James Harden has come below fireplace for his performances, particularly within the Playoffs. His struggles within the 2025 postseason led to outstanding criticism from folks like Shaquille O’Neal.
James Harden has been a family title in his 16 years within the NBA. He is among the gamers who’ve cemented themselves as historic stars as a result of their manufacturing on the courtroom. Harden’s prime had loads of mind-boggling performances as a result of his absurd statistics.
Sadly, that particular person success didn’t translate to group success, particularly within the postseason. The furthest he reached was the Convention Finals with the Houston Rockets, however they misplaced to the Golden State Warriors.
Regardless of his struggles, Harden stays an icon to some folks. Nonetheless, folks like Shaquille O’Neal really feel there’s an underlying drawback to Harden’s postseason struggles.
Throughout O’Neal’s profession as a prime participant, he didn’t thoughts the media criticism an excessive amount of. In fact, he had some incendiary moments, however he principally targeted on the sport and his group.
For O’Neal, that’s not the case for Harden. He feels the 2018 MVP is in his head an excessive amount of relating to his performances within the postseason. This was evident in the course of the Los Angeles Clippers‘ postseason run in 2025, when Harden had some poor performances.
In the course of the full seven-game collection towards the Denver Nuggets, he had good counting stats. He averaged 18.7 factors, 9.1 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per sport. Nonetheless, he was fairly inefficient, which led to anger across the NBA neighborhood.
“While you care, I can see it in your eyes. We had a few Recreation Sevens and like, folks didn’t step up. I knew they weren’t gonna step up as a result of it was a subject of dialog,” O’Neal mentioned on The Huge Podcast.
“In case you have the ‘I don’t care perspective’, you’re going to take 30 photographs, and never eight, James Harden. When he was taking part in, I might inform he cares what folks say. You’re a Corridor of Famer, you’re nonetheless bringing that cash, however you care what folks say. You’re simply including to your narrative.”
As considered one of this technology’s finest gamers, it could be a disgrace if Harden retires and not using a championship. That appears more likely to occur as a result of he’s not getting any youthful. He had a productive 2024-25 season, however he might be 36 by the point the 2025-26 season ideas off.
Taking part in for the Clippers might result in success, particularly with Kawhi Leonard trying wholesome sport by sport. Nonetheless, an harm to Kawhi would shut the Clippers’ championship window for a very long time.
This might be a blemish on Harden’s profession when he retires. He has been stellar, an exceptional guard who deserves credit score for his performances. Sadly, that may solely be a footnote as a result of his lack of postseason success.
If O’Neal’s level can persuade him, Harden mustn’t pay an excessive amount of consideration to the narratives. He’s a improbable participant who could possibly be a winner if he locks in and pays no thoughts to others.
