James Harden has been struggling a lot since the start of the new season. The former MVP has not been able to replicate his amazing offensive game from previous seasons, and that has hindered the Brooklyn Nets to a great extent so far.
James Harden suffered a hamstring injury during last season, and he spent a major part of the offseason trying to rehab and recover that injury.
This means that he didn’t get a lot of time to take part in pickup games in order to get his groove back. James Harden recently said that he can’t come back from an injury of this severity and immediately start scoring 30-40 points like he normally does.
Steve Nash has come out and supported James Harden, saying that he isn’t playing at his peak yet, but the team is confident that he will reach that level soon. And it appears that Harden is playing the patient game, according to a tweet he put out recently.
James Harden took to Twitter to seemingly address his slow start to the season. He put out a short, succinct statement, where he called for himself and his fans to be more patient and not become so worried about this entire situation. Clearly, Harden believes that he will return to form right now.
don’t stress, don’t rush it.
— James Harden (@JHarden13) October 29, 2021
Harden has only reached the 20-point mark twice this season, over five games. On top of that, his field goal percentage is quite poor right now, just a little over 36%. But the biggest indictment of the dip Harden’s game has taken is his free-throw attempts this season.
Currently, Harden is averaging 3 free throws a game, the lowest of his career. This is partly due to the NBA’s change in foul rules, where players will not be awarded free throws for intentionally bumping into players during the motion of taking a shot.
Being able to draw contact was a big part of Harden’s game. And with that weapon seemingly nullified, his arsenal is a lot weaker. But it isn’t just the change in foul rules that have affected Harden’s game. This injury has taken its toll on Harden, but he seems confident of winding his way back into form soon enough.
