Kendrick Perkins Releases His Top 4 SGs Of All Time: Is James Harden Worthy Of The Top 3?

The start of a new week often brings new hot takes from ESPN’s own, Kendrick Perkins. This Monday, the 2008 NBA champion decided to share his list of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history. Unsurprisingly, Perkins had Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as his top 2. Dwyane Wade slotted in at third, and James Harden at the fourth.

Harden’s name on the list started a massive debate under Perkins’ post. Some fans believed he deserved a higher spot while others were surprised to see him on the list.

It began after Harden tied Ray Allen on the all-time three-pointers list. He then landed two threes against the Utah Jazz to take over second place from the two-time NBA champion.

It’s certainly a relevant moment to discuss the complicated legacy of Harden. Once considered a scoring machine, the 35-year-old is not the player he once was. His frequent trade requests over the past four seasons have only made his image even more conflicting.

But even without the explosive first step he once possessed, Harden has single-handedly carried the LA Clippers to a .500 record this year. In the absence of Kawhi Leonard, he has shown that a team can still succeed with him as the sole superstar, at least during the regular season.

With the front office drama now, hopefully, in the rearview, fans have been able to focus on Harden’s heliocentric offense. But keeping the recent past aside, let’s evaluate Perkins’ ranking and take a deeper look at where the Beard should rank among the NBA’s greatest shooting guards.

James Harden is a historic offensive talent

Among all active players, he has the most points recorded in a season and the highest points per game. In fact, his ridiculous 36.1 points per game from the 2019 season ranks as the seventh-highest mark of all time, the highest after Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan’s. No one has averaged more in a season since the 1996-97 season.

If those were the only accolades in his resume, he would already have a strong case for being in the top 5 conversations. But what helps his case further, putting him ahead of shooting guards like Allen Iverson, Clyde Drexler, and Jerry West, is the fact that Harden has also won two assist titles.

The first came in 2016-17 when the Houston Rockets superstar averaged 11.2 dimes per game. He earned the second one more recently by averaging 10.7 assists per game for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2022-23 NBA season.

Now, with 2,975 made three-pointers, Harden sits behind only Stephen Curry as the greatest long-range shooter of all-time. In his entire NBA career, Harden has never missed the playoffs, becoming only the seventh player to participate in 15 consecutive postseasons.

It is a remarkable feat when you consider the rosters he played with in Houston. While many blame the Rockets’ lack of postseason success on James Harden, it’s unfair to criticize him when it was the team ownership that refused to take on the luxury tax and surround Harden with top-quality role players.

Despite the lack of continuity and often, depth, in the rosters, Harden carried his Rockets to 8 consecutive playoff berths and two Conference Finals. Naturally, this also leads us to the biggest thorn in the Beard’s resume.

Would a championship change his legacy?

With 15 consecutive postseason appearances, the fact that Harden has never made the NBA Finals is a valid criticism of his game. His foul baiting never reaps the same rewards during the playoffs and he is much quicker to cough up the ball against postseason defense.

He holds the record for most turnovers (13) in a single playoffs game and leads all active players in playoffs games played (166) without winning a championship. These records and the lack of postseason success matter tremendously because Dwyane Wade, the consensus third-best shooting guard of all-time, had a knack for getting even better in the playoffs.

Wade won three championships in Miami and was the Finals MVP in 2006. Of course, their playstyles, defensive contributions, and overall longevity are very difficult to compare. But it’s also unfair to dub the Beard as an underachiever in the postseason.

The unfortunate truth is that Harden often suffered in the playoff series that his teams should never have made it to in the first place. His unbelievable offensive output carried his teams, particularly the Rockets, to higher seeds than they were ever built to defend. And after overachieving for an entire season, there was only so much the 10-time All-Star could do against better-constructed rosters.

Of course, over the last few seasons, Harden has come up short in big moments for the Philadelphia 76ers. He had a handful of dominant outings too, but more often than not, he crumbled under the bright lights of the postseason.

Now, if by some miracle, James Harden carries his Clippers to the NBA Finals and somehow lifts the Larry O’Brien trophy, it will be impossible to keep him from third place on the list. However, even in that unlikely scenario, it’s only a matter of time before Luka Doncic or Anthony Edwards come for his throne.