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Ben Maller: “How much of this is James Harden? We know Russell Westbrook was only there for half a cup of coffee, but who was to blame? Pretty much EVERYTHING involving the Rockets for the last 7 years or so was THE BEARD. The Rockets have had a revolving door of star players who have tried to be that magical number two to James Harden. They have brought in an assortment of decorated NBA players, all of them at the time they were acquired were deemed to have the perfect DNA to play with James Harden. It started with Dwight Howard, then Chris Paul was the next one. They traded their entire bench to get Chris Paul and that was a hot mess. Now you have former MVP Russell Westbrook. All three of these players, all with lots of accomplishments, joined the Rockets with sky high expectations, and all three of them ended up hitting the EJECT button getting out of there. The Rockets’ window contend use to be big, but now it’s a WEE bit small. The one common denominator during this stretch is James Harden. He has scored a bunch of points, and he’s on the fast track to the Hall of Fame, but he’s been the kid on the playground that does not want to share his toys with others. He doesn’t play well with others, he doesn’t want to share, and that basketball is guarded like the gold in Fort Knox, and always has to be in HIS possession… Harden is the epitome of the one-man show. He’s omnipresent, and a dominant offensive force with a rather aesthetically unpleasant style of basketball, unless you like watching foul shots. He’s not a ‘coach killer’, but he’s a ‘star killer.’ He’s like the ‘Typhoid James’ of the NBA. Seems like a good teammate on the outside, and yet he causes the power struggle with these other star players with the bickering, and the dissension, and that ultimately leads to failure for the Rockets.” (Full Audio Above)
Listen to Ben Maller explain why he thinks James Harden was the biggest reason the Houston Rockets never reached an NBA Finals in the Daryl Morey era, as Maller says Harden was a ‘star killer’ who always hurt the careers of his number twos the likes of Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Russell Westbrook.
Check out the audio above as Maller details why Harden's ‘aesthetically unpleasing’ style of basketball just doesn’t win NBA championships.
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