On March 5, the home team faced the 76ers with a 16-game winning streak. At most, they led by 18 points, but collapsed in the final quarter. In this campaign, the two stars Ambit and Harden contributed 30 points and 10 assists respectively. Among them, Harden performed particularly well. Not only did he score a quasi-triple-double of 30 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, but he also hit a key three-pointer at the last moment to lock in the victory. After this campaign, Harden surpassed Ray Allen in the historical total scoring list and rose to 25th place, which can be described as a double happiness. After the game, Harden posted a photo of himself enjoying red wine on his personal social media to celebrate. Some reporters even wrote that if the championship is finally won this season, it will be largely due to James Harden. In a blink of an eye, this is Harden's 14th season in the league. What changes has Harden's role positioning undergone in the past 14 years? As a 33-year-old veteran, what is his way of survival in today's league?
Harden was born in California in August 1989, and is a fellow countryman of Leonard Westbrook and other stars. However, he did not grow up in the bustling Los Angeles, but in Compton, which is full of drugs and gun battles. His biological father was imprisoned many times for drug trafficking, so Harden lacked trust in his father since he was a child. Fortunately, he has a great mother who not only raised the young Harden alone, but also encouraged her son to play more basketball. However, due to obesity and asthma in his youth, Harden's basketball career did not go smoothly at first, and he was even bullied by some children when he was a child. However, one of his good friends has always protected him. This good friend also likes basketball, often practices with him, and often takes him home for dinner. This good friend is Demar DeRozan, the current star of the Bulls. The friendship between the two of them was established since childhood, and they are still each other's best brothers in the league.
In the first half of high school, Harden did not show his edge. At that time, he was not good at breakthroughs, nor did he know the Eurostep or the skills of buying food. Instead, he worked hard on basic skills and bottom corner three-pointers. It was not until his junior and senior years that he led the team to win two consecutive state championships and was selected into the All-American High School All-Star team after continuous efforts to master new skills and improve his body shape. When he graduated from high school, many NCAA giants such as UCLA and Duke were attracted by Harden's strong strength and sent him invitations. However, because his high school coach Scott Pera became an assistant coach at Arizona State University, Harden resolutely rejected the invitations from those prestigious schools and chose to follow the footsteps of his mentor.
Harden averaged 20.1 points per game in the Dallas season and won the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year title. After the season, he announced his participation in the NBA draft and was selected by the Thunder with the third pick in the 2009 draft. Harden, who was not yet 20 years old at the time, was 196 cm tall and had a wingspan of 210 cm. He was first-rate in both physical talent and explosiveness. In addition, scouts unanimously agreed that Harden had outstanding passing vision, high basketball IQ and excellent defensive ability, and was an all-around player. Facts have proved that the scouts' evaluation was very accurate. Harden grew his iconic beard as soon as he entered the league, served as the team's backup shooting guard, and became an important source of vitality on the bench. In his rookie season, he averaged 9.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, and was successfully selected into the second team of the best rookie of the year. James Harden's basketball career has experienced many role changes, from the sixth man of the Thunder to the leader of the Rockets, and then to the organizational core of the Nets and 76ers. During his time with the Thunder, Harden won the Sixth Man of the Year award with an average of 16.8 points and 3.7 assists per game, and he made it to the Finals with the team. In his junior year, he continued to evolve with an average of 23.7 points and 5.9 assists per game, becoming the team's third-leading scorer behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Despite his young age, Harden is already the most efficient and stable ball handler on the Thunder.
However, due to disagreements with the team on salary renewal, Harden was traded to the Rockets in the summer of 2012. This incident was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Harden, because he attached great importance to brotherhood. The Rockets management regarded Harden as the core of the reconstruction and equipped him with a number of assistants including Jeremy Lin. Harden quickly adapted to the role of leader and not only completed the tasks assigned to him by the team excellently, but also led the Rockets to the playoffs for eight consecutive years, including two times to the Western Conference Finals.
