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Joel Blank: Would Harden be able to embrace being the second fiddle to LeBron James?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Stormy1234, Jun 11, 2018.

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  1. Stormy1234

    Stormy1234 Member

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    #1 Stormy1234, Jun 11, 2018
    ak99999 likes this.
  2. Stormy1234

    Stormy1234 Member

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    Joel Blank: Would Harden be able to embrace being the second fiddle to LeBron James?
    By Joel Blank
    6.11.18 | 11 hours, 22 minutes ago
    [​IMG]
    James Harden likes being The Man. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

    Now that the NBA season is over and the Golden State Warriors are once again champions, Rockets fans are left to think about what could have been if Chris Paul was healthy for Games 6 and 7. Red Nation is now focused on the possibility of Lebron James coming to Houston and getting them back on top of the basketball world for the first time in over 23 years. Sure, it’s fun to dream, but how realistic are the chances that the King comes a calling and is he worth gutting the rest of the roster? After all, this years' team set a franchise record for wins and had the best record in the league. A bigger question might be; would James Harden give up his top dog status to play Robin to Lebron's Batman?

    Ever since James Harden got to Houston, it's been his team. To be more specific, it has been his franchise. He has had everything and everyone in the organization at his beck and call. Every billboard is the Beard, every commercial is centered on number 13 and every move is made with him in mind. Even getting Chris Paul here was the doing of the MVP candidate. What makes any of you think he is willing to give all that up and worse yet, turn the keys over to a guy he has had his issues with in the past in Lebron? Is possibly winning a title enough to give up control of the locker room, the franchise and to some degree, the city? Only time will tell but it’s definitely worth keeping in the back of your mind as the free agent fun prepares to begin.

    You may be thinking that Harden already did it once when the team traded for CP3, but looking at how the season played out it was still Harden who took center stage. He just had a proven leader to hand off to when times got tough or the situation called for it. Paul was even gracious enough to take a half step back and make sure that everyone understood it was still Harden's squad. It might be a different story if the greatest player of the last 15 years of NBA basketball came to town? Lebron James doesn't take a back seat to anyone, why would he take one for Harden?

    For all the improvements we have seen in Harden's maturity level and as good as he has gotten at embracing all the expectations and demands of being "the man," he still has a ways to go before he is in the rarefied air of James and Michael Jordan. We are all too familiar with Harden's playoff shortcomings and how they don’t come close to the legendary postseason performances of the King, including three rings and eight straight Finals appearances. For all the shortcomings when the stakes are highest, the Beard's ego is all-world and he loves every minute of it.

    The truth is, Harden has never been willing to give up his pedestal to anyone since he got to Houston— not for Dwight Howard, Daryl Morey or even Chris Paul. He likes having the keys to the car and we all know he loves to drive. The real question now is, will he become a back seat driver if it means getting the first NBA title of his career? We shall see. Getting James to take a step back might prove to be more difficult than trying to get a team to actually take Ryan Anderson in a trade this summer.

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    #2 Stormy1234, Jun 11, 2018
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  3. zigzag

    zigzag Member

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    Would Lebron be able to embrace being the second fiddle to James Harden?
     
    #3 zigzag, Jun 11, 2018
    MyLateRegistration, MorningZippo, dreamshakin and 15 others like this.
  4. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    Trash - from some clown nobody ever heard of.

    neg rep.
     
    #4 SamFisher, Jun 11, 2018
    MyLateRegistration, wesbound, BigMaloe and 8 others like this.
  5. tmacfor35

    tmacfor35 Contributing Member

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    Harden is one of the more liked players in the league.

    This is hysterical.

    Lets not forget what was said in the CP3 offseason.

    Harden wouldn't be able to co exist with CP3.

    Same narrative, different year. Go figure.
     
    #5 tmacfor35, Jun 11, 2018
    MyLateRegistration, MorningZippo, dreamshakin and 9 others like this.
  6. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    No.

    He actually used to work for the Rockets. Still has connections with the team and has a top 5 sports radio show
     
    #6 REEKO_HTOWN, Jun 11, 2018
    red5rocket, joshuaao, rockets13champs and 2 others like this.
  7. smp

    smp Member

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    I think Harden would love to have some extra help. It's probably even more true now that he has the MVP to validate his personal greatness.
     
