https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/sports/nba-top-players-2020-2021/ This is horseshit. Lillard gets credit for 7 consecutive playoff trips but getting swept twice doesn't matter apparently. Luka flamed out in Round 1 yet is ranked higher than Harden, while Durant is at #2 and Curry at #5 despite neither playing at all last year. The national media is piling on Harden for demanding a trade, yet Anthony Davis and Kawhi still get celebrated despite forcing their way out of their previous teams. Harden must really be an ******* to these guys, I can't think of any other explanation because by all objective measures he's a top 5 guy. It will really interesting to see how the narrative changes once he lands in a different city. This is egregiously anti-Houston. PJ is 36 - no GM is giving him big $$$ for multiple years. "Deserves a new home." Get in the bin. I used to think Golliver was one of the good ones - he was previously unbiased, objective and provided compelling, stats-based analysis. Clearly he's getting ahead of himself now and **** opinions are spilling through.
Who tha fook is Ben Golliver? might as well be Golliver Stone or Ben Simmons.. none of these opinions matter
Who cares. Nba ranking doesn't correlate to anything beside mvp. Harden is never gonna win one again so meh.
I think you missed Wall & Wood .... It's interesting to see 4 Rockets on the list!: 46. John Wall PG, Houston Rockets Age: 30, PPG: 20.7, RPG:3.6, APG:8.7 There's no way to know what Wall will look like after a two-year absence with an Achilles' injury, but he arrives in Houston with a chip on his shoulder. 77. Christian Wood C, Houston Rockets Age: 25, PPG: 13.1, RPG: 6.3, APG: 1 A newfound darling of the advanced stats community after his productive stretch run for the Pistons, the undrafted Wood was a major offseason winner thanks to a $41 million contract from the Rockets.
FYI, he was 5 last year on Golliver's list. The players ahead of him this year : 1. Lebron James 2. Kevin Durant 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo 4. Anthony Davis 5. Stephen Curry 6. Kawhi Leonard 7. Damian Lillard (wth?) 8. Luka Doncic 9. Nikola Jokic 10. James Harden - Harden's demanding personality and unimpressive responses to playoff adversity undercut his exquisite scoring ability. The players just behind him : 11. Jimmy Butler 12. Jayson Tatum 13. Paul George 14. Chris Paul 15. Joel Embiid 16. Ben Simmons 17. Rudy Gobert 18. Bam Adebayo 19. Pascal Siakam 20. Bradley Beal.
Yeah, I had a problem with Lillard and Jokic being ahead of him. Maybe even half-man, half-a-season Kawhi being ahead of him.
The complete double standard used to grade Harden continues to show itself. Anthony Davis’ playoff standard pre Lebron was not making it. Or getting bounced in the first round. Kevin Durant couldn’t get over the hump until he joined a team that won 70 games without him. Giannis - absolutely nothing Dame - no playoffs or nothing at all Doncic - nothing Joker - nothing I’m not a fan of the trade demand but “demanding personality?” Has this guy covered the NBA before? Harden was the best player on a team that by far was the most consistent threat to one of the greatest dynasty stretches in NBA history. After they got Durant nobody else was even remotely serious. How that gets lost in the media still confuses me.
And yet they have Durant at #2. It's only a one-season absence, but this logic tho. Either Wall shouldn't be this low or Durant shouldn't be that high.
Zero chance that Curry, Leonard, Lillard or Jokic best Harden in any of the major impact stats this season if all are healthy. The others I see as possibles, but not locks by any means. I’d wager it’s likelier he once again is top 3 in just about every impact metric than it is he is 10th or worse. Ranking reeks of personal feelings rather than objective analysis.
Stop defending Blames “everyone else” harden. Let’s talk about wall and wood. I can’t wait to see them on the court together.
That's nuts, man. When Harden retires they'll be talking about how he's one of the top 10 players of all time... yeah but in 2021 he's going to be tenth. Yeah he was top three in MVP voting for half a decade but but but... Real folks ain't buying it!
The way I see it is harden as a villain gets clicks and traffic to media sites. The nba right now is hemorrhaging money, they no longer have China, tv ratings have sunk to all-time lows. The nba is desperate for anything that can gain traffic on their social media sites. Harden for years has been an enigma. Hated by many but also revered and emulated by young players. Harden slander and disrespect just flat out is a ratings draw. It’s proven look at YouTube and type in James harden. The nba content creators are getting 200,000 views easy within 24 hours off of harden slander. It’s working thus far, but the media has to hope that the rockets start losing games
the media paints Lillard as a playoff assassin and winner meanwhile, his team was a below .500 8th seed last season, he’s gotten swept twice (I won’t count his 3rd sweep last year against the Lakers since he got injured), and 1 of those sweeps was in the 1st round to the Pelicans while he averaged 18 ppg, yet Harden is a playoff disappointment and Lillard is a playoff god Lillard’s playoff averages: 25, 5, and 6 on 55% TS Harden’s Houston playoff averages: 28, 6, and 7 on 58% TS Harden averaged 35 against GS in 2019, but because he lost, he was a choker...Lillard faced that GS squad with KD out for the entire series and got swept averaging 22 ppg on 37% shooting and blowing big leads in 3 out of the 4 games
