Mike D’Antoni doesn’t have to worry about ruffling James Harden’s feathers. His relationship with him, and his play style, is more similar to his dealings with Steve Nash than his experiences with Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant.
That’s been one of the knocks on D’Antoni—aside, of course, from his lack of defensive fortitude—over the past few years. He hasn’t been able to reach some of his superstars. Anthony resisted the role D’Antoni wanted him to play for the New York Knicks. Not one of Kobe, Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol ever seemed to truly embrace him with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now D’Antoni is with the Houston Rockets, coaching James Harden, another superstar in his prime. What’s to stop D’Antoni from losing him amid changes to his play style and role? Nothing…except for the fact that Harden wants to be everything D’Antoni wishes him to be.
From NBA.com’s Ian Thomsen:
“The way he shoots, the way he moves, the way he handles the ball, it’s just like, wow,” said D’Antoni of Harden. “And then you watch film of his passes, and he’s a passer with incredible vision. What he does is special. I’m really looking forward to coaching him. He’s receptive and he’s in a great state of his athleticism. This is going to be fun to coach because he wants to play the way I want to coach. That’s what makes it great. There’s no complex.”
Magic Mike admitted to Thomsen that he’s sort of tiptoed around his offensive principles since leaving the Phoenix Suns. But that, he says, isn’t going to be an issue with the Rockets. Harden is buying in from the jump, in large part because he plays a game ready-made for D’Antoni’s system, and that makes it easier for Houston’s head honcho to instill his ideals without reservation.
Granted, we don’t know if the Rockets will be a success. They have a ton of offensive talent after poaching Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon from the New Orleans Pelicans, but they are light on defense outside of Trevor Ariza and Clint Capela.
Everyone is happy in September, with their slate still blank and their optimism untried. We’ll have to wait and see how Harden and D’Antoni’s relationship navigates the ups, downs, twists and turns of the regular season.
For now, though, it seems like they are on the same page, and fully committed to staying there.
