James Harden and the Cavaliers just got swept in the Eastern Conference Finals following a 93-130 loss in Game 4 to the Knicks. Harden’s season ended with another questionable performance where he only had 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists while going 2-8 from the field, missing all six of his three-point shots, and causing five turnovers.
Following the game, Harden spoke to the media at length while reflecting on the loss and his own performance. The 36-year-old star was also asked to assess his own performance in the playoffs amid all the criticism that he has faced, and he made an eye-catching statement.
“I think I did pretty well. You know, like I don’t even I don’t grade myself on shot making,” Harden said despite shooting 21-54 from the field in this series and causing 17 turnovers.
“I think coming here was just a piece to fulfil whatever needs to be fulfilled, and, defensively, being extremely solid, offensively, you know, getting guy shots and fitting into a system that was already in place, you know. So, I think I did well, you know.”
“Obviously, I could have been better. I feel like I always could be better, you know, but I know one thing: I work extremely hard, you know what I’m saying? And things just don’t go the way you would like them to.”
“As far as shot making, but I think you know, being as seasoned as I am and experienced that I am, I try to impact the game in other ways just because I know that we are capable, you know, when I’m not making shots, we’re still capable of winning games, and we did that.”
“So, also just from regular season playing, you know, 34 minutes to, you know, I don’t know if I led the the playoffs in minutes, but, you know, close to, you know, playing a lot of minutes a game. So, the transition was a little different, and I’ve got to prepare myself for it,” Harden said.
Harden sounds exactly as outrageous as Kenny Atkinson saying that the Cavaliers won two out of the first three games in this series based on analytics. But this was not just it. Later in the press conference, he said something even harder to swallow than that.
“I can’t even answer that question honestly. Like, yeah, it was 4-0, but I don’t think we had a chance as far as our best shot,” said Harden while reflecting on how much better the Knicks are than the Cavaliers.
“From a standpoint of the circumstances, you know, obviously, they just dominated us 4-0, but yeah, I don’t know if I can necessarily answer that question just because, genuinely, I do feel like we are the better team, but you know, series-wise, you know it didn’t show it, so tough question to answer.”
Harden was later asked to elaborate on why he felt that the Cavaliers are better than the Knicks despite the result of the series.
“We are. I feel like we didn’t have a fair chance, honestly. You know what I mean? Like we didn’t play one a quarter of Cavs basketball like offensively. And that right there is the frustrating part because we did play well, you know, from the time I’ve been here.”
“Like we’ve had stints where we played extremely well. We made shots, and that gave us a chance. And you know, it’s only so much you can do defensively, so many stops you can get, especially against a great offensive team. So if you’re not making shots, like I said before, you’re not going to beat anybody,” Harden added.
Therefore, Harden not only thinks that the Cavaliers were a better team, but he also thinks he was defensively solid despite the 4-0 series sweep, several critics and media members saying the opposite.
The 36-year-old veteran is entering the final season of his contract, as he has a $42.3 million player option which he needs to exercise before July 1. All signs indicate that if the Cavaliers do not offer him an extension this summer, he would still pick up the player option, as he said in the postgame press conference that he 100% hopes to come back next season.
To be fair, one cannot blame him, as firstly, he’s not necessarily in a position to say he is the captain of the ship on this team. So a critical comment on the gap between the Knicks and the team could be misunderstood and may hit the wrong nerves.
Secondly, he’s entering the final season of an expiring contract. If he is hoping to receive an extension this summer or become a restricted free agent, both his comments are in line with his potential choices without ruining the other. His self-assessment is possibly based on his still trying to convince other teams that he can still contribute to a championship-contending team, even if he arguably can not.
Therefore, I can understand why he said what he said, but I am fairly certain that showing responsibility and accountability for one’s own struggles rubs front offices better than saying something that is clearly not true.
