James Harden Continues To Revolutionize The Game Of Basketball, This Time By Playing Defense On His Own Teammate
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.If you look at this generation of NBA basketball there are only a handful of players who you can say influenced how the game is played. Whether you like him or not, James Harden is one of those players. He's one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen (currently 23rd all time with 25,730 points), and his style of play in terms of his isolation skills, his stepbacks, his passing, has certainly helped revolutionize the game. Maybe not to the level of say, Steph Curry, but it'd be silly to try and deny the stylistic impact that Harden has had since he entered the league.
Well even now in season 15 at age 34, he's still setting trends and doing shit on a basketball court that I don't think I've ever seen before. See for yourself
I don't think I've ever seen a teammate pass the ball to someone and then go and contest their teammates shot like that. Usually when it comes to Harden doing weird shit it comes via him mailing it in with his effort. This was the exact opposite! In fact, it was actually a pretty decent closeout! When this first happened I thought maybe given the score that Harden wanted to help his teammate work on some contested jumpers instead to help prepare for the playoffs where there are no easy buckets. I was ready to spinzone that play as a big brained idea from Harden to help his team improve.
But now that we know he basically only did it for fun, I think I like it even more? There's just something funny to me about Harden finally showing top effort defensively, only it came against his own team. Tell me another surefire NBA HOFer who is pulling a move like this? I don't think you can. What's even crazier is despite the score, it's not like this was in the final moments of the game either, it was only the 3rd quarter!
I'm just saying, just like players and kids around the world have done with Harden's offensive arsenal, don't be surprised if we see more people copy this idea. What I want to know is what happens if Harden blocks that shot, does he get credited with a block? I feel like he should be, good defense is good defense in my book, even if it comes against your own team somehow.
And frankly, the Clippers needed the vibes boost. Just 5-5 over their last 10, they were 2-4 heading into last night over their last 6, with losses to MIL/MIN/NO, and with back to back games in POR, now is the time to right the ship and get everyone's spirits up. At this point, the Clippers need to stack as many wins as they can get, and part of that is getting loose and having better vibes. Harden knows that and understands that maybe better than any NBA player, which is why it's not surprising that he had this trick up his sleeve.
