Basketball and Feelings, Game 6 in Los Angeles between the Warriors and Lakers TONIGHT. Who doesn’t have the feelingszzzz for this? The storylines are in abundance: Will A.D. survive the almost-concussion he got from big man Kevon Looney the other night to close out the defending champs? How will Professor Lebron analyze the action to make his mark? Steph Curry, will he go for 50 again? Will “the others” step up for the Lakers or will Darvin Ham have to throw on a jersey from the sideline and turn back Father Time. Whatever happens I can’t accept a Lakers loss.
Now, with all of that said, I want to focus on the one and only James Harden.
A lot has been made about Harden’s play during these playoffs. He, of two 40+ point games, has been savage for the 76ers, and put them in a position to have a chance against the far more talented Celtics. To me, Harden has always been a fascinating player. From a bench-rider in OKC to a step-back three scoring savant in Houston, his game has always been laced with metaphors. First off, the patented James Harden step-back. I’m pretty sure the NBA changed some rules around fouls because of how lethal Harden was at drawing them out of his step-back. For a good four years, he was the king of FOUR POINT PLAYS, contorting his body like a jijitsuu master, arms and legs always in goofy directions as he hopped up high and threw-up a three pointer that, nine times out ten, he would get fouled on. Back then, before they changed the rule, he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He had just figured out a way to game the game, bending the rules to his will enough so that eventually they just had to change them to stop him.
Dismissing the approach as “cheating,” as a lot of people still do, never sat well with me. Lots of James Harden hate is out there, evident by how much people in the media seem to want him to fail every time he gets into the playoffs. Including these playoffs. It’s not his fault that he figured out a way to make the rules work to his advantage. It’s not like he’s a politician or something. Basketball is all about figuring out legal ways to win, no matter what the game looks like aesthetically, and James Harden did that to a tee before they changed the rules due to his wizardry.
#2:
You hear this all the time from media members — never trust James Harden, he won’t show up for a big game. Look, I’m not saying that James Harden is Michael Jordan when it comes to the nerves of steel department but I think it’s a bit over the top to assume he “doesn’t show up to big games.” That feels like a smear on his character or something. Like, are people saying, James Harden is a coward or something, shrinking in the big moment? Perhaps he is? but more than likely he’s just been unable to step up in those moments because he hasn’t been able to figure out how to play better when all of the defensive attention is on him. It’s hard to score when Draymond Green is guarding you. I don’t think it has anything to do with guts, just a lack of skill.
The last point I want to make about Harden is this: the dude is a master businessman.
Just my personal read, but when Harden says, for example, he’s open to playing in Houston for the 2023/24 season next year there’s absolutely no way that he means it. I’m not saying he wouldn’t do it, but he’s open to playing with twenty year olds like I am to a career in accounting. He’s manipulating the news media, who endlessly parrot his threat, the NBA, and all of us in the basketball watching universe who he knows will just fan the flames of his bogusness until the 76ers sign for many millions more on the dotted line. Btw, I’ve never seen a contract that has dots on it. Have you?
He’s doing it to us now, the public, what back in his Houston days he was doing to the three-point line — the way only a master can.
Bonus: I have a new story, just published in The Los Angeles Review. I’ve been telling a version of this story on stage for a while and so glad it has found its forever home. If you’re interested in serial killers, Hare Krishna, and comedy, this one’s for you.
Enjoy the games this weekend, kiss your kids, god blessssss, and maybe even read some more of my sexy work.
Allen