In this blog post you will learn a lot about James Harden and his career achievements just to try and give you guys a sense of who he was mainly on the court and what he has now become. After a great career at Arizona State, James Harden was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the number three overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Furthermore, for a fourth-year player who’s only ever come off the bench, now in a lead role, James didn’t disappoint. After scoring 37 points in a promising season opener, he averaged 25.9 points per game in his first year as a Rocket and was elected as an All-Star for the first time in his career. Harden’s growth as a player continued to progress, as he made more of an effort to get his teammates involved. His assists-per-game numbers increased each season in his first five years in Houston. Furthermore, his growth as a player continued to progress, as he made more of an effort to get his teammates involved. His assists-per-game numbers increased each season in his first five years in Houston. All in all, love him or hate him, he’s changed the way we think about basketball. Although his 32-game streak of 30+ points this season was a testament to his ability to score at will, it had put the league on notice again that one of the best scorers in the game is only getting better, or so I thought. Now in the current 2022 season, James Harden has dropped to being one of the most average players in the league. After, the previous "Blockbuster Trade" sent Harden to the Philadelphia Sixers and Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, and Seth Curry to the Brooklyn Nets. At first thought, I thought the Sixers won the trade by landslide although after seeing these players' postseason efforts I still believe the Sixers won the trade but I just believe the Nets aren't too far behind. James ended the 2022 NBA season with about five straight poor field-goal percentage games in a row & sadly that carried over into the postseason as his field goal percentages in the first four games were 6/17, 3/9, 7/13, 5/17. I had seen on Twitter somebody famous/high status claimed that Harden's shot chart looks like a band on tour & sadly I couldn't disagree. While speaking about what outsiders had to say about Harden's recent play, someone else of high status in the basketball world went on to say that, "the Houston Harden we once knew is no more". The previous quote I stated was said by Stephen A. Smith, a well-respected NBA Analyst. To be honest I kind of couldn't agree more! All in all, although Harden's been struggling from the field the Sixers have still found success and that was mainly through Harden's ability to play make which he still on a night-to-night basis shows he can do. Even though his numbers aren't the same his play hasn't been unbearable mainly because he's finished his last 10 or more games averaging 10 or more assists! The 76er’s find themselves up 3-1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs thanks to Harden and Embid but mainly due to their role players Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris whose play has been on fire since this series began! Stay tuned for my next blog to see if the Raptors stay in the battle or if the Sixers finally stop playing with their food and get the job done.. See you soon!
