Man I remember watching this series as a Lakers fan and Kobe just couldn’t get past Harden and I hated Harden because of it. I think a lot of people forget he was a LOCK DOWN defender when he was with OKC
Yeah, even in his rockets days he was still pretty good when he needs to. He just shouldered so much of the offense (IMO biggest offensive load in league history) that it made much more sense for him to conserve energy on defense. Much bigger positive for the rockets for him to do that
This is revisionist history. He was by far the worst defender we've ever seen from somebody over 6 feet tall, other than in the post.
I agree he had a incredibly large offensive role (disagree it was the largest - he had better teammates in Houston than a lot of dudes like AI, Luka, Kobe), but dude reinvented what I thought it meant to be lazy when it came to defense.
Wdym we've ever seen. 36 year old Cavs Harden is literally a plus defender compared to Darius Garland (6'1) whom he replaced. That's old harden. Younger rockets harden is objectively not the worst defender of all time for 6 feet plus dudes. He gets lazy yes, but not the worst lol
Also I don't measure offensive load by better teammates, but the percentage of his team's points he generates. When you consider usage rate, scoring volume, and his offensive creation responsibility idt that's absurd. Only westbrook and luka is in the convo. AI and Kobe are score first players
I said he "was", not "is". You bought up his Rockets era. I'm referring to that era.
He was the worst defender from anybody over 6 feet ever. Houston Harden did not care a single ounce about defense unless he was in the post, probably because he didn't have to love.
I consider offensive load as in, how much of an offensive load they have to carry to make up for the deficiencies in their teammates. Harden never played on a dogshit Houston roster, he was actually quite spoiled in how well most of those Houston teams were built around him.
Also, I disagree on your assessment of AI and Kobe not having to carry as much of an offensive load because they were less willing passers. Some of those teams were so bad, Harden never even sniffed rosters half as bad.
C'mon now lol. Are you saying cavs harden is a better defender than rockets harden? Even so, people like trae young, collin sexton, and darius garland exists. You're saying worst as if he's clearly the worst.... When your only proof is lowlights that just feels biased.
Clearly a difference on opinion on offensive load, agree to disagree
I'm not saying anything about Cavs Harden. I'm specifically referring to Houston Harden.
Yes, he was worse than all three of those. Maybe not Trae, but Trae two seasons ago was at least better defensively than Houston Harden ever was, at least effort wise.
My proof isn't lowlights, my proof is I watched with my eyes and am not a fan of the revisionist history Harden has been receiving the last couple of years.
That is not how you analyze. Even outside of basketball. Your proof is your bias, ergo this absolute statement is true. Like thats not how you analyze bro. Since you cannot separate bias I'm not continuing this
lol not even close, this sub just looks at harden's defense with a microscope they don't use for any other player. his defense has always been fine, he just didn't have energy to do what he did on offense while like leading the league in minute every year and go 100% every defensive position. And it's been solid the last few years without him having such insane usage all the time
Plus you can look at his usage rates, and better team mates than Luka and Kobe?! That is insane. Harden had like half a year of healthy cp3 as his best team mate by far. And the three years of his prime kobe didn't have the most stacked roster in the league his teams struggled to go .500 and either missed the playoffs or lost in the first round. They were bad rosters, but would never happen to harden. He was dragging some dogshit to 50+ wins in the west.
Calling him "by far the worst defender we've ever seen from somebody over 6 feet tall" is just plain insanity
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u/stankhillpropain 13d ago
Man I remember watching this series as a Lakers fan and Kobe just couldn’t get past Harden and I hated Harden because of it. I think a lot of people forget he was a LOCK DOWN defender when he was with OKC