Harden's performance last night really reminded me of what Lebron did against the Celtics in game 5 back in the 2010 playoffs. The Cavs were at home, and Lebron proceeded to go 3-14 in 41 minutes as the Cavs lost to the lower seeded Celtics 120-88. Then next year in the finals, he completely disappeared. Lebron, the Chosen One, the King, had 8 points in a finals game. He averaged 17 ppg for the series. He was being questioned left and right. The narrative was that he was mentally weak and scared of the big moment. Look at what Dan Gilbert wrote about him after he left Cleveland. ""He has gotten a free pass," Gilbert said in a phone interview with The AP. "People have covered up for (James) for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is." Gilbert feels James quit on the Cavs during their second-round series against the Boston Celtics, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to eliminate Cleveland. "He quit," Gilbert said. "Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar." The Cavaliers were beaten by 32 points in Game 5. During the game, James appeared distracted and uninterested, often glaring at Cleveland's coaches as the Cavs tried to foul to get back into the game in the second half. James also made some puzzling postgame comments, saying he had "spoiled" people with his play over seven seasons. Gilbert also said he believes James quit on the Cavs in Game 6 of their series in 2009 against Orlando. "Go back and look at the tape," he said. "How many shots did he take?"" Some of that stuff sounds pretty similar to what is being said about Harden on here. Dirk used to be seen as a choker and was labeled soft. People thought that he couldn't be the best player on a championship team after choking away a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA finals and then losing to an 8th seed in the 1st round the very next year. In 08, he lost in 5 in the 1st round. In 09, he lost in 5 in the 2nd round. The Mavs lost again in the 1st round in the 2010 playoffs. In the 10-11 season, they finally pulled through and won a title. Clutchfans would've been BEGGING for him to gtfo long before that chip in 2011. It is too early to completely give up on Harden. He can overcome this. The 15-16 season was a disaster. Harden came back from that and gave us an MVP caliber season as we overachieved to 55 wins and a 3rd place finish in the WC. This season ended on a bad note, but I look forward to seeing how he will come back from this starting next season. He still has time to change his narrative just like guys like Dirk, Lebron, and even Paul Pierce (was seen as a loser who only racked up stats on bad teams before the Big 3) have managed to do before him. He can become a FA in 2019. If he still has not been able to break through as a player/leader then maybe we look to go in a different direction, but there is still time for him to come back from this.
