Say what you want of James Harden, but if there鈥檚 one thing he possesses that bears the hallmark of winners, it鈥檚 confidence. Regardless of situation or condition, he has a ton of it. You can even argue that his version of it borders on the irrational. He invariably bets on himself, period. It鈥檚 why he has a Most Valuable Player award and 10 All-Star nods to his name. It鈥檚 also why he boasts of otherworldly stats in the pace-and-space era; his extremely elevated usage rate, especially during his prime, speaks of his wizardry with the ball. So when he says the Clippers will be better, and sooner rather than later, he isn鈥檛 merely being dismissive of criticism. He absolutely believes in his capacity to contribute heavily to the cause.
Unfortunately, Harden has no filters. He gives the public heavy doses his 鈥渓ove your own鈥 mentality even during times when prudence is the more viable option. Take, for example, his inaugural press conference with the Clippers. Instead of first familiarizing himself with his new digs and making sure he gets to fit in as the outsider looking in, he made sure everyone knows he鈥檚 looking out for Number One. Talking about his messy divorce with the Sixers (which, tellingly, followed just-as-controversial departures from the Rockets, Nets, and Sixers), he said he was 鈥渙n a leash,鈥 and that 鈥渢hey didn鈥檛 want me in the end.鈥
The optics notwithstanding, Harden鈥檚 distorted view of his fractured relationships reflects his unshakable faith in his capacity to do wonders either the ball in his hands. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a system player,鈥 he contended during his introductory presser. 鈥淚鈥檓 a system.鈥 Which isn鈥檛 a problem until, of course, it鈥檚 disproven. And, with the Clippers, even the most ardent fans will be hard-pressed to show that he鈥檚 right. So far in his brief tenure, they鈥檝e lost six consecutive games. He suited up in five of those contests, and his norms were, not coincidentally, pedestrian at best: 15 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Needless to say, the atrocious record provides fuel for naysayers who deem Harden a net negative. And they have history on their side, too; in every stop, he has shown an alarming predisposition for disappearing during big moments. The flipside is that the Clippers are too good not to improve. The wonder is whether they will do so because of him, or in spite of him.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
