James Harden's Latest Offensive Masterpiece Must Have The Haters Sick
I don't deny that I am very much pro James Harden. We go back a long time starting with our ASU days together and there is nothing I enjoy more than seeing how mad he makes people with the way he plays. How many times have you heard that James Harden is "awful to watch" and that he's "ruining" basketball? I love it. Every time he does something ridiculous people want to discredit the performance because chances are he took a lot of free throws. Last time I checked drawing contact is an art form but yet when Harden does it people hate it. Well let's look at what he did last night. Another monster offensive performance (sure it was against the Cavs but who cares), where he drops 55 points and takes only 5 FTs. Five! I'm willing to be this was one of the few times he's topped 50 while not taking double digit FTs or close to it, so now what will the haters say?
Try and watch that highlight video and tell me that is "boring" to watch. Put away your hatred for the player and take a second to realize what we are witnessing. There is no denying that James Harden is turning into perhaps the most unstoppable individual scorer the NBA has ever seen. Yes he has to come through in the playoffs, and yes the system the Rockets run plays a factor into his numbers, but who could blame them for just giving Harden the ball and letting him go to work if time and time again he proves that few teams can stop him? I hate that argument. Of course the system matters and guess what, the Bucks system helps Giannis, the Warriors system helps Steph and Klay, the Cavs and Lakers systems help LeBron, I don't get why only James Harden gets discredited because of how his team plays. That feels weird.
This performance last night included the fewest FT attempts to ever score 55 points in the last like 40 years. I get the Rockets and their front office bitch and moan about a lot and that rubs fans the wrong way. I also know if a lot of the people who hate Harden had him playing for their favorite team they'd probably change their tune. The guy is a generational scorer and people are either missing it or not giving a shit simply because of irrational hate. Well not me, I will appreciate greatness when it is staring me in the face and you should too.