In a season where most teams have sought to do everything to vie for a spot in the playoffs, James Harden has continued to put together one of the greatest stretches of basketball the NBA has ever seen.
Over the course of the last several years, James Harden has managed to show most basketball fans why he is truly in a league of his own by placing his name among elite company.
The 29-year-old guard — who captured his first NBA MVP award in 2018 — posted 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game last season for the Houston Rockets, joining Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Stephen Curry as the only players in league history to average 30 points per game and lead his team to 65 wins in a single season.
Now, Harden appears to be on a mission to show that his past campaign was no fluke, as the man who recently took home the game’s highest individual honor is currently in the midst of arguably the greatest stretch of basketball the sport has ever seen.
He’s placed himself not only among legendary company, but also at the epicenter of the NBA’s current macrocosm.
In a pastime that has featured the likes of Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant, among other respected champions, Harden is swiftly cementing himself as the one of the most distinguished superstars — and scorers — of this generation.
He’s doing it in a way that is beyond the shadow of a doubt dominant, yet also unusual, as the Beard possesses a signature style that is truly one of a kind.
During a time long before Harden’s game came onto the national forefront, the most significant advantages many star players possessed was around the low block, where guys who honed large and stronger frames could impose their will upon opposing defenders and score in the paint.
Yet in a non-hand checking and switch-everything league, Harden has displayed how current mismatches of today can be exploited out on the perimeter, when coaches allow their best ball handler the opportunity to operate in spatial isolation and use alternating gears to outwit slower opponents.
In Harden’s pursuit of drawing opposing defenders for a dribbling tango at the top of the arc, his teammates get a front row seat to watch him go to work every single night.
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"“You could argue for him as the best offensive player of all time,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon following Harden’s 44-point, 15-assist and 10-rebound night against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 3.“To be able to say that with a straight face, and not have it be GM speak or coachspeak, is pretty amazing. There’s a whole bunch of ways to measure it, but he’s for sure in the conversation as the greatest offensive player ever.”"
Although most spectators and analytical savants might cringe while stumbling on the following highlight reels, Harden’s constant search for adventures in isolation is vintage basketball with a modernized twist. One could easily argue that no one at the present moment does it better than the NBA’s reigning scoring champion.
Harden — who has averaged 41.3 points and 9.1 assists per game over the last 15 contests — is working out of isolation over 15 times per game, and generating only 12.9 percent of his 3-point looks this season courtesy of a direct pass.
To put that into perspective, Harden has more freedom to create for himself on offense than any other player in the league. Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni has granted the six-time All-Star with the on-court autonomy to use his dribble to launch his deadly step-back jumper time and time again.
This makes his imprint upon the game completely unique when compared to even the Splash Brothers, let alone other stars in the league.
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"“I’ve said it a thousand times — and I don’t think I’m wrong because I get to watch it every night — but you don’t get better than what he does offensively,” D’Antoni said per the Associated Press when asked about Harden’s hot stretch last month. “No one’s better…he does a lot.”"
The 6’5″, 220-pound product uses an array of jab moves in conjunction with his handle, as a way to closely scan his defender’s footing and keep off balance. This is usually followed by the step-back triple, should his assignment bite or overcommit to his drive. This is the shot Harden has worked relentlessly on to make his governing move, and it’s become as important to today’s game as Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook was to the NBA’s forefathers.
This is all made practicable due to Harden’s ability to use his dribble to attack the core of defenses, as overplaying his patented step-back could lead to him either garnering an easy layup, ferocious dunk, assist or opportunity at the free throw line.
This helps to shape the overall aesthetic of his greatness, and easier for one to understand what truly makes him the most NBA’s most fascinating player to date. Harden’s game is truly one of a kind — whether you can bare to accept it or not.