James Harden had one of the best seasons of all time during the 2018-19 regular season. Harden who averaged an insane 36.1 points this season, put up insane scoring performances on the regular. James even set an NBA record for points off isolation possessions that season. The Beard lapped every other player, putting more than 3-times the number the second-place player did.
Advertisement
Harden outscored the likes of LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard in the isolation. Unlike LeBron and Kawhi, Harden isn’t known to bully his way to the rim or shoot mid-range shots. Harden instead uses his crafty handles, quick shooting draw, and foul-collecting skills to put up behemoth-like numbers for the season. Such great performances landed Harden in the MVP conversation during the 18-19 season. Though the beard finished second in voting for Giannis, the numbers he put up are for the history books.
2018-19 lapped LeBron and Kawhi
James Harden is the king of the Iso and the stats back it. In 2018-19 in the category of points per game of isolation, Harden dominated the field. The other players in the conversation were Chris Paul( 4.7), LeBron James( 4.7), DeMar DeRozan ( 4.1), and Kawhi Leonard( 3.9). Harden completely outdid the field with a whopping 18.1 points per game of isolations. The competition wasn’t even close.
Chuck is wrong for this 😅
(via @NBAonTNT)⁰pic.twitter.com/GcG2gbWrXg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 20, 2019
Harden put on possibly the greatest scoring clinic in the history of basketball during the 2018-19 season. With a performance as dominating as Harden put on, it was difficult to believe that the Beard didn’t win the MVP. Though Harden was out of this world in offense, his defense and rebounding were low-grade at best. Giannis put up a more healthy state line of 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. Though the MVP race got controversial, most people agreed that Giannis was the better candidate.
Harden gets eclipsed by Jordan and Wilt
Harden’s stats for the 2018-19 season were once in a generation. Not only did he put up 36.1 points ppg but also 7.5 dimes and 6.6 rebounds while also playing 78 games. Though Harden’s performance is all-time, it’s nowhere near the top.
Harden has been eclipsed by two other players in NBA history in single-season PPG. Wilt Chamberlain holds the record with an unbelievable 50.4 ppg in a season. He also holds the second, third, fourth, and sixth spots with 44.8,38.4,37.6, and 36.9 ppg respectively. Michael Jordan holds the 5th spot with a Championship-winning 37.1 points per game, the most in the modern era of the NBA. Harden is ‘only’ 7th in the list with 36.1. Even with a 7th place finish, Harden is in the company of possibly the two greatest scorers ever. Good place to be.
