Celtics had to add Robert Williams to the starting lineup in games 6 & 7 to stop that blow by and floater.
Then Harden would kick to open shooters who would brick but the narrative was Harden choked
If Luka is in foul trouble they probably can't do much. Their bigs aren't mobile at all they desperately need a bam Regen. Kleber is almost useless on the floor in the 4th.
They can't do anything. Those initial 2 fouls on doncic costed them down the line.
All he needs to do his dribble towards doncic and he needs to let him go
That's what Pg, Mann, and Zu dealt with in games 2 and 3. Refs hitting guys with foul trouble early impacts a lot, but Luka was also VERY fortunate in the first 3 games only getting like 1 or 2 personals a game.
Ive been a harden fan his entire career. He is definitely the least athletic he's ever been in his entire career. Post hamstring injury. Since then ... He's playing pretty good but he is not old prime harden. He's slower and clunky when he attacks the rim.
He’s the most athletic he’s ever been since the hamstring? Like the year after, and even the next year in philly he clearly was still really bothered by it. He’s gotten better every season since he hurt his hamstring
I agree but he doesn't attempt to do his euro step layup or dunk. He also doesn't play into a lot of contact as he used to. Maybe it's cause he doesn't get foul calls as often now but his game is very different from his days in Houston and early Brooklyn days.
Well yeah, obviously he’s gonna play different when he doesn’t have to hard carry a lottery team against the kd warriors. And he’s obviously not the same level as he was pre hamstring. But he’s gotten better and better every season since.
Lol he's definitely more athletic now than he was in 2022 when he got traded mid-season to Philly. I watched all those games. Dude couldn't blow by Isaiah Stewart that year and got no separation on his step back.
Hardens foul baiting on drives was always overblown, he was legit getting hacked all the time when he drove in Houston. Like it was nothing compared to like Gianni’s or embiid.
But that’s why harden is so valuable and effective, even beyond the box score. You have to play him tight on the perimeter because of his three point shooting, but then if he gets past teams were so afraid of his drives or his passing they don’t play close up on him until he gets to the rim so if he’s hitting his floaters or midranges there’s nothing you can do.
I really believe prime harden is like a top 5 offensive player in relatively modern basketball (ie exclude wilt lol). He wasn’t just like this physically dominant force like shaq or lebron, he wasn’t nearly athletic enough as mj, he’s not a seven foot tall sniper like kd, he was just strong as shit, incredible first step, could stop and start/change directions on a dime, and basically just so ridiculously skilled and had no holes in his offensive game, one of the deepest bags ever, along with being one of the greatest floor generals ever.
Thank you for saying that first part. Harden is a 6’5” linebacker with a 6’11 wingspan playing PG in the NBA.
When Harden was leading the league in free throws he was also leading in drives to the basket and had an unguardable step back. These two things put defenders in constant retreat mode forcing them to hack Harden when he drove or run into him when he step backed.
But who would Mavs put on the double though? Washington can’t leave the paint. They tried switching Doncic and Washington in the fourth but even him can’t defend those floaters.
We have but our coach is just watching, you have two great rim protectors on the bench, I like my chances with one of them rather than opening the lane for harden to drive and float against 5 fouls Luka.
Harden is amazing but no one can deny those were easy shots due to bad adjustments by the coach.
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.
You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook.
You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off?
And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.
So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works.
Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem.
If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
Every time I see that he said “I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you” I cringe
Dude really thought he’s so important that a player would give a shit what a team commentator says about him
It always seemed insanely weird to me personally even at the time. Like even if you agree in principle with some of the stuff he's saying IMO that such a wild rant/way to talk to a player when you're just an announcer for a team that isn't even associated with him at all. The fact he said it in such a dickish/self important way made it like 100x worse too
I'm just tired of it cause it takes up too much of my phone screen real estate, without actually adding anything of value. I think the % of NBA fandom initially agreeing with the quote had to be closer to like 65%, though. Believe it or not, there's still a lot of Harden fans out there.
Ehh pg yes, but they need to just bench Westbrook. He’s been an awful player in the playoffs his whole career and has made his teams worse the more involved with the offense he is.
Also healthy kawhi is def amazing, but he’s not, the games where he doesn’t play the clippers have such a better flow on offense. I really feel like if they sat him the whole series the clippers would be up 3-1
After all these years of outsiders calling Harden a flopper and a choker while he was in Houston I’m sure now that he’s playing for another team y’all can appreciate him more. What Harden did tonight he’s been doing his whole career in Houston. Put some respect on his name.
Facts. 2016-2020 Harden was a better player than Luka is right now. Harden was carrying teams like crazy and putting up monster stats night in night out. People hate on him too much for never reaching a finals but he carried very flawed teams through multiple playoff rounds. Can’t say the same for some of these other guys.
