Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden provided the following response when asked how he’s had to adjust to faster-paced offenses since he’s entered the NBA.
“I’m one of the people the NBA had to adjust to,” Harden replied during a chat with reporters amid a Clipper practice Thursday. “Just being in here, being crafty, working on it, loving it.”
The 35-year-old Harden, a 10-time All-Star and three-time scoring champion, is entering his 16th NBA season. The seven-time All-NBA player averaged 16.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the 51-win Clippers last season.
To the reporter’s point, the game has certainly gotten faster since Harden’s rookie season (2009-10). During that season, teams averaged 92.7 possessions per game, according to Basketball-Reference. Last year, every team eclipsed that mark, and the league average was 98.5 possessions per game.
To Harden’s point, the league has certainly had difficulty containing him, nevermore than when he dominated for the Houston Rockets from 2012-2020. He averaged 29.6 points, 7.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds for the Rockets during that span.
Harden was a phenomenal scorer, leading the NBA in points per game from 2017-18 to 2019-20 (33.7 PPG). He was a three-point shooting machine during that three-year span (4.3 per game) and had 10.9 free throw attempts per outing as well.
Harden’s adjusted well to new roles and a faster NBA over the last few years. He’s been more of a facilitator than a scorer with the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Clippers, averaging 9.9 assists per game since 2020-21.
He may be called more upon to score this year, though, with nine-time All-Star Paul George leaving in free agency for the 76ers and six-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard dealing with right knee concerns that could keep him out for the beginning of the year.
Harden and the Clips will begin this season on Oct. 23 at home against the Phoenix Suns. That will also mark the regular-season debut of the Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena.
Leave a Reply