Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s 2019 statement about James Harden was proven correct once again.
The Los Angeles Clippers failed to close out their opening-round series against the Denver Nuggets as they suffered a blowout Game 7 defeat.
While it was an overall underwhelming performance by the franchise, James Harden, in particular, received a lot of flak from fans.
After all, the Beard finished the night with just 7 points and 5 rebounds. He also had 13 assists, but they were overshadowed by his abysmal 2-of-8 shooting from the field.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesEvery season James Harden proves Kobe Bryant was right
When it comes to the debate of the best shooting guards of all time, many believe Harden is up there with the likes of Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant.
For what it’s worth, Harden is a phenomenal scorer and an elite performer in the regular season. Unfortunately, Harden has struggled in the playoffs throughout his career.
Keeping that in mind, here’s Bryant talking about why Harden’s playing style will never lead to championship-winning basketball in 2019.
“I’m not a fan of — in terms of winning championships — I don’t think that style is ever gonna win championships,” Bryant said on The Jump.
“But at the same time, you have to keep your team’s head above water to win games. So you have to do what you have to do to win games, and he’s doing it, right?
“If you take one player, you put them at the top of the key, or you put them on the wing and you’re running screen rolls, you’re always in front of the defense,” Kobe added.
So what happens when this situation occurs?
“The defense can key on that, particularly in the playoffs. And that’s easy to defend,” explained Bryant.
Bryant still praised Harden
There is no doubt that Harden’s brand of basketball has abandoned him when it matters the most. After all, there’s a reason he has lost Game 7s with four different franchises in his career.
But does that take away from what he has accomplished? Even Bryant didn’t go that far.
“What he’s doing is absolutely remarkable, though. It’s a testament to how remarkable it is because people are now trying to minimize what it is that he’s doing. He’s doing some phenomenal stuff,” Bryant concluded.
At the end of the day, Harden is on the path to go down as one of the best individual players that the league has ever seen. But as far as playing winning basketball is concerned, Harden is yet to crack that code.