James Harden will always be associated with his iconic step-back 3 jump shot that terrorized most of the NBA through the end of the 2010s.
Patrick Beverley gained notoriety in the league after joining Harden’s Houston Rockets in 2013. He has claimed that he showed Harden how to hit the shot in practice.
“There was a time when he wasn’t even doing step-backs… we were playing ones and s—, my first two years in the NBA and every move I did I finished with a step-back… ‘Aye, P. Why are you always stepping back?’… I hit him up a year ago… He goes, yeah you were onto something.”
Pat Bev on James Harden:
“There was a time when he wasn’t even doing step-backs… we was playing ones and s—, my first two years in the NBA and every move I did I finished with a step-back… ‘Aye, P. Why you always stepping back?’… I hit him up a year ago… He goes, yeah you… pic.twitter.com/wTwF0K5IH8
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 22, 2023
That shot made James Harden a perennial MVP candidate and the Rockets one of the best teams in the league. Beverley did have a wide-scoring arsenal in high school and when he was playing overseas, so he may have picked up on the move. Whether he was the one that inspired Harden to make it the killer blow it became is up for debate.
James Harden’s Scoring Regression
As Harden has gotten older, he has taken a step back offensively. His last season where he averaged over 30 points was 2019-20, after which James altered his playstyle to become a traditional point guard.
He was traded to the Nets in 2020-21, where he had to become a floor general to facilitate the scoring of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. His averages fell from 34.3 points and 7.5 assists in 2019-20 to 24.6 points and 10.8 assists with the Nets.
In his current stint with Philadelphia, his teammate Joel Embiid is leading the NBA in scoring. He has become less of a scorer because his teams no longer depend on him to go on heaters to carry them to wins.
He is a more complete and cerebral player now, breaking down defenses with his masterful playmaking. He led the league in assists his first season with the Nets and is doing it again this season, averaging 21.4 points and 10.8 assists.
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