Despite never winning an NBA championship, the Houston Rockets were among the greatest teams of the 2010s. Led by James Harden, Houston became home to one of the highest-octane offenses in NBA history. Their approach to the game was unconventional at the time, which was the same case for their team huddles.
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Former NBA player Austin Rivers had the privilege of playing for the Rockets for two seasons. His first year with the team came in the 2018-19 season. Houston finished the season with a 53-29 record, which was good enough for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Just like any other team, each player on the Rockets had designated roles. James Harden was, of course, their best player and as such was expected to take on leadership responsibilities but Rivers doesn’t think that was ever the case.
“You could be the leader and not the best player on the team,” Rivers said on the Off Guard podcast. “But when there’s a minute left in the game and the score is 105-105, I don’t want to hear you talk. I want to hear this guy talk. The guy who has the ball, I want to know where he wants me to be at.”
A perfect example of that are the Golden State Warriors, the team that prevented the Rockets from getting over the hump. Stephen Curry is far and wide the Warriors’ best player but, everyone understands that Draymond Green wears the leader’s hat.
As far as the Rockets are concerned, leadership responsibilities were divided between Chris Paul and P.J. Tucker. But when push comes to shove, Rivers swears by Harden’s words.
“James, what we got going on, man? Where the f*** do you want us on the floor? I don’t want to f*** up, and I want to be ready if that thing comes to me, I’m shooting that f*****,” Rivers proclaimed.
Rivers also remembered an instant where Harden stepped up as a leader. He proceeded to share a hilarious impersonation of the 11-time All-Star.
“Do not cut when I have the ball,” Rivers said from the perspective of Harden. “If they help, you’re going to get a wide open shot. If they don’t help, no one can guard me!”
Harden had good reasons to believe so much in himself. That season, he averaged an absurd 36.1 points per game; a stat that he has yet to be match.
Typically, in a huddle, the head coach would object to Harden’s isolation-centric game plan. Former Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, however, was happy to roll the dice.
“D’Antoni’s like, ‘Sounds like a plan to me. Everybody, don’t f*** it up on three!'” Rivers said.
Those Rockets teams had a level of freedom which isn’t common in the NBA but that’s what made them so great. It has proved to be a counter productive at times though as that freedom also resulted in the team missing 27 straight three-pointers in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals. You live by the sword, you die by it as well!