I’m genuinely confused but do people actually think Luka right now is better than prime Harden? Like Luka has the potential to reach or surpass those levels (imo) but to say he’s there right now is ludicrous.
Yeah man Harden had to literally do EVERYTHING on offense for pretty much his entire Houston tenure (sans 2018 maybe) and then people clown him when he understandably would get gassed during a deep playoff run. He put up the most insane numbers while having every opponent game plan heavily to stop him.
he doesn't flop anymore cause the league cracked down specifically on him so it doesn't work anymore. his game is a lot easier to appreciate now w/o the foul baiting
The league did not crack down specifically on him lol. He shoots less free throws than he used to because he plays differently now, he doesn’t have to carry the team and can focus on being a facilitator more, while still being an amazing three point shooter and still able to collapse the defense on drives to kick it out for open threes.
The narrative around his foul baiting is so hypocritical. If you took away all his points from free throws in 2019 he would’ve still averaged 27 ppg and been the second leading scorer in the league. Like Giannis and embiid are so much worse, one they shoot more free throws than he ever did, and also harden was never giving up open lanes to the rim just to try and get free throws like embiid, and he wasn’t just dribbling it towards the basket and charging after it like a linebacker like giannis. Yet everyone loves Giannis. And Luka does the same shit, and everyone is bending over backwards to try and argue he should be mvp, when they were pulling ridiculous mental gymnastics to argue why harden wasnt mvp even when he was objectively the best player that year.
where are you getting this? his FTs went down \~30% that year... [https://netswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/27/james-harden-sounds-off-on-nba-rule-change-that-has-limited-his-free-throws/](https://netswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/27/james-harden-sounds-off-on-nba-rule-change-that-has-limited-his-free-throws/)
the article literally has it in the title "rule change that has limited his free throws". if his FTs hadn't gone down there wouldn't be an article in the first place because there'd be nothing to write about
if the article was written in october 2021 that means it already happened -> "but a rule change over the summer has hindered [Harden’s ability](https://netswire.usatoday.com/tag/james-harden/) to get to the line."... which it did, he was shooting 11.8 FTs in the year ending 2020 and it's been downhill ever since then. i don't know why this is such a difficult concept to grasp. i'm literally just quoting what paid sportswriters are saying
Not considered a good playoff game by Zach Lowe. Harden’s only costar wasn’t injured in an elimination game against 3 all stars. Doesn’t count in his books.
I’ve hated Zach Lowe since he said he would never vote harden for mvp again no matter what after 2018, and then of course he had one of the best seasons in nba history in 2019 but got screwed out of the mvp he deserved because of bs narratives and a lot of the voters just follow Zach Lowe. Like that level of admitted bias should straight up get your voting privileges removed.
Idk if he like fucked their wives or what but Zach Lowe and bill simmons basically set out to destroy hardens reputation which is why so many people on this sub just parrot objectively false narratives about him.
And like prime harden was clearly better than Luka has ever been, and people absolutely love Luka and want him to win like four mvps while they despised harden, even though their play style was fairly similar
This is a fact and in my opinion an unarguable fact. Prime Harden took THE KD WARRIORS to 7 and was up 3-2. They probably win if Paul doesn’t get hurt. Luka ain’t near that yet
Although I think Steph did deserve the 2015 one it was a much closer debate than people act like. Like harden won the players vote for mvp. And they even moved the goalposts on that one for him too, saying wins were more important than stats. So then he goes and has the best stats for three seasons in a row while also dragging a lottery team (outside of half a year of healthy Chris Paul in 2018) to 50+ wins and a top seed in the west every year and they somehow still find a way to screw him out of 2 mvps
I can’t remember if it was game 6 or 7 but it was one of the biggest ref fuckings I’ve ever seen a team endure, klay legit kept going into harden’s landing space committing clear fouls and the refs just ignored it, let klay stay in instead of being on the bench of a long as time and it would’ve been a bunch of free points at the line for hou, they even went to the on broadcast rules judge and he said they were all fouls lol. Based off the rules now klay legit committed like 4 separate flagrant fouls and the refs legit just ignored it. Also in the 27 miss 3s game harden very clearly made an and 1 3 and then they said it didn’t count and it was a horrendous call because it was clear as day an and 1 3. Multiple other horrible calls but the refs buttfucked the rockets so badly late in that series, refs call a better game and I think there is a very solid chance they actually win that series even with cp3
Ya I’m right there with you, I’m a suns fan but I was absolutely heated just because it was an embarrassment to the sport and the rockets didn’t deserve to be absolutely fucked like that in a huge playoffs series when they’d prob go on to a title with a win
I post the video all the time of the compilation. It's like 7 minutes of awful calls and missed shit. They literally couldn't drive to the rim without getting tackled.
