“I’m the poster boy for not having a foul called”: James Harden goes off on NBA refs for not calling fouls in his favor amidst Nets slow start

James Harden agrees with head coach, Steve Nash, that he is the poster boy for not having fouls called in his favor this 2022 NBA season. 

James Harden has always been a superstar that relied rather heavily on his ability to draw fouls from beyond the arc and inside of it. For his career, ‘The Beard’ has averaged over 8 free throws per game. In his first three games for the Brooklyn Nets this season, he’s only putting up 3 shots from the charity stripe. 

This of course, is directly related to the fact that the NBA tightened up their foul-calling rules, as they do not reward foul shots for a variety of shot attempts that would’ve resulted in them in prior seasons. This includes shooters launching themselves into opposing defenders, veering off path out of the blue, abnormally kicking your leg out while shooting, amongst others.

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Guys like James Harden and Trae Young seem to be most affected by these new rule changes. The latter even sounded off on it by agreeing with Harden on his Instagram story. 

James Harden goes off on NBA refs for not calling fouls in his favor. 

Following their second loss of the season to the Charlotte Hornets, Nets HC, Steve Nash, took to his postgame availability to say that James Harden has become the poster boy for the new rule changes. The former Rockets superstar agreed with his head coach and said that he believes he has become that too. 

He would also go on to request NBA officials to call fouls when one occurs and admits that he isn’t one to complain all too often.

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Looking back at the plays he’s made this season however, he hasn’t been all too aggressive on the offensive end of the floor, where refs would feel the need to call a foul. He has barely driven into the lane and his step back 3 attempts have been well contested. 

Sure, there have been a few missed calls here and there but no one can expect NBA officials to be a 100% accurate at all times. The missed calls haven’t happened at a frequency where James Harden needs to sound off on refs.