James Harden is now inching towards the end of a legendary career but questions about how good he was in his prime still remain. Perhaps it is the fact that unlike some of his more prominent shooting guard peers, he’s never won a championship that triggers these questions.
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Yes, although Harden has now transitioned into a point guard, early in his career, he dominated as a shooting guard with the Houston Rockets. Interestingly, an argument has been made that Harden’s style of play was far removed from other legendary shooting guards like Dwyane Wade and hence far less effective in winning trophies.
In a recent appearance on the Unguarded podcast, Durant discussed Harden and Wade’s play style with Houston Rockets teammate Fred VanVleet. The 2019 NBA champion made a bold claim, stating “That play style might not necessarily be as effective in winning a championship as somebody like D-Wade, where his play style might impact winning more.”
Durant, however, couldn’t get behind VanVleet’s opinion, instead asserting that he saw a lot of similarities in both their styles of play.
“Everything was downhill — pick and roll to the cup. I’m scoring tonight. Shaq was out there, but he was a second option. And he had shooters around him — (James) Posey and Antoine Walker. And he had backup point guards that could help him. Who that sound like? James Harden,” Durant proclaimed.
These comments circulated all over social media before they reached Wade, who in his most recent appearance on the Time Out podcast, accepted it as a complement.
“He was comparing James Harden and said he sees similarities in our games in that you look at downhill players making plays for their teammates and themselves and putting pressure on the defense all day long,” Wade said.
Despite social media being fairly divided on the subject, if one actually analyzed Durant’s statement, there’s a lot of truth to it. Harden has developed a more reliable three-point shot than Wade over the years, but getting to the rim was always his recipe for success.
Wade’s key to winning his first championship in 2006 was getting to the rim and drawing fouls. That sounds awfully similar to Harden.
The only knock people can have on the current Los Angeles Clippers star is that he has been unable to win a title. Unfortunately, that isn’t completely his fault. He had to go up against arguably the greatest constructed team in NBA history in the Golden State Warriors.
Meanwhile, Wade was on the Big Three Miami Heat, which dominated the early 2010s. The luck of the draw wasn’t in Harden’s favor, but that doesn’t mean his play style isn’t comparable to Wade’s.