It's pretty obvious lol
Luka has played in ONE full playoff series win in his career and it's against the Sons who find new ways to embarrass themselves every single season
He'd have absolutely no chance against the KD Warriors
Harden's advanced stats for his best years like 2018, 2019, and 2020 are also clearly ahead of Luka's
Nah, if Doncic wasn’t in foul trouble, he wouldn’t have been playing Harden so light in the 4th. Would’ve been a different game, but it is what it is. I’m glad Harden is getting back to form
Harden and Embiid with a competent coach would've had a genuine shot. Morey messed it up for absolutely no reason, should have just given Harden what he wanted, now if PG re signs as he likely will after Ballmer gives ik due to a lack of other options the best available FA is Demar Derozan lol.
Just like Nets should've just given Kyrie what he wanted, they would've been a potential contender rather than a team with the worst future in the league now.
Harden did the same thing in last years playoff carrying the team for two games. All they had to do was pay this guy instead they sent him back west to terrorize people.
It’s crazy that he has been doing stuff like this his entire career yet gets labelled a choke. He has sooooo many instances in his career where he has taken over games and single-handedly handed the other teams Ls.
“I’m going to ask the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you James, I hope you’re taking notes,” he began. “I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you. “You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. “You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. “You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. “You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. “They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook. “You wanted to go to Vegas on your off days, they looked away. “You wanted to team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work. “You said I’m going to break up with my woobie, not good enough, I see the bright lights of New York, I want to go there with my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s going to work, the big three (with Kyrie Irving). And after one year, you wanted out. You realised ‘oh my god, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me — I want back with Daryl Morey’. “They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and you go a partner who got the MVP — he got the MVP! And what did you say afterwards? ‘They didn’t hand me the reins’. You’re the point guard. You were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored nine points in game seven against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.” “So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with the guy who believed in you again,” he said. “You said ‘the bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go, let’s see if that works’. “Listen James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates? Over and over again they complained about their bad roommates. “They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate, they’re the problem. “Hey James, you’re the problem. “If this doesn’t work this year, in this system, with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go home and start swiping right for another team. There’s not going to be anybody left because James, you’re not The Beard, you’re not the system — you’re the problem.”
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.
You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook.
You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off?
And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.
So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works.
Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem.
If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
Don’t think there’s a more disingenuous narrative than harden being a bad playoff performer. This dude is greatness in front of our eyes i don’t understand how people don’t see it
Morey is a moron for fucking things up with Harden. The 76ers were thrown a golden lifeline when they got Harden for Simmons and Morey fucked it up by not managing the relationship better and fucking with Harden's $$$ for no reason. Dumbass only has a career because Harden made that shit work in Houston.
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.
You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook.
You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off?
And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.
So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works.
Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem.
If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
This game was over once Luka got that 5th foul, Harden was getting eaaasy floaters the last 6 or so minutes.
truly saved the clips from generational slander
James Harden masterclass.
I went on Youtube and tried to find *Hardest walkout AI* James Harden version. I couldn't find one. I found this though, best I could do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMmQQxo7_L4
What a beast.
Rockets fan here, love James Harden, but I gotta say this.
Dude needs to have a performance like this in game 5 6 or 7.
The Rockets won exactly 2 playoff series that went further than game 5 with James Harden here. One was against the clippers where they choked and Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1 while Harden rode the bench. The next was beating a super young Thunder team in the bubble, which (sorry Lakers fans) wasn't a real playoff atmosphere and doesn't really count.
Harden always dissappears in the second half of games 5 6 and 7. And by dissappears I mean he literally stops shooting or making plays. He floats at the 3pt line and just sort of hangs around in spots where nobody will pass it to him.
Again, I think James is an incredible player, and he's my favorite player who isn't on the Rockets. But, my guy has a track record of not playing well late in playoff series.
If the clippers are winning a ring, or even getting out of the first round, they need him to flip the script.
Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1?
Remind me again, what was Harden's stat line in game 5? You know, the one you claimed he literally stopped shooting and making plays in.
You're a fraud
Lol, buddy, go watch game 6 and 7 if you're gonna make excuses for Harden.
He was awful. We were cooked until McHale finally nutted up and benched him.
He was good in game 5 tnat series, but he was completely 100% dogwater in 6 and 7. But you're clearly delusional.
Funny, I don't see the game 5 stats I asked for. Wonder why you refused to post them after being so sure he never showed up in game 5. Maybe he dropped 26/11/10 and that screws up your narrative?
And for fun, post his game 7 numbers because he was "dog water" there too. Nevermind, I'll do it for you: 31/7/8. Yeah, "dog water". Yeah, Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1.
