James Harden made history on Sunday night when the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 116-105 at the Intuit Dome. A three-pointer midway through the first quarter saw Harden pass Ray Allen for second spot on the all-time list for three-pointers and he spoke about how much that meant to him postgame.
“Unbelievable accomplishment,” Harden said. “Just a testament to the amount of work that I’ve been putting in. As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, start to accomplish things like that. So I don’t never want to take it for granted. I just want to give motivation to the youth and every other person that’s chasing a dream to play professional basketball or whatever it is. So it’s an honor.”
Harden was then informed that his former teammate Kevin Durant had congratulated him for getting to the second spot. He was evidently thrilled on hearing that and gave a shoutout to Durant and Russell Westbrook for laying down the blueprint for him.
“Longevity, man. They set the blueprint,” Harden stated. “When I got there (Oklahoma City Thunder) they had the blueprint of how to work, how to be a professional in this league. So all I did was just fall right in line… Those three years really helped me in my NBA career because it just gave me a ground base to where I can go off of.
“From that point on, I was so comfortable and confident in myself,” Harden continued. “When I got traded to Houston, I just knew I was gonna be successful cuz I learned how to work at a young age. Shoutout to KD, shoutout to Russ, and the entire Oklahoma City organization for that ground building that they gave me.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Harden with the third pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, which meant he was around Durant and Westbrook right when he entered the league. He learned from the duo, who are known to have a terrific work ethic, and that played a big role in him going on to have the career he has had.
Later on in the press conference, Harden was asked if he or anyone could catch Stephen Curry for the top spot and he didn’t give anyone much of a chance of doing that.
“I’m one of the most confident guys that we have in this league,” Harden said. “But no, I probably won’t catch Steph. And I don’t think anybody will honestly. … I don’t know man, he can shoot the s*** out the ball… Somebody has to have an unbelievable career, shoot the ball well, and make a lot of 3s. I mean if it happens, it’s going to be when we’re not here anymore. So that’ll be in there for a minute.”
Curry is well clear at the top at the moment, having made 3,782 threes in his career. Harden, who is 35 years old, has 2,975 made threes to his name and I don’t think he has a shot at catching the two-time MVP. Curry will almost certainly cross the 4,000 mark before he retires, and it will be a long time before anyone even comes close to passing him.
While Harden doesn’t think he will pass Curry on the list, he’ll be hoping to get the better of him when the 7-7 Clippers take on the 10-2 Golden State Warriors at the Intuit Dome on Monday at 10:30 PM ET.
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