Bingo...it seems to have gotten A LOT worse after the switch to adidas. I think at that point everyone viewed him as a guy who couldn't just fall in line and take his "rightful" place in the pecking order of superstars behind lebron, KD, and Kyrie (of all people). Harden basically said "I'm gonna go be the face of the next biggest shoe company." Which is a really big deal. Since then there has been a shift in the shoe market place as well will adidas and their ultra boost line. I teach and have seen a huge change in the sneakers that kids wear starting from that same point in time.
Its a travel, but anyone that has watched basketball for a while (since 80's for me), knows that they allow the stars to get away with things. I've seen MJ catch the ball inside the 3 point line, and without ever taking a dribble end up outside the 3 point line. They use to call carry if you turn your hand under the ball, until AI came into the league with his crossover. So it happens, get use to it.
It would be nice if lets say the TNT crew brings in a ref and explains it on national TV. Its clearly a valid step back, but he does sometimes travel by adding an additional hop, its rare but it happens 1 in 15 times
Ultrabooosts are everywhere and soccer kids are all about Adidas. Nike is viewed as old and stale by the kids my high school son runs with but im not sure what the basketball youth thinks about Nike/ Adidas.
The very first one he did in the playoffs, he travelled, but only because he miss-calculated on where the line was, so tried to hop again. I don’t recall there even being a question about the step backs in the 17 games after that. Of course, it had to be the first game, first one. Sigh So probably something like 1 in 50 step-backs he gets his timing wrong and travels. He’s just the first player to flirt with the limits of the gather step. Isn’t that good for basketball for players to increase the difficulty factor of their moves. Makes sense a player with limited athleticism would pioneer flirting with the limits of that move. I hope to see Luka do same thing. Fun Note: Now that the next most questioned step-back artist is in San Antonio (DeRozan), I look forward to the moment Pops scoffs at the media asking him about the legality of DDRs stepback. Also, Cuban has Luka, who’s a step-back king. We will probably see Cuban chiming in on this too, as Luka finds he needs to use more of the gather to get spacing against NBA defenders
You can't guarantee something you literally don't know. He's one of the top 10 most popular players and he hasn't been to the Finals. Those who hate him cite those things. Those who hate others cite their unique characteristics. You're a Rockets fan so you think it's unique, but it's not.
Ok fine, maybe using "guarantee" was the wrong word. It's highly likely that he has more haters than Lebron, KD, Curry. I know hate isnt unique, plenty of Superstars get there fair share(dont have to talk to me like I'm a child XD), but I'm telling you Harden probably gets the most because of his game. To think I'm saying that just cause I'm a Rockets fan isnt a little unfair(I may be a little bit of a homer) but I can be objective, and frankly Harden's foul drawing pisses a lot of people off. Check r/nba for one,(not that thats end all be all but its just one example of many).
I think the hate comes from jealousy and the media always are wrong about Harden and the Rockets. They always look bad. The Dwight Howard Fiasco, McHale being fired quickly Media of TNT loved McHale hated and blamed Harden for McHale Firing. Even McHale is a Total Idiot of a Coach. Jeremy Lin got traded and Lin Fans hated Harden. Barkley hates Les Alexander and Caroll Dawson for not getting paid. 3 million dollars. Kenny is Jealous of Mike DAntoni, hates not being hired by Les Alexander, Daryl Morey. Win Totals, Standings. Harden has a Chance to win more MVPs.
LOL at completely ignoring the NBA declaring it's NOT a travel. It either is or isn't no opinion involved since NBA has ruled on it. It's not a GOAT discussion or some other subjective opinion required topic. But if you ignore what the NBA says, why stop there. I say Worriers are NOT the champs despite what the league says.
The Thunder fans and bandwagon fans don't like him because he didn't take a discount to stay in OKC and he makes their GM look bad. The Lakers fans and bandwagon fans don't like him because the Rockets signed Dwight and the main reason was because he saw Harden as a better option at the time than Kobe. The non-regular season fans don't like him because the TNT crew crapped on the Rockets because Barkley got a raw deal from Les. The ESPN fans don't like him because Calvin Watkins and the ESPN flunkies would tear him down on defense. The Warriors fans don't like him because Steph Curry was the anointed and anyone that challenges his perch is deemed unworthy. The Lebron fans don't like him because Harden kicked him in the junk. The "you haven't won anything" fans don't like him because he hasn't won a championship. That equals a lot of fans.
You can sum up the media on Harden with one sentence - "It's traveling....I mean yes we've seen how it's actually not traveling, but come on..its' traveling." Even when it's literally shown...proven....that it's not traveling, they still go on shows, laugh about it...and call it traveling. It's just unreal. I hate...-absolutely- hate to bring up the "Well if it was Lebron" statement, but in this rare case I will. If this were Lebron doing this move...it would be shown nightly how ref's will breakdown the move and prove it's not an illegal move.
Harden just won the MVP and was 2nd place two other times since the defense lapse video game out. The people who follow the NBA most closely, including the players and coaches constantly give Jimmy love. He's fine.
I'm just saying because of that defense tape, Harden is always going to have a "yeah, but.." associated with his name No matter how good he is or what he does. Anthony Anderson gave Harden the MVP at the award ceremony and then talked about his defense... Whenever Harden is talked about being a top 5 player they start talking about 2-way players. I agree Harden is fine, but the NBA is never going to let him forget that video. People still font realize how good he is as a post defender.
