In a dominant performance on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Clippers secured a 110-93 victory over the Washington Wizards, powered by James Harden’s remarkable triple-double. After the game, the 35-year-old NBA icon shared insights into his approach to excelling in various facets of the game, leaving Clippers coach Tyronn Lue in awe.
Harden posted 17 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds in the Clippers’ win, marking his 79th career triple-double since debuting with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009 until his current days in Los Angeles.
“To take a guy who’s a dominating scorer who can score 50, 60 points and then, now you turn him into a guy who can get you 13, 14 assists,” said Lue during his postgame press conference, praising Harden’s versatility.
But it was the guard’s rebounding, a less expected part of his game, that particularly impressed Lue. “Rebounding the basketball, I don’t know how he does it by jumping this high on the floor. But somehow he gets it done,” Tyronn remarked, acknowledging a dimension of Harden’s game that many might overlook.
Lue continued to express admiration for Harden’s all-around contributions. “It doesn’t surprise me by him climbing the charts as far as triple-doubles. The rebounding a little bit, but the assists and points,” he said. “He’s just, every time he’s getting better and better at certain things.”
Harden’s secret to grabbing rebounds
After hearing about Tyronn Lue’s remarks on his rebounding skills, Harden revealed his secret to consistently grabbing boards despite his 6’5” frame. “It’s not about how high you jump,” he explained. “You’ve got to track the ball.”
The Clippers guard, who has always found ways to impact the game in unique ways, added, “I’ve been doing it for a long time. I haven’t been the highest jumping guy my whole life, so figuring out ways to impact the game and I figure it out. I don’t know.”
Harden’s NBA milestone
With his stellar performance, Harden surpassed NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, moving into eighth place for the most triple-doubles in NBA history with 79. He now trails Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who holds seventh place with 80.
“Scoring is one thing, but rebounding the basketball, facilitating is another thing…It means a lot, just impacting the games in other ways,” Harden said of his multifaceted contributions. “You don’t got to be the best player on the court by just scoring the basketball every single night. Obviously that helps, but there’s other ways to impact games. You’ve seen it throughout the course of history of the NBA. I’m just happy to be a part of one of those on the list.”