James Harden is playing like the best player in the world and to put it simply, people don’t know how to feel about it. Calm down, I’m not saying he is, but he is playing like it as of late. No matter what Harden does, there is a divide among NBA fans. On one side, you will have the fans that say, “he is so boring, he just dribbles until there is five seconds left and tries to draw a foul or takes a step back.” On the other side you will have the fans that say, “he gets to the basket at will and is one of the greatest scorers we have ever seen.” The problem is, both school of thoughts do have merit and I often reside on the side that hates watching James Harden play.
It was not too long ago that experts were saying that Steph Curry revolutionized the game of basketball with his incredible shooting ability from three-point range and being a player with a slight frame. Well, although James Harden has a different body makeup than Steph, he too is revolutionizing the game of basketball right before our eyes. Jonathan Tjarks of the Ringer said that James Harden’s step back three-point shot is the equivalent to Kareem’s patented sky hook. No one was able to master the sky hook like Kareem and you can argue that no one to date has mastered the step back quite like Harden. He is utilizing the zero step, the step a player is allowed to take to gather themselves before being allotted another two steps, better and differently than every player in the game right now. Most players will utilize this step on drives to basket, but Harden utilizes it while going away from the rim to get space for his jumper or put the defender in an awkward timing situation resulting in a foul. As a side note, this is why referees have trouble calling him on travels because they have never seen someone play like James Harden. What Harden is doing is clearly working for him and the Rockets as they are enjoying a six-game winning streak. In his last 11 games, Harden is averaging 41 points per game with a usage rate that put him in the territory of Kobe Bryant, who is perhaps the king of that stat.
While I have not done in on this site, I am done belittling James Harden as a basketball player. He truly has made me eat my words time and time again. Is this magnificent stretch for Harden sustainable? No, it would be unheard of for someone to average 41 points per game over a long stretch of games. But, hey, who is betting against Harden at this point?
