In the NBA’s never-ending, superstar-encompassing game of tag, James Harden is apparently it.
During an interview with ESPN.com’s Scoop Jackson, the Houston Rockets and Team USA super stud dished on his ongoing development. The question and answer session is a pretty fun, informative read, so hop to it you consumers of digital media (CoDs for short, because why not?), you.
Of the biggest takeaways, there was Harden calling himself the best basketball player in the world or something like that. Not the NBA, but alive. Either is a stretch, but it’s a bigger stretch to believe he wouldn’t say that.
Remember when things like this were considered searing-hot news pieces? Like, when Derrick Rose or someone said it? I do. Now it’s news if they don’t, so, basically, there’s nothing to see here. Except Harden’s beard. That sonuvabitch is everywhere.
Later, though, he would go on to detail which players he was pursuing status-wise. I think. I’m not really sure. Here’s what went down so you can help me decide:
Scoop: Best time of your life right now?
Harden: Yeah. Definitely. I’m enjoying this. Still trying to catch guys like LeBron, KD and Kobe. You know, just trying to catch those guys. That’s something I get to look forward to every single day to motivate me.
Scoop: That’s your motivation? Still those guys? Because you know you can still serve them on the court every now and then.
Harden: Listen [long pause], until I get rings I can’t say anything.
Still rolling with status after my second (and third and fourth and fifth read throughs). Kevin Durant doesn’t have rings by the way, just for the record. If that’s what it comes down to for Harden, he’s only chasing Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and NOT Chris Paul and, well, you get the point.
Really, then, Harden is admitting to not being the best player in the world. Rings have something to do with this, but not everything. Those are still the guys—Bryant’s forced, injury-related sabbatical notwithstanding—most often associated with individual and/or collective success. They’re the standard to which many other superstars are held, right down to the Pauls and Dwight Howards and Kyrie Irvings.
The bearded wonder finds himself trapped in sort of this superstar limbo. The numbers say he’s mostly a superstar. Yours truly has traveled down that rabbit hole before and there’s nothing to overtly suggest that he isn’t worthy of the statistical hype he generates.
Leadership qualities of our bearded prodigy have come under fire this offseason, of course. That’s up for debate and sort of an impossible thing to understand when you really think about it. Only Harden and his teammates know what’s up there.
That Harden has the savvy to chase the right people, though, is encouraging. Kobe isn’t idolized as a kind leader, but Durant and LeBron are incredibly revered on that front. Moreover, these are stars that have yielded results in the form of championships, scoring titles, MVP awards and lasting legacies.
So, yes, Harden is chasing the right players, he is after the right things.
What remains to be seen is whether or not he’ll eventually catch them.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
