yea and if he's playing for us, he'll be singing a different tune: "wow, Harden is really better than Jordan, you gotta see it to believe it!"
Harden averaged 26 per game in that three-game stretch that you're referencing, and his team won two of the three games. No one could do that to MJ or LeBron? Puh-lease. Check Game 2, Game 4, and Game 5 of the Bulls against the Miami Heat in the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan didn't score 30 in any of the three games, and he shot 35% or below in all of them. In two of them, he shot below 27% from the field. https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1997-nba-eastern-conference-finals-heat-vs-bulls.html As for LeBron, he had a three-game stretch during the 2011 NBA Finals (Game 3 through Game 5) in which he didn't score 20 a single time. In one of those games, he was held to single digits! Playoff defenses are often really good, and they can give even great players trouble (especially in a small sample). You're just romanticizing players whose broader legacies you like more.
Any wonder Morey might be defensive about Harden, given he has been unfarily passed over a couple of times for MVP and so many ccfans still call him Mcfrauden etc.
harden has beaten the greatest nba dynasty ALONE....the fact that scot foster and adam silver refused to register it as official doesnt make harden a lesser player...harden is better player overall than mj...we are talking basketball play on the hardwood here ...not the politics....
Sure, still has good leaping ability, good defense (guards 1-3 or 4), Good basketball I.Q.. Rather have Covington because of his 3-pt shooting. Iggy I need creeping in from the corners along the baseline.
And our offensive rating was pretty terrible for those three games. Harden was really REALLY bad in those games...though tbh, the Jazz would do that to anyone. And I think our relative to most PO teams did the best it could. But the fact remains that Harden was contained. Okay, okay you provided some good evidence here. Thats fair, all HOF level players have had their issues. You're right. But Lebron and MJ more than that have also proved they can go on amazing, efficient PO runs as well. Harden had one amazing series vs GS where he scored 35 ppg on 60% true shooting. That was great. But for you to say that hes the greatest scorer of all time off of that one series isnt good evidence to me. Not to mention GS defense wasnt as good as it had been in prior years if you look at their defensive ratings vs other teams in the post season that year. He needs more amazing PO runs to be compared to the GOAT level players. Dont get me wrong Harden has still been really good in the POs but for you to compared to MJ and Lebron all time you have to do more. Like I believe Harden by the end of it will be top 2 SG but right now, he doesnt have enough that warrants this discussion. And for the record, I dont like MJ or Lebron more than Harden, Im just saying Harden hasnt proved enough, hes on his way but hes not there yet.
I can see it now: "We don't need Iggy. He's washed, can't shoot and always injured!" *Signs with Lakers* "GODDAMNIT MOREY! EVERYONE GETTING BETTER WHILE WE'RE TOO BUSY WORRYING ABOUT TAXES!"
He won most of his rings in the 80s though and played against all time great teams and beat them, so it's not like he withered then, he still won his rings. I also feel like MJ didn't have many great contemporaries when he played. 90s had way better centers, MJs biggest competors on the wing were Reggie Miller and Clyde Drexler. Hill could have been a great rival for him and the other great wing player was on his team in Pippen. Right now is probably one of the best eras ever for wing players, Jordan's 90s era was pretty slim pickings. I'm not insulting Jordan, just saying I never like the weak competition argument because it's not really fair for the players and still, teams that make it to the finals are usually stacked, even if they come out of a weak conference.
They have Shumpert's bird rights up until the day before the regular season starts - after that its no longer useful in a S&T and they'd have to wait 90 days to trade him / the contract. So how they get him is unchanged …. until the start of the season. Thing is , Iggy's $17m equates to $53m in salary and tax …. I don't think any of us see's Tilman forking over $53m for Iggy (or anyone else for that matter). I seriously doubt Iggy ends up a Rocket - unless its via buy out …. and then he's probably going to LA instead.
The game was just so much different then …. it was for the most part big man centric with a couple outliers in that aspect being the Bulls and Pacers (tho they both had solid big men). Today big men and post play are all but forgotten and the game is all about guard play. Its like watching a totally different game ….
Not only that if not for the most talented team of all time in the Wariors Harden would atleast have had a run in 2018 and I think we could have beaten the Raptors last season. A minimum of 1 ring would be on his resume
Yea funny how that works, teaming up with another Top 5, not top 20, like Scotty is, TOP 5 player in Magic Johnson who was definitely seen as the best player on those teams usually. Not to mention James Worthy who was also on his team. You give Michael anyone from the top 10 and no one beats him,specifically a big man. Ehh, thats fair, but I think the amount of goodteams Jordon had to face in terms of strength over his career was stronger than Kareems's, and he did it with a...I genuinely think weaker teammates(not saying they werent great) hmmm i should revise and say that Jordan played with weaker HOF players than Kareem, I think thats better. I mean, idk Jordan typically played in a strong conference in a more competitive(imo) league so I just think its worth noting. But yea I think that was mostly weak at the wing position. You can insult Jordan if you want haha, I just think hes the best player ever, I dont particularly like the guy. Well fair or not, the compeition and who you played with is important when discussing the GOAT and Kareem just doesnt have the impact that Jordan does imo, even looking at advanced stats I think Jordan was simply more important. Its fine if you disagree, Ben Taylor one of the best analysts in the game imo thinks Kareem is the GOAT and gives a pretty amazing argument.
if we're talking about the better player, for me it's @hakeem94 >>> @jordnnnn > @HardenMvp harden is an offensive wonder, but jordan was a more complete player imo. but when talking about shoes @jordnnnn >>>> @HardenMvp >>>>>>>>>>> @hakeem94
forget about stats harden has beaten stronger opponents than mj you all really bought in bspn propaganda and scot foster and adam silver is decding for you who is the best player if adam silver let harden win last 2 years we are having a different conversation now
Anyone claiming Iggy has nothing left in the tank are probably the same people salty we got rid of James Ennis. Invalid opinions are invalid. Iggy would boost this team in many ways