Who is the New King: James Harden or LeBron James?

By Christopher Cruz | Mar 3, 2015

Mar 1, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives the ball to the basket during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

On Sunday, when the Houston Rockets faced the Cleveland Cavaliers, we saw a matchup that we probably won’t see until the playoffs. James Harden, the league’s current frontrunner for MVP, and LeBron James, a player whose dominance in the last decade has kept him atop MVP rankings year after year, played each other for the title of “King.”

The game went back and forth, and we saw how chippy the play got at times.

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But there were a few things that I noticed that I was concerned with a bit as I saw them. In reality, if you were to add it all up, the Cavaliers should have won that game. LeBron’s free-throw shooting in that game was almost cartoonishly bad. He went 3-for-11 from the line, a stat that you wouldn’t even expect from Shaquille O’Neal.

But the Rockets were resilient, getting help from wherever they could get it, and trying to divide the defensive assignments between Harden and Trevor Ariza, a man who helped shoulder the burden of having to cover James at the half court line.

It was announced last night that Harden was suspended for one game for this play:

Kicking LeBron in the groin is never the way to go, and it was only right that the league suspended him. That sort of play was uncalled for, but it did remind me of some of the tense battles that the NBA used to have. This is especially the case when you think of how friendly stars are to each other. I know, they are in this together and all of that. But in reality, they aren’t.

Their legacies rise and fall on their ability to perform under pressure and win championships.

James Harden is not the only star player to throw cheap shots. Go ask Bill Laimbeer. Go ask John Stockton, Kevin Garnett, Larry Bird. To me, this only heightens the competition, and asks a player like LeBron to step up physically as Michael Jordan had to (against the Detroit Pistons or the New York Knicks).

That is why this play got let go:

Whatever your opinion of this play (it’s a foul, by the way), you can’t help but love the physicality of the game. Not just the fact that they were letting plays go without whistles, but also that players were given the ability to showcase emotion. That is something that the league has tried to calm down in the past, possibly because they don’t want another melee like in Detroit in 2004.

One could possibly argue the inherent racial tensions that a player faces as he is unable to showcase emotion, even if he is overcome by it. Lance Stephenson was booted out of a game against the Miami Heat last season for simply looking at Dwyane Wade, presumably in a “tough” way, which, of course, is an interpretation made by the referees.

Harden had 33 points in the game, while James collected 37 points. And while it is worth noting that Dwight Howard wasn’t in this game, Harden did still receive a lot of help with his big men. Donatas Motlejunas scored 16 points while shooting 2-for-4 from three-point range and Terrence Jones scored 19 points and seven rebounds in the game.

That was a huge help for the Rockets, who looked for easy baskets whenever they could come. But although Houston won this game, I can’t award the crown to Harden quite yet.

Just remember that Kyrie Irving was not playing in this game, and if he had, the game might have looked very different. Matthew Dellavedova was their starting point guard. I repeat, Dellavedova was their starting point guard. Nothing against him personally, but he can’t replace an All-Star like Irving, who is averaging 21.7 points per game this season, which is 10th in the NBA in scoring.

Harden has played amazingly this season, and right now, he is probably the frontrunner for MVP. But with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers only one and a half and two games back respectively, it isn’t inconceivable that the team slips in the rankings, and drops to fifth or even sixth in the conference.

What if the Dallas Mavericks come to their own late in the season?

Meanwhile, out in the East, the Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a struggle. The Toronto Raptors are only a game and a half in front of Cleveland. If Cleveland, which has played well after the All-Star break, gets the second seed, I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t give LeBron the MVP trophy again, and give him the name he already has:

King James.

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