When you think of James Harden you think of an MVP, amazing scorer, fantastic playmaker, an overall amazing offensive skillset, and one that should be able to lead a team to a championship.
Harden has not always carried his regular season MVP play style into the postseason, and that’s led to many calling him a playoff choker. There are several reasons why Harden play falls off whether it be exhaustion from the regular season or just not getting the calls he gets in the regular season. Whatever it may be, Harden has yet to make the Finals since he was the 6th man for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012. Harden made the Western Conference Finals two times during his time with the Rockets losing to the Golden State Warriors both times, once in the 2014-15 season, then once again in the 2017-18 season.
Harden had no better chance to make the Finals in Houston than in 2-17-18 after the Rockets acquired Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets would go on to secure the number one seed in the West with a 65-17 record and Harden won his lone MVP averaging 30.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assist. The Rockets had the Golden State Warriors down 3-2 when Chris Paul went down with an injury keeping him out of the remaining two games in the series. The Rockets had game 7 at home and even went into halftime with a 54-43 lead before ultimately losing 101-92. Harden shot 12-19 from the field and 2-13 from 3, finishing the game with 32 points, 6 assist and 6 rebounds.
After two more playoff exits in Houston, Harden asked for a trade. In what turned into an ugly divorce from Houston, he went to Brooklyn to team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. This trio was supposed to take the NBA by storm, sacrificing size and defense for otherworldly, offensive talent. Brooklyn did play well when those three suited up together, but that was the problem, many games were missed between the three. It all seemed to be right going into the playoffs after defeating the Boston Celtics in 5 games, they moved onto the second round to play the Milwaukee Bucks. Harden would not even make it 30 seconds before injuring a hamstring that would sideline him for the remainder of the series. Brooklyn would go on to lose in 7 games to the Bucks.
Coming into this season with all Durant, Harden, and Irving healthy, it was supposed to be “scary hours”, but instead, it turned into a mess after Kyrie couldn’t play due to not getting the COVID Vaccine, but also Harden wasn’t himself. He lacked the speed he once had to drive by defenders, the leap he once had to get layups over defenders there was an overall lack of explosion from Harden. Then once KD sprained his MCL things got even worse as Brooklyn would go on to lose 11 straight games, falling from the one seed to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Harden would eventually get traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond. He decided to leave Brooklyn and team up with MVP candidate, Joel Embiid. This is why it’s his most important. Harden you couldn’t get it done with Dwight Howard, you couldn’t get it done with CP3, you couldn’t get it done with KD
and Kyrie. At some point you have got to look in the mirror and say YOU could’ve played better. Philadelphia is on the side of the bracket where they won’t have to play the Bucks, Celtics, or Nets until the Eastern Conference Finals. Philly has all the talent in the world and should be able to handle Toronto and Miami to reach the ECF, but if they don’t, andHarden’s play is one of the main reasons why you have to wonder, was the 76ers choice to give up core players for a lesser James Harden the right move, and Harden’s legacy may forever be that of just an amazing regular season player.
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