Throughout his prime, James Harden was one of many league’s most dominant offensive gamers. Along with his scoring and playmaking, he was a famous person who rivaled all-time greats comparable to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
As a former MVP, James Harden is acknowledged as among the finest gamers of the fashionable period. A glance into his numbers exhibits that he belongs on the identical stage as a lot of basketball’s biggest gamers.
Even when Harden doesn’t have a championship, he has been a productive famous person. His prime was throughout the Golden State Warriors‘ dynasty with Kevin Durant as a co-star. Due to that, the Houston Rockets didn’t win a title regardless of his superb numbers.
Regardless of these struggles with no title, fellow NBA legend Charles Barkley held him in excessive regard. The Corridor-of-Fame ahead believes Harden was ok to compete on the identical stage as names like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
All through his 16 NBA seasons, Harden has averaged 24.1 factors. He has been a standout throughout a number of groups, however the outstanding time in his profession was in Houston. Throughout these 9 years with the Rockets, he averaged a whopping 29.6 factors and seven.7 assists per recreation.
When he left the Rockets, he was nonetheless robust to defend, however he has not reached the identical stage of productiveness. He has not been the identical stage of scorer, however he has grown as some extent guard as a consequence of elevated maturity.
Barkley was an enormous fan of Harden, which is why he hailed him as one of many biggest offensive gamers in NBA historical past.
“He’s probably the most superior offensive participant I’ve ever seen. Michael and Kobe had been the higher gamers from a guard standpoint, however offensively, they couldn’t shoot threes like him,” Barkley mentioned on ESPN again in 2021.
“They weren’t as nice at dribbling the basketball, going to the basket, and getting fouls. Each time he goes to the basket, he’s going to get any individual to get two free throws. We have now to present this man credit score. He’s an offensive machine, plain and easy.”
Even when some folks would possibly deny it, Harden has turn into one of many league’s most influential gamers. He was as soon as a capturing guard who principally centered on getting the ball within the basket. As he matured, Harden turned arguably the league’s greatest playmaker within the pick-and-roll and transition.
Harden deserved all of the reward as a result of he can run an offense by himself. Many gamers at present have adopted his instance. Names like Trae Younger and Luka Doncic have turn into glorious NBA gamers, thriving in a task that Harden pioneered.
Over time, some folks have averted speaking about Harden in the very best mild. Nonetheless, he has cemented himself as one of many league’s largest stars, who was a implausible participant, particularly on the offensive finish.
Barkley’s opinion was warranted as a result of Harden has all the time discovered a method to assist his workforce generate the very best offense doable.
