I remember back when James Harden was playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder and many fans were clamoring for him to be the point guard and move Russell Westbrook to shooting guard. Alas, it never quite happened and Harden was shipped off to the Houston Rockets when the Thunder declined to give him what he was worth. Harden remained a shooting guard on the Rockets, but this season with Mike D’Antoni at head coach, Harden has been moved to the 1 and it’s worked out.
New Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has worked with great scorers and great playmakers at his various stops around the league, but in Harden he found a guard who can do both. Harden has long dominated the ball as a facilitating shooting guard, but D’Antoni ended speculation about what he truly is by stamping him with the label of full-time point guard. Now that Harden is setting up teammates better than anyone else and currently leads the league in assists, who is the league’s best player at his position?
“Best point guard or best player?” Harden responded when asked.
Either one.
“I am,” Harden told The Vertical.
“I thrive on scoring the basketball and creating shots for my teammates,” Harden, averaging 31.6 points, 12.7 assists and 7.1 rebounds, told The Vertical. “I go into every game doing what it takes to win, whether it’s assists, whether it’s scoring, rebounding, whatever it is. [D’Antoni] puts a lot of trust in me, and my teammates do as well.”
