32. James Harden
This one is pretty interesting. That always seems to be the case when discussing James Harden. The numbers are there, explosive even.
At 25.1 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, 6.3 assists per contest, 1.6 steals per game, and all tallied along with the fact that he sinks nearly three triples a game on average, Harden has the statistics to blow you away. That’s just it though.
Are empty, yet gaudy and mind-blowing, statistical figures all that James Harden will ever be? He’s had a sustained period of individual excellence, but with hardly any team success at the highest level to show for it.
Can a guy like that be the 32nd ranked player of all-time in the NBA? That is a good question. Here is what ESPN’s Tim MacMahon had to say on the Houston shooting guard.
"Harden has developed into the ultimate offensive weapon of the analytics era, owning three scoring titles and an assists title. His step-back jumper has become one of the most potent signature shots in NBA history, allowing him to be a historic volume 3-point shooter who gets the rest of his points in the paint and at the free throw line. His 2018-19 season was the most efficient (.616 true shooting percentage) ever for a player who averaged more than 35 points per game."
The keywords to remember from the above spew by Tim MacMahon are those like “analytics” and “efficient”. While those are good buzz words to attach yourself too in the regular season of the NBA, they haven’t gotten it done for the enigmatic scoring machine in the playoffs, where it counts the most.
That is why I can’t see why he is ranked so high or as close to the Miami Heat’s resident icon. It just doesn’t seem appropriate when thinking in relativity to these rankings, an all-time perspective.
That is the case with all of the above three mentioned. It doesn’t matter though, Dwyane Wade will be the third greatest shooting guard for quite a while, at least based on everything we have seen thus far. Hopefully, someone will challenge him for the crown soon enough as the greatest Miami Heat player ever, but we wouldn’t count on it.