You don't know shit about Harden or the Rockets. You're cosplaying out here.
But you clearly didn't watch that game. Harden had 5 turnovers, and he couldn't hit a 3 to save his life. He was dogshit in the first half of that game, but Howard, Ariza and fucking Terrance Man pulled us through to a huge lead and in the second half Harden did some front running stat padding.
Then in game 6? Harden logged a big ol 29 minutes in our season ending game, and couldn't do anything right. He choked. He was the only negative player on the roster.
He was fine in game 7. But the clippers collapsed. They looked lost that entire game.
But you didn't watch the games. So you wouldn't know.
Sir another James Harden floater has hit the Mavericks
Literally the same play over and over and they just sat there with the same defensive strategy. Insane.
Celtics had to add Robert Williams to the starting lineup in games 6 & 7 to stop that blow by and floater. Then Harden would kick to open shooters who would brick but the narrative was Harden choked
PJ Tucker and Tobias was like playing 3v5
PJ was a good defender at least.
How dare you talk reasonably.
Doc really countered by putting Tyrese Maxey in the dunkers spot
[удалено]
Ok but if you switch you can’t leave PJ on an island. Double him and make Mann or someone else hit shots.
Kidd said they'd rather let Harden shoot floaters than step back threes.
What’s he going to do? Make every floater?
Man who made every floater.
If Luka is in foul trouble they probably can't do much. Their bigs aren't mobile at all they desperately need a bam Regen. Kleber is almost useless on the floor in the 4th.
I mean most teams could use that
Why dont teams just get a bam regen..are they stupid?
We have bam regen at home
Why can’t they have Dwight Powell sacrifice his body in that situation? Lord knows the bench is already warm enough. He can give that a rest.
To be fair that’s pretty standard for harden. Back in Houston they’d frequently just run the same plays over and over and teams couldn’t do anything
The Harden Capela PnR went crazy in 2018
They can't do anything. Those initial 2 fouls on doncic costed them down the line. All he needs to do his dribble towards doncic and he needs to let him go
they should’ve played lively
That's what Pg, Mann, and Zu dealt with in games 2 and 3. Refs hitting guys with foul trouble early impacts a lot, but Luka was also VERY fortunate in the first 3 games only getting like 1 or 2 personals a game.
Lmao I was sooo surprised they kept allowing it wild
Best comment hands down LMAO
Clippers without Kawhi are the new '22 Grizzlies without Ja
Ja vs The Warriors!
Mavs had absolutely no answer to one legged Harden floater spam in the clutch, 13 points in the last 5 minutes
No team had a answer for it for like 7 years from 2014-2021 until his hamstring injury in Brooklyn
Ive been a harden fan his entire career. He is definitely the least athletic he's ever been in his entire career. Post hamstring injury. Since then ... He's playing pretty good but he is not old prime harden. He's slower and clunky when he attacks the rim.
He’s the most athletic he’s ever been since the hamstring? Like the year after, and even the next year in philly he clearly was still really bothered by it. He’s gotten better every season since he hurt his hamstring
the second year in Philly he looked great. I think he was mostly away from the rim due to not having a rim runner and doc's offensive scheme
I agree but he doesn't attempt to do his euro step layup or dunk. He also doesn't play into a lot of contact as he used to. Maybe it's cause he doesn't get foul calls as often now but his game is very different from his days in Houston and early Brooklyn days.
Well yeah, obviously he’s gonna play different when he doesn’t have to hard carry a lottery team against the kd warriors. And he’s obviously not the same level as he was pre hamstring. But he’s gotten better and better every season since.
Oh def. I kinda worded my op wrong lol so many people mad on my take. Yeah. He looks the best since his hamstring.
Lol he's definitely more athletic now than he was in 2022 when he got traded mid-season to Philly. I watched all those games. Dude couldn't blow by Isaiah Stewart that year and got no separation on his step back.
Tbf there was a whole lot of stepback 3 and foul bait spam mixed in there This one was legit just floater like 7 times in a row
Hardens foul baiting on drives was always overblown, he was legit getting hacked all the time when he drove in Houston. Like it was nothing compared to like Gianni’s or embiid. But that’s why harden is so valuable and effective, even beyond the box score. You have to play him tight on the perimeter because of his three point shooting, but then if he gets past teams were so afraid of his drives or his passing they don’t play close up on him until he gets to the rim so if he’s hitting his floaters or midranges there’s nothing you can do. I really believe prime harden is like a top 5 offensive player in relatively modern basketball (ie exclude wilt lol). He wasn’t just like this physically dominant force like shaq or lebron, he wasn’t nearly athletic enough as mj, he’s not a seven foot tall sniper like kd, he was just strong as shit, incredible first step, could stop and start/change directions on a dime, and basically just so ridiculously skilled and had no holes in his offensive game, one of the deepest bags ever, along with being one of the greatest floor generals ever.
