‘James Harden is a better scorer than Michael Jordan’: When Daryl Morey proclaimed Rockets star as greatest scorer ever

Daryl Morey is as big a fan of James Harden as anyone on the planet. We look back at the time when he said his player is a better scorer than Michael Jordan.

Daryl Morey’s expert wheeling and dealing brought the Houston Rockets the franchise player they’d been looking for. In the 2000s, their playoff success was exceedingly limited by injuries. In Harden, they saw a dominant offensive player capable of powering a modern NBA offense.

Morey took his methods further by encouraging his players to convert their mid-range shots into 3-point attempts. His reasoning was that over the course of a season, the volume of points scored on 3-pointers would be higher than contested mid-range jumpers.

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This 3-point heavy approach was slowly adapted by other teams across the league. But nobody would trust in (3>2) quite like Morey’s Rockets.

What led Daryl Morey to believe James Harden to be a better scorer than Michael Jordan

According to Morey, nobody carries a modern NBA offense quite like James Harden. In the 2016-17 season, Harden’s offense alone contributed over 54 points per game for the Rockets. The following 3 seasons, he’s won the scoring title at a canter.

Harden relies on a heavy dose of isolation offense, even more so than Michael Jordan did. He generates over 85% of his 3-point looks unassisted. The stepback jumper that he has perfected is as lethal a move as any in the NBA today.

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Nevertheless, Michael Jordan won 10 scoring titles in an era when a guard had to face much tougher scoring challenges. Jordan has the highest points per game average in the regular season as well as the playoffs in NBA history.