During his time with the Houston Rockets, James Harden was able to put up amazing numbers, and his teams were generally amazing in the regular season. But James Harden didn’t end up tasting championship success, partly due to him having to face some tough Golden State Warriors team during the latter stages of his tenure with the Rockets
With the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden has a superteam of his own with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Nets are certainly a great situation for James Harden in terms of having a great chance at winning at the highest level. Hall of Famer and Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash has recently stated that James Harden “really wants to win a championship” while also lauding his leadership. There’s no question that James Harden is hungry for his first ring.
"He really wants to win a championship."
Nets Head Coach Steve Nash continues to be impressed with James Harden's drive@BrooklynNets | #BrooklynTogether | #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/taB21A0nrp
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 30, 2021
He’s been a great leader for us. He’s got an extremely high IQ. He cares. He really wants to win a championship. That drives him. That shows every day in the way he approaches the game, approaches practices, approaches his teammates.
That’s an exciting position to be in, to have a player of his caliber that really wants to round out his career with a championship. Highly motivated, has all the experience and talent you can ask for.
So if we can keep him healthy… put him in a position to continue to improve through the season and individually. We know what he’s able to do as a playmaker, what he’s able to do as a leader. It will be pivotal for us for him to be healthy and for him to continue to grow physically after pretty “stop and start” last year.
That’s the number one thing. His health and maintaining it, and getting himself into better and better condition, rhythm, shape… all those things that allow him to play his highest level. That would be icing on the cake.
James Harden notably played with an injury in the second round of the playoffs, and him being in peak condition/shape could reduce that risk of injury and allow him to play at a really high level. We’ve seen some great playoff performances from James Harden before: if he’s fully healthy in the playoffs, there’s no doubt that we’ll see them again.
There’s no doubt that the Brooklyn Nets will be a juggernaut and a contender come next season. A healthy James Harden will only improve their chances of winning, and Harden himself claimed “it’s scary, scary hours” for the league when he’s healthy. The Brooklyn Nets will surely try and figure out ways to get James Harden to the postseason in great shape and if they do figure it out, there are no teams that can match the Nets’ offensive firepower.