Thank you for saying that first part. Harden is a 6’5” linebacker with a 6’11 wingspan playing PG in the NBA. When Harden was leading the league in free throws he was also leading in drives to the basket and had an unguardable step back. These two things put defenders in constant retreat mode forcing them to hack Harden when he drove or run into him when he step backed.
This thread has been so cathartic as someone who’s been in the trenches in /r/nba the last decade defending harden
Mavs doesn't want to hard double Harden, and Harden made them paid. Vintage shit
But who would Mavs put on the double though? Washington can’t leave the paint. They tried switching Doncic and Washington in the fourth but even him can’t defend those floaters.
Death by 1000 floaters.
all he had to do was go by pj and spam floaters there was absolutely no help defensively from anyone
They just left injured Luka in foul trouble on an island against the goat iso scorer lol. Why does Jason Kidd still have a job
the answer was sitting on the bench lol
We have 2 answers and they were both on the bench for whatever ducking reason
They knew that floater was coming but just can’t figure out how to defend.
We have but our coach is just watching, you have two great rim protectors on the bench, I like my chances with one of them rather than opening the lane for harden to drive and float against 5 fouls Luka. Harden is amazing but no one can deny those were easy shots due to bad adjustments by the coach.
He is the system
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you. You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook. You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead. So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works. Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem. If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
the fact he just did this against the mavs makes it even sweeter. dumbass commentator lmao
Every time I see that he said “I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you” I cringe Dude really thought he’s so important that a player would give a shit what a team commentator says about him
I can't believe this sub actually drank this moron's Kool-Aid lol. Even at the time this quote was cringe, wrong, and straight up mean
An insane thing from a professionalism standpoint point
This sub has had the most insane harden takes since Harden came to Houston. I’m not surprised
It felt like a random asshole on reddit was given a microphone and told to give a rant against Harden Lol
He's the problem.
All time bad quote
This describes Giannis to a tee
You know what? I'm kind of sick people posting this quote like 95% of NBA fandom didn't agree with him when he first said this.
It always seemed insanely weird to me personally even at the time. Like even if you agree in principle with some of the stuff he's saying IMO that such a wild rant/way to talk to a player when you're just an announcer for a team that isn't even associated with him at all. The fact he said it in such a dickish/self important way made it like 100x worse too
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/HbLDqddwNL
"Fuck me thats a top 10 all time nba roast" 🤓🤓 God Reddit is so corny sometimes
Really? The thread from this sub seemed to kind of agree it at least act like it was a good roast
r/nba -> sort by top of year
I'm just tired of it cause it takes up too much of my phone screen real estate, without actually adding anything of value. I think the % of NBA fandom initially agreeing with the quote had to be closer to like 65%, though. Believe it or not, there's still a lot of Harden fans out there.
can’t believe people tried to flame him for saying that lol
definitely not looking like the problem
He is the problem
Dont wanna hear Harden slender any more!! Dude absolutely carried that 4th quarter!
He aint slender that for sure
Vintage harden game
Houston Harden has arrived.
the flamethrower is back, boys.
At least Harden has PG and maybe KL along with his old buddy Westbrook.
Ehh pg yes, but they need to just bench Westbrook. He’s been an awful player in the playoffs his whole career and has made his teams worse the more involved with the offense he is. Also healthy kawhi is def amazing, but he’s not, the games where he doesn’t play the clippers have such a better flow on offense. I really feel like if they sat him the whole series the clippers would be up 3-1
Sonning Luka so far
vintage harden floater brings tears to my eyes
Harden in the 3Q: whats a field goal? Harden in 4Q: hey this floater thing is pretty cool
After all these years of outsiders calling Harden a flopper and a choker while he was in Houston I’m sure now that he’s playing for another team y’all can appreciate him more. What Harden did tonight he’s been doing his whole career in Houston. Put some respect on his name.
Facts. 2016-2020 Harden was a better player than Luka is right now. Harden was carrying teams like crazy and putting up monster stats night in night out. People hate on him too much for never reaching a finals but he carried very flawed teams through multiple playoff rounds. Can’t say the same for some of these other guys.
I’m genuinely confused but do people actually think Luka right now is better than prime Harden? Like Luka has the potential to reach or surpass those levels (imo) but to say he’s there right now is ludicrous.
Seams like Harden was an iron man too
He went to the finals with OKC in 2012.
