James Harden has caused quite a ruckus during his China tour. Unlike other players who seem to have a controversial free time when on tour, Harden decided to go on a passionate rant. Apart from calling out Daryl Morey, the southpaw shockingly claimed that the Philadelphia 76ers General Manager was a “liar”. Amid the entire debacle, Dwight Howard believed that it was the perfect time to try and recruit his former teammate to play in Taiwan. A day after trying to persuade the 2018 Most Valuable Player to join him in Taiwan, an old clip of Howard revealing Harden’s nickname from the Houston Rockets days has resurfaced on social media.
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Ever since Dwight Howard made his move to Taiwan’s T1 League, the big man has done everything in his power to recruit some high-profile NBA players. James Harden is one of the many superstars whom Howard has tried to recruit on several occasions. First, following the Philadelphia 76ers’ embarrassing loss in the second round of the 2023 playoff. Then a few months later, Howard tried playing his cards right amid Harden’s fiasco with the Sixers.
Dwight Howard revealed Harden’s nickname during his time with the Houston Rockets
After an ugly fight with Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard joined the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2013. By the time he arrived at the Texas side, Harden had already established himself as the team’s leader. During the next few years, the Beard saw a massive improvement in various aspects of the game.
Perfecting the art of knocking down step-back and side-step three-pointers, the 6-foot-5 Shooting Guard instantly became one of the most lethal scorers in history. During that seven-year span, the 2012 Sixth Man of the Year racked up several laurels – seven All-Star appearances, three scoring titles, and an MVP.
A year ago, Howard made an appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All the Smoke” podcast. At one point in the show, the former Orlando Magic superstar revealed the nickname the Rockets players gave Harden. Since the combo guard kept “tipping toes”, James was called “Fred Flintstone”.
“We used to call James Fred Flintstone. He used to do the little step-backs and the little tippy toes, so we used to call him Fred Flintstone,” Dwight said.
Dwight Howard also explained how he thought Harden had a golden chance to solidify his legacy as one of the best two-guard ever. The pairing wasn’t as successful as people expected it to be. However, the three seasons they shared the court together were entertaining, to say the least.
Howard believed he and James Harden could be like Shaq and Kobe
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal are widely regarded as one of the greatest duos in league history. Despite all their differences, the iconic one-two punch was pretty successful on the hardwood. Leading the Los Angeles Lakers to three straight title wins from 2000-2002
It’s been a while since we’ve witnessed a duo as dominant as Shaq and Kobe. However, Howard sincerely believed that he could replicate a Bryant-O’Neal type of success alongside James Harden. In those three years, Kevin McHale’s boys did play some entertaining basketball. Unfortunately, apart from a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2015, the team wasn’t able to find any success.
