We all know James Harden’s signature stepback by now. He uses it pretty much every game as a way of creating some distance between him and his opponent. And while Harden isn’t the first to use that iconic move, he’s probably used it more than anyone has or ever will.
In a crazy revelation by Reddit user u/forestfireup, he explains how the Beard has traveled at least 3 miles by his stepback jumpers alone.
In Harden’s career, he’s attempted 6,320 three pointers. To be conservative, I assumed that only 95% of these attempts were step-backs, and that each attempt involved only three steps. The average 6’5” man takes strides that are 32 inches long, or 2.66 feet.
Multiplying his 6,004 step-backs by this distance leaves us with ~15,970 feet, or just over 3 miles, almost exactly the same distance as a 5 kilometer run.
Whatever inspired this guy to come up with that math equation is lost to us. But without an NBA season to keep us entertained, these are the things people are doing nowadays.
Still, it’s pretty insane that Harden has traveled over three miles by his step-backs alone. No wonder he’s so darn good at them.
Let’s not forget that Harden still has years left in the NBA so one has to think this number will only grow in the seasons to come.
In 10 seasons in the NBA, the Beard has averaged 25 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.3 rebounds. I guess we can add a 5k’s worth of step-backs to his list of achievements as well.
