If you don't think Curry is better than Harden you need to take off your Rockets goggles and watch Curry play. He's arguably the greatest shooter of all time already.
I voted Jim at #1. I am watching Rockets All Access (media conspiracy) right now, and John Lucas agrees with me.
The worst Harden games of the last 3 years was when he CHOKED in '15 and '17. That's just a fact. The two years he was MVP runner up he proved he had no place at being MVP with absolutely pathetic elimination game performances. His G2 and G4 vs. GS n '15 were EPIC. It's an absolute shame he doesn't get more credit for them. But that G2 was THE game. He failed at the last sec. That was his chance to murder the unstoppable GSW squad by himself... yet he failed in the last 10 secs. IMO GSW G2 + G4 + G3 vs the Mavs in '15 is a LEGENDARY player. I love Morey ball but Hardens short mid range game could be '11 Dirk esque but he doesn't play by that. It's a shame. '15 Harden had a chance at monster mid range potential. Hopefully CP3 gets him hot from there, because that could be disgusting if Harden is feeling it. Hardens legacy is at stake. His playoff performances have been weak. He needs to step up and deliver when it matters like Hakeem did. RS only... Hakeem is barely a top 20 player. Playoffs only... top 5 arguably. You guys love Hakeem for this fact. Me too. But Harden is far closer to Robinson than the Dream in the payoffs so far. We need that to change for any chance at a ring.
He's almost a one-man team averaging insane numbers throughout the whole reg. season. You can't expect him to be that great in '17. In '15, I don't know if he choked. In that G2, Dwight should've set a pick, and Harden was basically fouled.
Lets revisit this thread. I put harden at no 2 before the season but you were right and it has become clear that harden is the best player in the nba so far this year.
When you get to the top players in the league - it's really hard to say who is the "best". It's subjective. You can say Lebron, you can say KD, or you can say Harden. A strong case can be made for any of these guys. So it's kinda a silly debate. Harden is in the top 5. That's enough.
I had Harden 5th after last year’s playoffs, but he’s gotten so much better now he is playing like the best player in the NBA...the postseason will determine his true ranking, and I expect him to ball out
He's first! Anyone saying 3rd or beyond clearly dont know basketball. That crap about defense is so overated. I pick the player that brings in the wins whether it's 10-9 or 201-200 scores.
The best player in NBA right now is James Harden. And it isn't even close. Harden is hands down the MVP.
The key to the question is who is best player in league as of TODAY. Best player on the best team with the best record. Not to mention leading historic offense, leading scorer and 2nd in assists. Take that for data.
On what basis is curry better? Playmaker no it’s harden Scorer no harden is better Assist/ passer no harden is way better Court vision no harden is mega miles better Shooter from the 3 pt line yes curry is significantly better.Harden is a better midrange shooter Handles slight edge to curry Rebounding it’s harden Defense both are bad but atleast harden can play elite post defense and man defense when he is switched on Clutch play it’s harden so far. So what makes curry better?
I don’t think curry had better handles than James. James handle is incredible especially when you factor in his height and size. Harden is better than curry. That’s not a knock on Steph he’s great and I have him at 4. Kwai Leonard is the guy who gets overrated. Not saying he’s not a stud but the guy has had one elite offensive season and he’s suddenly on par with harden curry KD and Lebron who have been dominating and at the top for 5+ years. No one brings up that he plays for pop and in his system that consistently gets guys to overachieve. But we here MDA has inflated Hardens numbers. Same thing with Kerr he gets mad ctardit for his system yet curry and KD didn’t benefit from that system arnt their numbers inflated because of Kerr’s genius system? Ppl love to hate harden and Lebron. That’s why I know there the best two player in the league and have the biggest impacts on winning.
I just thought of that the other day. The guy should be on his way to his 3rd MVP and no one is mentioning him on the conversation as the best player in the league. Not the MVP but the BEST player. His consistently producing every night, just beasting and everyone keeps saying Curry, Durant, Lebron. I even heard people mentioning Giannis or Davis for F**k sake. Yes Harden is the best player in the leauge right now, and its not even close.