From dreaming of being the mix of players who were championship heroes to becoming an MVP and a Playoffs flop, James Harden forgot his aspirations.
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Over the years, James Harden has done few things throughout an entire NBA season that seemed only possible when Michael Jordan played the game. And Wilt Chamberlain before him.
The 2018 MVP averaged over 36 points per game playing through 78 games in the 2018-19 season, which was last done by MJ 32 years before that season. Wilt obviously did it multiple times.
But it wasn’t Chamberlain or Jordan, a rookie Harden wanted to become when he first came into the league. The Beard before he hid behind those beautifully massive whiskers had comparatively simpler goals.
The former Rockets sensation wanted to become more of a team-first guy when he first came into the league, in contrast to the pure scorer that he became over the years.
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Rookie James Harden wished to be a player that was a mix of Paul Pierce and Manu Ginobili
James came into the league back in 2009 when Paul Pierce was in his prime and had led the Celtics to a Championship, winning the Finals MVP just a year ago. Manu Ginobili was also a straight-up killer who played as a Sixth man for the Spurs and had helped them to 3 championships by then.
Harden aspired to be a mix of both and wanted to be someone who could do everything and be the player that a coach would want him to be.
He did get the chance to be the Manu for the OKC Thunder that had Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook leading their front. And he did get very close to becoming what he aspired, putting up some terrific numbers leading the bench of the young OKC who was a menace in the West.
10 years ago today..
James Harden hit the dagger in what could be the biggest shot in Thunder history to give OKC a 3-2 lead in the 2012 WCF.
what a time..pic.twitter.com/XAtVcMZ2F9
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) June 4, 2022
But his meltdown in the last two games of the 2012 Finals would be just the beginning of a pattern. He failed to do what two of his idols did best, which is, bringing out their best when it matters the most.
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Fast forward 10 years, James would do some outrageous stuff over the years, become a 10x All-Star and one of NBA’s greatest-75 players, much like Pierce. But he’d consistently fail to be the man of the team when they need him the most.
Though, since he came to Brooklyn and then to Philadelphia this year, he is looking much more of a team guy than he ever was. Let’s see what good it does for him and his team. Or should we say Joel Embiid’s team.