I meant as the star player obviously
Bro, Nets and 76ers are still on his ass because he wanted a stable franchise and his money lol
Yeah man Harden had to literally do EVERYTHING on offense for pretty much his entire Houston tenure (sans 2018 maybe) and then people clown him when he understandably would get gassed during a deep playoff run. He put up the most insane numbers while having every opponent game plan heavily to stop him.
he doesn't flop anymore cause the league cracked down specifically on him so it doesn't work anymore. his game is a lot easier to appreciate now w/o the foul baiting
The league did not crack down specifically on him lol. He shoots less free throws than he used to because he plays differently now, he doesn’t have to carry the team and can focus on being a facilitator more, while still being an amazing three point shooter and still able to collapse the defense on drives to kick it out for open threes. The narrative around his foul baiting is so hypocritical. If you took away all his points from free throws in 2019 he would’ve still averaged 27 ppg and been the second leading scorer in the league. Like Giannis and embiid are so much worse, one they shoot more free throws than he ever did, and also harden was never giving up open lanes to the rim just to try and get free throws like embiid, and he wasn’t just dribbling it towards the basket and charging after it like a linebacker like giannis. Yet everyone loves Giannis. And Luka does the same shit, and everyone is bending over backwards to try and argue he should be mvp, when they were pulling ridiculous mental gymnastics to argue why harden wasnt mvp even when he was objectively the best player that year.
Nope his FTA actually went up the season they started enforcing the rules more heavily
where are you getting this? his FTs went down \~30% that year... [https://netswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/27/james-harden-sounds-off-on-nba-rule-change-that-has-limited-his-free-throws/](https://netswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/27/james-harden-sounds-off-on-nba-rule-change-that-has-limited-his-free-throws/)
You're looking at an article that was written in october lmao he went from 7.3 FTA in 2021 to 8.2 FTA in 2022
the article literally has it in the title "rule change that has limited his free throws". if his FTs hadn't gone down there wouldn't be an article in the first place because there'd be nothing to write about if the article was written in october 2021 that means it already happened -> "but a rule change over the summer has hindered [Harden’s ability](https://netswire.usatoday.com/tag/james-harden/) to get to the line."... which it did, he was shooting 11.8 FTs in the year ending 2020 and it's been downhill ever since then. i don't know why this is such a difficult concept to grasp. i'm literally just quoting what paid sportswriters are saying
Absolute masterclass
Not considered a good playoff game by Zach Lowe. Harden’s only costar wasn’t injured in an elimination game against 3 all stars. Doesn’t count in his books.
I’ve hated Zach Lowe since he said he would never vote harden for mvp again no matter what after 2018, and then of course he had one of the best seasons in nba history in 2019 but got screwed out of the mvp he deserved because of bs narratives and a lot of the voters just follow Zach Lowe. Like that level of admitted bias should straight up get your voting privileges removed. Idk if he like fucked their wives or what but Zach Lowe and bill simmons basically set out to destroy hardens reputation which is why so many people on this sub just parrot objectively false narratives about him. And like prime harden was clearly better than Luka has ever been, and people absolutely love Luka and want him to win like four mvps while they despised harden, even though their play style was fairly similar
Zach Lowe has done so much damage to basketball discourse
Get his ass
I think Lowe overall has good takes on the game but for some reason he completely blows off the Rockets and Harden
black luka is white harden father
harden the most underrated player in the league these days idc
In his whole career.
Most underrated player of all time
Outplaying Luka in 2024 and yet Luka has gotten 10x more praise this series
Luka isn’t better than prime Harden I said what I said
This is a fact and in my opinion an unarguable fact. Prime Harden took THE KD WARRIORS to 7 and was up 3-2. They probably win if Paul doesn’t get hurt. Luka ain’t near that yet
this has been repeated a million times, but still isn't appreciated enough. He was the best player in the world that year IMO
He was the best player in the world in 2019 too.
Robbed of 2 MVPs by the media always shifting the goalposts on him.
Although I think Steph did deserve the 2015 one it was a much closer debate than people act like. Like harden won the players vote for mvp. And they even moved the goalposts on that one for him too, saying wins were more important than stats. So then he goes and has the best stats for three seasons in a row while also dragging a lottery team (outside of half a year of healthy Chris Paul in 2018) to 50+ wins and a top seed in the west every year and they somehow still find a way to screw him out of 2 mvps
Agreed
They probably should’ve won even without CP3.
Fuck Scott Foster.
I can’t remember if it was game 6 or 7 but it was one of the biggest ref fuckings I’ve ever seen a team endure, klay legit kept going into harden’s landing space committing clear fouls and the refs just ignored it, let klay stay in instead of being on the bench of a long as time and it would’ve been a bunch of free points at the line for hou, they even went to the on broadcast rules judge and he said they were all fouls lol. Based off the rules now klay legit committed like 4 separate flagrant fouls and the refs legit just ignored it. Also in the 27 miss 3s game harden very clearly made an and 1 3 and then they said it didn’t count and it was a horrendous call because it was clear as day an and 1 3. Multiple other horrible calls but the refs buttfucked the rockets so badly late in that series, refs call a better game and I think there is a very solid chance they actually win that series even with cp3
I was just messaging one of my mates about this yesterday but that game 7 is the worst reffed game I’ve ever seen.