    #7 smp, Jun 11, 2018
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  8. Mattician

    Mattician Member

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    Remember when people said Harden and Paul wouldn’t work?
     
    #8 Mattician, Jun 11, 2018
    BigMaloe, SF3isBack!!, Tfor3 and 7 others like this.
  9. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    Does anyone know why he got fired from the rockets?
     
    #9 Air Langhi, Jun 11, 2018
  10. Hard_foul

    Hard_foul Member

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    Not sure, but just glad we don’t have to listen to the rhyme shtick anymore.
     
    #10 Hard_foul, Jun 11, 2018
  11. TMac'n

    TMac'n Contributing Member

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    Jesus... so Max Kellerman wasn't enough, so now you're creating threads for Joel Blank?

    The guy got fired from the Rockets and has been on an anti-Rockets bender ever since. Everything that comes out of his mouth is "Harden sucks" or "they f@cked McHale" blah blah blah

    Why was this even thread worthy?

    Couldn't you have posted this in another one of the millions of LeBron threads, because technically this is what it is.... another f'n LeBron thread
     
    #11 TMac'n, Jun 11, 2018
    BigMaloe, LAFIRMA22, luckyman76 and 1 other person like this.
  12. RocketOrg

    RocketOrg Member

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    LeBron would have to fit in, not the other way around, although there’s no reason why they can’t coexist just like Harden and CP3. With that said, Harden is more of a play maker than James in terms of finding open players and dishing the ball. He has much better vision seeing plays develop and is unreal with the allyoops to Capela. I’m not saying James isn’t a playmaker, he’s clearly one of the best, if not the best one on one player in the league. He’s the best overall player too. But in terms of pure PG skills and seeing the floor Harden is better. Also, both can play off the ball at the 2 guard position. There’s no reason these guys can’t pmay together. This article is crap!
     
    #12 RocketOrg, Jun 11, 2018
    RyanB and saleem like this.
  13. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Harden leads by work and example. If LeBron outhustled James, then he'd respect that and up his game.
     
    #13 Invisible Fan, Jun 11, 2018
    hakeem94 likes this.
  14. ApacheWarrior

    ApacheWarrior Member

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    Kinda. LeBron will teamup with CP3 and harp on Harden about his defense.

    Harden will lash out calling out LeBron on his defensive lapses.

    LeBron doesn’t like teammates calling him out.....it doesn’t happen because he is the Great, King of Kings.

    Harden will then pout and have a piss-ant attitude. CP3 & LeBron will say get the hell out of here. Me & Chris have this.

    We will be back to 2 Stars.....and Harden copping a bad attitude.

    Moral of the story is Two-Alpha-Male-Divas don’t play well together. But let’s try it! Should be fun!
     
    #14 ApacheWarrior, Jun 11, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
    hakeem94, REEKO_HTOWN and Stormy1234 like this.
  15. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    If only James Harden had some history of being a 6th man on a team with multiple stars, and not complaining about it...
     
    #15 napalm06, Jun 11, 2018
    Killatron 2000, BigMaloe, luckyman76 and 7 others like this.
  16. ryano2009

    ryano2009 Member

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    He already won himself an mvp trophy and validated himself as top 5 or even top 3 players in the league, only thing missing is rings, therefore, can't see why not
     
    #16 ryano2009, Jun 11, 2018
    BigMaloe, luckyman76, Tfor3 and 2 others like this.
  17. Newlin

    Newlin Member

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    Yes, but let's face it. Harden and Paul basically just take turns running ISO plays. It would be interesting to see how the Rockets would incorporate Le Bron.
     
    #17 Newlin, Jun 11, 2018
    Stormy1234 likes this.
  18. coachbadlee

    coachbadlee Member

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    Well let's take a look back. Didn' he just disrespect Chris Paul by slapping his hand away on national television?
     
    #18 coachbadlee, Jun 11, 2018
    hakeem94 and ApacheWarrior like this.
  19. alethios

    alethios Member

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    #19 alethios, Jun 11, 2018
  20. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    No
     
    #20 Reeko, Jun 11, 2018
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