James Harden is a player that was mostly known as a scorer for the last few years with the Houston Rockets. James Harden would put up monster scoring nights and carry the offense, as their system revolved entirely around James Harden’s scoring ability. However, with the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden has settled into a solid playmaking role next to two other elite scorers in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. On the Brooklyn Nets, Harden doesn’t need to score 40 points a game for the team to win.
James Harden has recently talked to Rachel Nichols of ESPN about his time with the Houston Rockets and how rough it was for him to have big scoring nights every game just to win.
The situation that I was in Houston, consistently, you know every single night having to get 40 points to give ourselves a chance to win for a long stand of years is draining.
And so just to be able to have a skill set of guys that you can be a playmaker. You can get guys involved and not have to necessarily worry about scoring each possession is a bit relieving for me.
James Harden is right. It is easier to play your game when you don’t have to score every possession just to keep the team afloat on the offensive end. It is also easier to make plays for your teammates when you have two elite scorers who are wired towards making shots. James Harden is in the perfect place for himself in terms of basketball, and it must be a nice change to not shoulder the offense for most of the game.