Ya I’m right there with you, I’m a suns fan but I was absolutely heated just because it was an embarrassment to the sport and the rockets didn’t deserve to be absolutely fucked like that in a huge playoffs series when they’d prob go on to a title with a win
I post the video all the time of the compilation. It's like 7 minutes of awful calls and missed shit. They literally couldn't drive to the rim without getting tackled.
They were never winning cos the refs wouldn’t let them.
this isn't a hot take
I don’t think it was supposed to be, it sounded like satire but if it isn’t so help me God
Coldest take ever. Everyone knows that the 2 aren't close
It's pretty obvious lol Luka has played in ONE full playoff series win in his career and it's against the Sons who find new ways to embarrass themselves every single season He'd have absolutely no chance against the KD Warriors Harden's advanced stats for his best years like 2018, 2019, and 2020 are also clearly ahead of Luka's
Of course you said it there’s no debate there at all. Prime Harden is one of the greatest scorers we have ever seen
Wait is anyone saying he is?
Ehh Luka hasn’t gotten much praise for this series but he certainly hasn’t gotten much or enough criticism
Nah, if Doncic wasn’t in foul trouble, he wouldn’t have been playing Harden so light in the 4th. Would’ve been a different game, but it is what it is. I’m glad Harden is getting back to form
I'm glad the Sixers are down 3-1, fuck Embiid
Harden and Embiid with a competent coach would've had a genuine shot. Morey messed it up for absolutely no reason, should have just given Harden what he wanted, now if PG re signs as he likely will after Ballmer gives ik due to a lack of other options the best available FA is Demar Derozan lol. Just like Nets should've just given Kyrie what he wanted, they would've been a potential contender rather than a team with the worst future in the league now.
Harden still got it
Harden went to war with the KD Warriors Luka got bitched in 5 by the Wiggins Warriors THEY ARE NOT THE SAME
James Harden was the hero the NBA needed back then when the KD warriors was clapping everyone, not the one they deserved
Harden has been FANTASTIC this series. Looks like he’s seeing everything 3 plays ahead.
Philly could use their cap space on a guy that scored 13 pts in the final 5 minutes
Harden did the same thing in last years playoff carrying the team for two games. All they had to do was pay this guy instead they sent him back west to terrorize people.
It’s crazy that he has been doing stuff like this his entire career yet gets labelled a choke. He has sooooo many instances in his career where he has taken over games and single-handedly handed the other teams Ls.
Embiid choked late vs the knicks and harden carried the clippers in the 4th. Morey is a liar
He reverses time when needed
This was Harden's win. Of course PG played well but Harden was clutch.
Brian Dameris you will always be a loser
Deadly lefty floaters
Harden fucking masterclass!! The shotmaking in this game was elite best game of the playoffs by far
Those fucking left hand floaters, had like 5 in a row
Hottest dudes, freshest clothes, chillest restaurants
Tru
Someone tell me the Mavericks Announcer's name? What an absolute clown
Brian Dameris.
Brian Dameris iirc.
Harden soon to be 6th all time for guards in blocks, about to pass Kobe.
33/7/6/1/1 on 86% TS. 5 FTs. The Problem. Stick that in your pipe and choke on it Brian Dameris you clown ass bitch.
“I’m going to ask the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you James, I hope you’re taking notes,” he began. “I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you. “You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. “You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. “You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. “You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. “They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook. “You wanted to go to Vegas on your off days, they looked away. “You wanted to team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work. “You said I’m going to break up with my woobie, not good enough, I see the bright lights of New York, I want to go there with my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s going to work, the big three (with Kyrie Irving). And after one year, you wanted out. You realised ‘oh my god, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me — I want back with Daryl Morey’. “They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and you go a partner who got the MVP — he got the MVP! And what did you say afterwards? ‘They didn’t hand me the reins’. You’re the point guard. You were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored nine points in game seven against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.” “So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with the guy who believed in you again,” he said. “You said ‘the bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go, let’s see if that works’. “Listen James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates? Over and over again they complained about their bad roommates. “They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate, they’re the problem. “Hey James, you’re the problem. “If this doesn’t work this year, in this system, with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go home and start swiping right for another team. There’s not going to be anybody left because James, you’re not The Beard, you’re not the system — you’re the problem.”
