Who’d You Rather Have: James Harden vs. Stephen Curry
After coming into the league via the 2009 NBA Draft, James Harden (third overall pick) and Stephen Curry (seventh overall pick) have turned into not only the go-to guys on the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, respectively, but elite shooters and two of the most intelligent basketball players in the league.
With an array of offensive weapons to torch even the toughest defenses in the league, they are yet to lead their respective squads atop the NBA mountain. No easy feat, at all, in the immensely talented Western Conference.
I, for one, can promise you something: sooner rather than later (although it most definitely won’t be during the upcoming season), both of them will, eventually, lead their squads to an NBA title.
As they enter their sixth year in the league, we look at both guards’, offensive capabilities to determine which, if any, is good enough to lead their teams to an eventual NBA championship.
ORIGIN
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James Harden came into the league, as we all know, as the sixth man on an “overachieving”, young, and overflown with talent Oklahoma City Thunder team. Taking on Russell Westbrook‘s resting minutes and living up to the hype.
He was, singlehandedly, the reason why the Thunder took Game 1 of the 2011-12 NBA Finals by propelling their offense with a buzzer-beating 22-footer over Mario Chalmers and into a 58-point second half. During the offseason he was, prematurely, traded to the Houston Rockets.
Stephen Curry, off the bat, joined Corey Maggette‘s Golden State Warriors and immediately, as a rookie, took over the point guard position. During that year he started a whopping 77 games and became, arguably, the leader of the team.
He is often regarded as one of the purest, if not the purest, 3-point shooters the game has ever seen and is still to go below .400 for a season.
OFFENSE
| Rk | Player | G | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Curry | 336 | 35.6 | .467 | .440 | .484 | .896 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 0.2 | 20.3 |
| 2 | James Harden | 371 | 31.4 | .445 | .369 | .499 | .849 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 18.0 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/15/2014.
As similar as they may seem, it is what sets them apart which makes both, Harden and Curry, an offensive menace to the rest of the NBA.
Drives
As a 6’5″, 220-pound shooting guard, Harden is more physically capable than 6’3″, 185-pound Curry and the numbers show said physical advantage. Twenty-one percent of Harden’s 25.4 points-per-game come from drives to the basket, whereas only 17 percent of Curry’s 23.9 points per game are via the drive.
Only 23 percent of Stephen Curry’s points came within 10-feet of the basket, versus James Harden’s 39 percent.
Mid-Range / Long-2s
Often considered the worst shot in basketball, mid-range jumpers and long-2s are, by far, the most inefficient shot of them all.
But remember, we just said that Curry was one of the best overall shooters in the game. He shoots an astonishing 48.7 percent from mid-range, against Harden’s 40.6 percent. Think about it, from the worst shooting place in the NBA, Stephen Curry goes 5-of-10.
That’s right, when Curry takes a mid-range shot against you, you pray.
Threes
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Pelican Debrief
Following the previously established premise of Curry being a better shooter, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he out-performed Harden in this section.
And it’s not.
James Harden, during the 2013-14 season, attempted 482 shots from 3-point range, roughly 40 percent of his total shots, and made 36.7 percent. Stephen Curry, on the other hand, attempted an out-of-this-world 610 shots from 3-point range, 44 percent of his total shots, and made 42.8 percent of them.
From a place where the league average is about 36.8 percent, Curry surpasses said average by 6 percent (!) while Harden fails to reach it by 0.1.
Both Harden and Curry, as particular as they might be, have earned their reputation as some of the best scoring assets in the NBA and their pristine shot-selection is a direct reflection of their huge basketball-IQs.
As two of the most polarising/entertaining players in the NBA, regardless of next season’s outcome, one thing is for sure; we’ll be seeing a lot out of James Harden and Stephen Curry for years and years to come.