In his eight and a half years with the Rockets, Harden's statistics reached an astonishing level of 29.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team six times, won the scoring title three times, and the assist title once. He reached the peak of his career in the 2017-18 season. That season, Harden led the Rockets to a record-breaking 65 wins with an average of 30.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, surpassing the Warriors to rank first in the league. In the playoffs, Harden led the Rockets to a game seven with the Warriors, but ultimately fell short.
Harden's scoring explosiveness in the Rockets is remarkable. His single-season score in the 2018-19 season was as high as 37.1 points, setting the second highest record in history since the ancient beast Chamberlain and the basketball god Jordan. In addition, he also made 378 three-pointers that season, second only to the historical shooter Curry, and his usage rate PRM value and BPM value also exceeded the data of the MVP season.
Despite this, Harden's highest achievement with the Rockets was only two Western Conference Finals, and he never made it past the Western Conference. This was mainly due to the presence of his lifelong enemy Stephen Curry. In the four series against Curry, Harden lost without exception, especially his abnormal performance in key games, making it difficult for him to get rid of the label of "excellent in the regular season but weak in the playoffs."
Harden's playoff career with the Rockets is full of painful memories. For example, in the first round of the 2012-13 season against the lockout team, he only got 4 of 12 shots in the fourth game, with a hit rate of only 31.8%. In the elimination game, he only got 7 of 22 shots, with a hit rate of only 31.8%. In addition, in the first round of the 2013-14 season against the Trail Blazers, he made 5 of 15 shots in the fifth game, played a poor performance of 17 points and 5 of 5 shots, until Howard and Esic combined to cut 29 rebounds, and the game was returned to Portland. In the sixth game of the big reversal against the Spurs in the 2017-18 season, Harden only made 5 of 20 shots and scored only 10 points. In the seventh game, although the Rockets won, Harden's data was also shaking his head.
In Harden's eight seasons with the Rockets, his highest record was only two Western Conference Finals, and he never made it out of the Western Conference. This was not only because his lifelong enemy Curry stood in his way like a mountain, but also because Harden always performed poorly in the playoffs, far from being worthy of his MVP status. Regular season excellence and playoff weakness became Harden's byword.
However, Harden's essence in the Rockets is still a ball-holding shooting and a core player. Although Paul later shared the pressure, Harden's performance in the playoffs was still unsatisfactory after Paul was injured. Harden relied too much on breakthroughs and step-back three-pointers in the playoffs, and his offensive means were relatively simple. Once the opponent increases the intensity of defense, Harden will appear at a loss. In addition, Harden, who is obsessed with the magic ball, only has two tricks in the playoffs: breakthroughs and step-back three-pointers, and his offensive means are simple.
These problems actually existed as early as the Thunder period, when he was just the sixth man and his single style of play was harmless. But when he came to the Rockets and became the team's boss and chief shooting guard, there was no place for him. After coming to the Rockets, Harden's lower limit was the team's bottom line. Fortunately, these problems were minimized in the future. Today, Harden is no longer the only core of the team with a usage rate of only 40%. He was traded to the Nets in January 2020 to form a Big Three with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irben. But due to injuries and loss of explosiveness, Harden gradually bid farewell to the duties of a striker and became an organizer.
In early 2021, Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and became the second-in-command next to Ambit. However, due to their lack of coordination, both Ambit and Harden played with injuries, which led to the 76ers losing to the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. But Harden and Ambit, who made a comeback this season, have been able to stand head and shoulders with the Celtics. Currently, Harden ranks third in the Eastern Conference, and the gap with the top two is not far. As long as Harden stays healthy, he will most likely win the second assist title in his career.
After struggling at the beginning of last season, Harden and Ambit have become more and more skilled in cooperation. This season, he has the possibility to lead the 76ers to a higher level. You should know that since Ambit joined the team, the 76ers have been eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals four times. Ambit, who always shouts the slogan of "Trust the process", certainly does not want the Eastern Conference finals to become an unattainable dream that he has longed for in his life. With the impression of Harden, the 76ers will have the best opportunity this season.