I think Harden is a fraud, a joke, and a horrible teammate. I have never seen someone play with so little fire. He's one of the worst "stars" the league has ever had. And again, you can't build around him... as you can see.
Any evidence to that? Harden was voted MVP by the players, this included glowing praise from the likes of Wade, Blake Griffin, Durant and more. I've never heard anything bad about Harden as a teammate, Even McHale had good things to say about him. Coaches that work with Harden do as well, including Coach K who called him the leader of Team USA. “James has been as good a leader as we’ve had for this team,” Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said,via USAB.com. “He has a great personality. He is an upbeat guy, smart, and he’s obviously very, very talented. With this group, especially after Kevin left, he has asserted himself even more as an older guy. I know him, he knows me, because we have worked together. He’s really one of our key guys. There is no question about it.” How can we see? He led his team to the WCF last year? Does that not count? Was Kobe less of a leader when his team was 8th seed twice? Was Dirk less of a leader when his team was knocked out of the first round? (From an 8th seed at that) He's had more team success and individual success then your star player to be fair.
True, but Dame isn't coddled. Harden is. Harden doesn't get contact, he fakes contact. I just think James Harden is a fraud. \ I think Dame will earn his in time.
So I always clip my finger nails while I'm on the toilet. TMI, I know. Today, I dropped my clippers in the with the other contents of the toilet. Didn't even think twice about flushing the Clippers down, right where they belong!
With a username of Superbeard, I suspect there is a possibility you may be ever so slightly biased. When you find yourself constantly making excuses for your best player, that's a pretty good indication you need to start looking for a new best player. Yes, Harden is a HORRIBLE teammate, perhaps the worst in the league. Good teammates at least make an effort to play defense. Honestly, is there a lazier, more indifferent defender in the entire league than James Harden? There are plenty of bad defenders in the league, but I honestly can't think of anyone who puts in less effort on the defensive end than James Harden. To me, that's a shitty teammate. As the best player and leader of his team, HE needs to step up and get his teammates on the same page. The whole Harden/Howard "cordially bad" relationship is at lest half Harden's fault. And then there is this: http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...houston-rockets-face-dysfunctional-end-season "Before the Houston Rockets lost Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, James Harden arrived at Oracle Arena in a black SUV with his bodyguard, marketing rep and four friends. He chose not to ride in either of Houston's two team buses, something he has done all season because he likes to be certain he arrives at a specific time before every game, despite how it might look to observers. When Harden walked through the arena's metal detectors, he held out his toiletry bag for a security guard and, instead of placing his cellphone into a customary plastic box, he handed it to his own security guard. He didn't wait for his bag to be checked. Harden instead strolled toward the locker room with the knowledge that someone would get his bag and bring his phone to him. It was such a diva-like arrival to a playoff game, and rather odd given how badly the Rockets need togetherness in a trying season that has seen them underachieve and face criticism that they are not on the same page." That makes Harden sound like the biggest douchebag, prima donna in all of sports. He's an aloof prick that considers himself too good to be sullied by sharing a ride with his lesser teammates. That is not a leader. That is not a good teammate. Rather than trying to build team unity, he spends his off court time hanging out with strippers and dating Kardashians. Neither seems to have endeared him to his teammates. Quite frankly, I loved seeing the Rockets fail this season. I was actually glad when they stumbled into the playoffs, as it cost them their draft pick and I knew they would be slaughtered by the Warriors in the first round. A true best case scenario. Harden is my least favorite player in the entire league right now. As someone who has been following NBA basketball for almost 50 years, he offends me on every level. On one end, his game relies heavily on deception and fooling the refs into giving him free throws that he doesn't deserve. That's why I love the playoffs, the better, more experienced refs don't fall for his flopping nearly as often. On the other end, he puts forth zero effort. As a fan of the game of basketball, I hate watching him play. He is a disgrace. I'd also hate to be his teammate. His lack of effort on the defensive end would piss me off to no end. He saves all his effort to pad his stats on the offensive end, which gets him praise, notoriety and endorsement deals, but hurts his team. Anyone who knows anything about basketball can clearly see he's only half a player. I hope he retires a Rocket. BNM
Harden could still be a good player, but he's so fixated on drawing contact. It's a massive flaw in his game.
No, I didn't. When has there been reports of Aldridge spending all his free time at strip clubs and dating Kardashians? Aldridge puts in effort on the defensive end. Advanced stats show that he was a very underrated defender when in Portland and this year was a key member of the best defense in the league. Aldridge does not rely on flopping and deceiving the refs as a major component of his offensive game. So no, I did not just describe LaMarcus Aldridge, not even close. BNM
I wasn't talking about his game - yes the are very different. I was refering to what sort of team-mate he was. The aloofness, traveling separately from his team, etc.
You quoted my entire post, which included a description of Harden's game. Aldridge only traveled separately one time that I'm aware of (took a different fight back to Portland after Game 2 in MEM last year). Harden travels separately to EVERY game in a private vehicle (doesn't ride the team buses from the hotel for road games), with his own personal entourage. Does Aldridge even have an entourage? If he does, they certainly never followed him around and licked his boots the way Harden's do. Here's a description of Aldridge traveling separately: "After the Trail Blazers dropped Game 2 to the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday, Portland general manager Neil Olshey gave players two options: stay the night and fly home together on the team charter the next day, or return to Portland on their own" Again, here's a description of Harden traveling separately: "Before the Houston Rockets lost Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, James Harden arrived at Oracle Arena in a black SUV with his bodyguard, marketing rep and four friends. He chose not to ride in either of Houston's two team buses, something he has done all season because he likes to be certain he arrives at a specific time before every game, despite how it might look to observers. When Harden walked through the arena's metal detectors, he held out his toiletry bag for a security guard and, instead of placing his cellphone into a customary plastic box, he handed it to his own security guard. He didn't wait for his bag to be checked. Harden instead strolled toward the locker room with the knowledge that someone would get his bag and bring his phone to him. It was such a diva-like arrival to a playoff game, and rather odd given how badly the Rockets need togetherness in a trying season that has seen them underachieve and face criticism that they are not on the same page." I see absolutely zero similarity between the two. So again no, I did not "just describe LMA". BNM
That's such a sensational click bait piece it barely deserves discussion. Call me bias, but would you call his peers bias? The people that have coached him? You can call me bias but it is a hardcore fact that he's accomplished more than Dame and you are calling him a loser, a horrible teammate, and all these other things based on what exactly? That someone will bring his phone to him to the locker room when he arrives at a stadium? Fans over analyze this stuff way more than they should. Results matter and again, if Harden is a terrible teammate and horrible player then I'm not sure that that makes at least 95% of the NBA. You talk about strip clubs and him dating Kardahians and how that didn't help him with his teammates as if you have a scoop. If you do the by all means produce it. Again, I'll go by what coaches and players have said about him over you. No offense but I think they probably have a better outlook on him as teammate and player than you do. Edit: Players do what they do, they are people and they stuff off the court. Fact is, whatever Harden is doing off the court still makes him one of the more accomplished players in the NBA right now and he's still had a ton of team success, still has respect around the league, and still produces. Whether you like it or not. I'm not sure why people care what he's doing off the court, I'm sorry but many NBA players party during the offseason. Party DURING the season. Jalen Rose always talked about how they'd party in nearly every city they went to. Whether that's Harden or not, I don't know. The guy gets caught partying one time during the offseason and people can't think for themselves and fall right into whatever narrative is fed them. I really don't know. I know that he was the only player last night that came into the game prepared, I do know that just by watching the game.
To be fair, he didn't win a series as the star of a team until his 6th season. Lillard is in his 4th season.