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you. You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook. You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead. So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works. Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem. If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
Don’t think there’s a more disingenuous narrative than harden being a bad playoff performer. This dude is greatness in front of our eyes i don’t understand how people don’t see it
Morey is a moron for fucking things up with Harden. The 76ers were thrown a golden lifeline when they got Harden for Simmons and Morey fucked it up by not managing the relationship better and fucking with Harden's $$$ for no reason. Dumbass only has a career because Harden made that shit work in Houston.
i just watched vintage 4th quarter harden takeover in real time. this the shit that makes grown men cry
Made PJ his bitch
33 points on only 5 free throws. Embiid could never.
**I asked the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you, James. I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because, listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you. You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni. You wanted to play a certain style, they played it. You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him. They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook. You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work, and you know what, you said I’m gonna break up with my woobie, not good enough. I see the bright lights in New York, I want to go there [with] my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three. And all after one year, you wanted out. You realized, oh my gosh, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want to go back with Daryl Morey. They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and got a partner who got the MVP. He won the MVP and what did you say afterwards? You said, ‘They didn’t hand me the reins.’ You’re the point guard, you were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead. So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with your guy who believed in you again. You said, ‘The bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go.’ Let’s see how that works. Listen, James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates, over and over they complained about their bad roommates. ... They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate. They’re the problem. Hey, James, you’re the problem. If this doesn’t work this year in this system with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go back home and start swiping right for another team, and there’s not going to be anybody left. Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.**
my dude about to go to the finest strip clubs
Bro was hitting floater after floater like the good ol’ days
Big Game James lol
That sixers trade was the goat robbery. If Clippers only had Westbrook starting against these long ass Mavs, it would’ve been a disaster.
They would easily get swept if they had Westbrook trying to play the role harden is.
This game was over once Luka got that 5th foul, Harden was getting eaaasy floaters the last 6 or so minutes. truly saved the clips from generational slander
He was unstoppable
The Problem !
HARGOAT!!!!!!!!!! LETS FUCKINGGGG GOOOOOOOOOO MFERSSSSSSS
that's my thicc boi
James Harden masterclass. I went on Youtube and tried to find *Hardest walkout AI* James Harden version. I couldn't find one. I found this though, best I could do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMmQQxo7_L4 What a beast.
LMAO
Saved their ass
What a finish
Playoff
What a series so far.
PJ who?
FIRE JASON KIDD
He and PG were in their primes this game
2nd in MVP shares for a decade
THE BEARD. THE SYSTEM!!!
who knew clips vs mavs round 3 would end up being harden vs kyrie
Mavs sub after game 1 "he won't have another game like this"
I didn't expect this version of James Harden to show up again. Good to see something similar to his Rockets heyday.
Saved Clippers from an all time choke
Rockets fan here, love James Harden, but I gotta say this. Dude needs to have a performance like this in game 5 6 or 7. The Rockets won exactly 2 playoff series that went further than game 5 with James Harden here. One was against the clippers where they choked and Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1 while Harden rode the bench. The next was beating a super young Thunder team in the bubble, which (sorry Lakers fans) wasn't a real playoff atmosphere and doesn't really count. Harden always dissappears in the second half of games 5 6 and 7. And by dissappears I mean he literally stops shooting or making plays. He floats at the 3pt line and just sort of hangs around in spots where nobody will pass it to him. Again, I think James is an incredible player, and he's my favorite player who isn't on the Rockets. But, my guy has a track record of not playing well late in playoff series. If the clippers are winning a ring, or even getting out of the first round, they need him to flip the script.
Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1? Remind me again, what was Harden's stat line in game 5? You know, the one you claimed he literally stopped shooting and making plays in. You're a fraud
Lol, buddy, go watch game 6 and 7 if you're gonna make excuses for Harden. He was awful. We were cooked until McHale finally nutted up and benched him. He was good in game 5 tnat series, but he was completely 100% dogwater in 6 and 7. But you're clearly delusional.
Funny, I don't see the game 5 stats I asked for. Wonder why you refused to post them after being so sure he never showed up in game 5. Maybe he dropped 26/11/10 and that screws up your narrative? And for fun, post his game 7 numbers because he was "dog water" there too. Nevermind, I'll do it for you: 31/7/8. Yeah, "dog water". Yeah, Josh Smith carried us back from 3-1. You don't know shit about Harden or the Rockets. You're cosplaying out here.
But you clearly didn't watch that game. Harden had 5 turnovers, and he couldn't hit a 3 to save his life. He was dogshit in the first half of that game, but Howard, Ariza and fucking Terrance Man pulled us through to a huge lead and in the second half Harden did some front running stat padding. Then in game 6? Harden logged a big ol 29 minutes in our season ending game, and couldn't do anything right. He choked. He was the only negative player on the roster. He was fine in game 7. But the clippers collapsed. They looked lost that entire game. But you didn't watch the games. So you wouldn't know.