Houston Rockets: It’s time to pause and recognize James Harden’s brilliance

Houston Rockets star guard, James Harden has been on an absolute tear for months. Let’s just take a second and recognize the brilliance of his play.

The Houston Rockets 2018-19 season has been a fascinating one. They retooled their supporting cast following their Western Conference Finals loss to the Warriors. Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute were out. James Ennis and Carmelo Anthony were in.

Fast forward months later to February. Both Ennis and Melo are both gone and the team has retooled once again. This time, the supporting cast seems to be working. Austin Rivers, Kenneth Faried, and now Iman Shumpert surround the trio of Rockets stars spectacularly well.

However, the thing about the trio of Rockets stars is that two of them have missed significant portions of the season to injury. Chris Paul missed a few weeks with a hamstring injury and in the middle of that, Clint Capela fractured his thumb and would miss over a month.

The Houston Rockets were floundering as a team. They were on the playoff bubble and it was starting to become a legitimate question whether or not they could make the playoffs. Then, James Harden went on an all-time great run that pulled the Rockets firmly into playoff contention and atop of their division.

Harden has followed up his well-deserved MVP season with nearly unprecedented play that has firmly placed him in company that contains the likes of Wilt Chamberlain. Harden single-handedly carried this team through two brutal injuries and not only survived that time but thrived in it and I don’t believe that he is being appreciated enough for it.

This historic story began on December 13th. The Houston Rockets suited up against the Los Angeles Lakers in Houston. All Harden did was drop 50 points and secure a victory for his team. Ever since then, he hasn’t scored less than 30 points in 31 straight games.

During that stretch, Harden is averaging 41.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. He is also shooting 44% from the field, 37.4% from three, and 89.4% from the charity stripe. His 31 games in a row with 30 points has tied Wilt’s second-longest streak of 30+ point games.

Yet, in spite of all of that, the Houston Rockets star guard has been vastly underappreciated. Harden puts up 30 points in a game and the reaction is the same as people observing a man crossing a street. He has been so good that he has made spectacular play seem pedestrian.

What’s even worse is the lack of respect from his fellow players in the NBA. Typically, when a player is hated by fans, he is backed up by his peers. He is supported around the league. However, that isn’t the case with Harden.

He was voted in as an All-Star starter for the All-Star game this past weekend. Yet, in the “draft” for the lineups, Harden was selected seventh, or second to last, for the starters. You’re telling me that a man averaging nearly 37 points per game, a man doing stuff that only Wilt Chamberlain has done is the 7th best player in the NBA. No way.

Harden has ramped up his play and carried his team when they needed to be carried. He alone has kept the Houston Rockets in playoff contention with championship aspirations. He won the MVP and stepped his game up to another level.

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He got his career “Garden moment” dropped 61 against the Knicks. He’s had clutch basket after clutch basket. Harden might be one of the best offensive players the game of basketball has ever seen. Harden should win his second MVP again this year. Harden should be vastly more appreciated than he currently is both in the general public and amongst his peers.

This needs to start happening before his historic streak inevitably ends. Capela returns tonight in the Houston Rockets tilt against the Lakers. Paul has been back for a little bit so with his star companions back in the lineup it’ll be hard for him to continue this streak.

So, ladies and gentlemen, make sure you’re appreciating what Harden is doing before it’s too late. This one of the best offensive stretches the game has seen. Harden is an iconic player and deserves to be treated as such.

For the season, James Harden is currently averaging 36.6 points on 44.1% shooting from the field, 37.4% from three, and 87.1% from the free throw line. He is also averaging 7.7 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game with 2.2 steals and nearly a block per game.