James Harden, the fur-boomer, who was Houston himself.
Through the trade, James Harden reached another turning point, wearing a Brooklyn Nets uniform. Fans of the Houston Rockets must have felt complicated watching the Nets make their debut successfully before the Orlando Magic on the 17th 먹튀토토
Although the process of leaving was ambiguous, he was reborn as a superstar after moving to Houston and seriously expected to win. In that sense, I prepared a time to summarize Harden’s career in Houston.
Harden began his career in the 2009 NBA draft, being named the Oklahoma City Thunder as the third overall pick in the first round. After experiencing the 2012 NBA Finals for Oklahoma City, Harden was traded to Houston. And the second act of his basketball life will be held.
▲ On the way to the superstar
In 2012, Harden signed a five-year, $80 million contract with Houston. He exploded his scoring ability as if he had waited. He scored 37 points and 12 assists before the season opener against the Detroit Pistons.
In his first season, Harden was selected as the first All-NBA Third Team in his career. Houston also made it to the playoffs for the first time in three years with 45 wins and 37 losses, up 11 wins from the previous season.
Houston, who confirmed the possibility, added Dwight Howard, who won the “Defender of the Year” award for the third consecutive year as Harden’s partner. The result was successful. In just two seasons with Howard, the team won 56 games and settled for the second place in the league with the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers, and the club made it to the Western Conference Final in 18 years.
During the 2014-2015 season, Harden scored 27.4 points (44 FG, 37.5% of 3P), 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.9 steals. In the 2011-2012 season, Oklahoma City’s career high score was 16.8 points, which was a huge improvement.
However, his opponent in the conference final was the Golden State Warriors, the league’s No. 1 player. In the second game, Harden scored 38 points and played with 10 rebounds and 9 assists, but failed to lead the team to victory. In Game 4, he broke the record for the most points in a single individual game with 45 points, but gave up the series.
Although the team had to be satisfied with the conference final, it was a year when the value of the individual was raised to the fullest. Harden has been named to the All-NBA First Team for two consecutive years this season.
▲ Meet Director Dantoni
The 2016-2017 season was a season where there was a big change not only in Harden’s basketball life but also in the NBA basketball game. Houston’s recruitment of manager Mike Danton was the start. In the mid-2000s, manager Dantoni, who led the Phoenix Suns’ attack on Run & Gun, injected the color right into Houston. It completed the so-called “Mori Ball,” which has more three-point fielders than two-point fielders.
Attempts to secure the winning power continued. In the 2017-2018 season, Chris Paul joined the club to create the league’s best back-court duo.
Houston also strengthened the string of her accompanying Harden. At that time, he signed a four-year contract with Harden, giving him $118 million, the highest amount ever in NBA history.
From the first season of Paul’s joining, Harden and Houston produce remarkable results. The team has topped the league with 65 wins and 17 losses, the highest since the club was founded. Houston has been on a roll with the most wins in the season, including all wins in February.
Houston, who advanced to the playoffs as the top player in the league, will advance to the Western Conference Final by defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz in turn. And it was the Golden State that kept Harden and Houston at bay.
Harden led the team with 41 points from the first round at home, but Clay Thompson (28 points) and Durant (37 points) bombed while Stephen Curry was sluggish, giving Houston a victory from the first round.
Hana Houston succeeds in winning the second game immediately. After losing the away game in the third round, he won two consecutive games in a row, creating three wins and two losses in the series.
However, Paul suffered a hamstring injury in Game 5 that resulted in his third win and was sidelined in Game 6 and 7. In the end, Harden is struggling to score 32 points in the remaining two games, but he lost two consecutive games in vain.
Although the team failed to produce the desired results in the playoffs, Harden is honored with the league’s highest honor after the season. He scored an average of 30.4 points in the 2017-2018 season and won the MVP award at the same time as the top scorer. After eight years since his debut, Harden has once again strengthened his position as a superstar, receiving the best award that an individual player can enjoy.
In the 2018-2019 season, Harden still led the team with monster scoring skills, scoring 50+ points in nine games in just one season.
In particular, while the main players of the team, including Paul, Eric Gordon, Clint Capella, were struggling with string injuries, he filled the vacancy of his teammates.
There is a game that is considered one of the best games of the 2018-2019 season. It is the match against Golden State on 4 January 2019.
In the match when Paul was not yet back from injury, the Golden State attacked Houston in turn, with Curry, Thompson and Durant bombarded. Nevertheless, Harden struggled alone and led the game to extra time.
In extra time, Harden scored eight points, including two three-point shots, and tied the game again, which gave up four points. At that time, Curry’s two points were recognized as the all-time badger who couldn’t see Durant’s foot that completely crossed the court line at the end of the game.
However, Harden managed to score three long-range shots in front of Thompson and Dramond Green, creating a dramatic come-from-behind victory with 135-134 points. Harden scored 44 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds in the game. It was a perfect victory for Harden.
With Harden’s performance, Houston advanced to the playoffs in fourth place, but faced Golden State again in the second round, and had to suffer a vain elimination again after failing to reverse the winning number given up amid Paul’s sluggishness in the early part of the series.
Apart from the playoff results, Harden scored a whopping 36.1 points in the 2018-2019 season, leaving a performance to summon Michael Jordan.
▲ Awkward companionship with a friend
Houston, who was sad to finish the season, hired former MVP Russell Westbrook instead of sending Chris Paul. Westbrook was a partner and best friend of Oklahoma City.
Harden continued to be the top scorer in the season, eventually succeeding in putting his name on another NBA record. He became the ‘top scorer for three consecutive years’. This was the milestone that only Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, George Gurbin and Kevin Durant achieved.
Harden’s career in Houston was dazzlingly brilliant. MVP of the 2017-2018 season, All-NBA First Team for six consecutive seasons from the 2013-2014 season, All-Star selection for eight consecutive years from the first season of his transfer, the top scorer for three consecutive years, and the assist king for the 2016-2017 season.
Like this, Harden ended his six-man career in Oklahoma City and became a full-fledged performer after moving to Houston. Houston’s team color and culture also changed completely after Harden joined. In other words, Harden was Houston itself, and Harden returned to the center.
That’s why Harden’s move to Brooklyn is all the more regrettable for Houston and her fans.
This offseason, after Westbrook left the team, Harden strongly asked for a trade. He has also been insincere about the team by not attending the team training as if it were a Tae-up.
And after losing all of his previous matches against the Los Angeles Lakers by a wide margin, Harden puts a wedge in the interview.
“I literally did everything I could. The current situation really doesn’t make sense. I don’t think this can be solved.”
It was the last word left by Harden on the team he had been with for nine years. After the interview, the team searched for a trade in a hurry, eventually completing the Brooklyn transfer, which Harden had preferred since the offseason.
Harden himself was also a choice for the championship trophy, the last task, but each of Harden’s actions in the process hit the hearts of Houston fans.
Now Harden and Houston are walking on different paths. Harden, along with Durant and Kai Lee Irving, must lead Brooklyn to the championship to convince him of his behavior.
On the other hand, Houston will take a new path with new faces, including John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and Christian Wood.
