffs and play through the whistle swallowing refs (in crunch time) and also wins 2 rings, get back to me.
No. I say this partly because it's true, and partly out of spite, because asking a yes or no question based on a decade's worth of conjecture is silly. I mean, can these threads at least wait until he wins one ring? Friendly FYI: formatting text in blue and black is a bad idea. It makes your post practically unreadable for members who browse in dark mode (aka anyone who has a shred of self respect).
To all the new fans here, This is something they call 'Defense", I know NONE of you have seen this before
Winning 1 ship/2 ships does not take away from the Greatness of Hakeem and surely does not make his weaknesses go all away.....poof. He has to dominate on both sides, and win 3 ships as the No1 or No 2 option before I consider him better. Hakeem's came as B2B. That is harder to achieve.
He is playing high enough quality basketball to be in consideration. But he's 28. There's a lot of story left to tell. It will be hard for a guy who played 3 seasons with another team and may well yet succumb to the league culture of moving teams constantly to equal a guy who was drafted by the Rockets and played with them for 17 years.
Dream34 is a two time champ, Finals MVP, a top 3 offensive center and ONE OF THE GREATEST DEFENSIVE PLAYERS EVER. Harden is still a all time great Rocket and could easily be 2nd. Playoff push better be epic though.
Lots of if's as you said, but does "explosive games" mean > 50 points then? Hakeem was a way better all-around player. The man got a friggin' quadruple double and was one dubious assist away from a second one. Let's hope Harden does indeed do enough to become the greatest Rocket of all time, but for now he's still got a long way to go imo.
