James Harden Is Calling Out His Haters And Taking Regular Season Victory Laps Now That The Clippers Are Rolling

Alex Goodlett. Getty Images.

A few weeks ago I wrote the blog below talking about the Clippers honeymoon phase with James Harden and how things were finally starting to click now that they moved him into the starting point guard role, resulting in their season suddenly looking a whole lot better

That was on December 16th, with the Clippers having won 7 in a row to bring their record to 15-10. Since that moment, it's been more of the same for the Clippers who are now 21-12 after kicking the shit out of a KD-less Suns last night 131-122. The trio of Paul George/Kawhi/Harden was great, combining for 87 points and 13 3PM, with no one finishing under 50% from the floor.

As a result of this game and the current Clippers stretch where they've gone 13-2 over their last 15 games and currently sit in the 4th spot in the West, James Harden certainly wasted no time talking his shit

On some level he's right. There was a lottttttt of chatter around the Harden trade and the Clippers as a whole during the stretch where he was first getting acclimated, losing their first 5 games with Harden active. But since that 5th loss on 11/14, the Clippers have lost just 5 times total. That's pretty good!

And while normally I'm all for players talking their shit when their play backs it up, especially someone who has the discourse around his name like Harden does, this isn't exactly one of those times. When it comes to Harden and the Clippers as a whole, nobody gives a flying fuck what they do in the regular season. This is a Clippers team that has yet to make the Finals since PG13 and Kawhi teamed up. James Harden's entire career is defined by what he does in the playoffs and not in the regular season. People talked negatively about the Clippers when things first started with this group because they lost 5 in a row and were playing like shit. That's how things work. Only a fool think things wouldn't change as they got more familiar with one another and made the lineup change, but when you stink people are going to talk about it. That's no different from any other team in the league.

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What I wouldn't be doing if I was Harden or any Clipper right now would be anything that even remotely comes off as taking a victory lap for some regular season wins. That's cool for some teams and franchises, but the expectations are different for the Clippers. We need to see it when it really matters. It's great they're playing better and George and Kawhi have been healthier than we've seen in years, but we still have a LONG way to go this season. It also doesn't help the perception of Harden that he's puffing his chest out about some regular season wins when he himself tends to be nowhere to be found when the stakes are at their highest. Let's not forget what just took place last Spring

So yeah, congrats to the Clippers and Harden for this current stretch. It's been awesome and they've been great. But now isn't exactly the time to be playing the "I told you so" card, even if that's how you feel. Just keep that shit to yourself and focus on being ready for what's going to be one of the biggest playoff runs in franchise history. If they underachieve and Harden chokes again, isn't that what truly matters? Will he go in front of the mic and say those people were actually right and he was nowhere to be found?

My guess is probably not.