When the Brooklyn Nets managed to trade for James Harden, there were a lot of analysts and fans who doubted his ability to coexist with two ball-dominant players like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Harden had already shared the rock with Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul but he hadn’t played with two top-tier scorers since his earlydays with the Oklahoma City Thunder when he came off the bench.
And thus far, he seems like the odd man out when both Kyrie and Durant are on the court, with his numbers taking a massive dip from his days with the Houston Rockets. Harden, however, isn’t worried about that.
James Harden Says Playing With Kevin Durant And Kyrie Irving Is ‘Different But Great’
“I was in a role for 8 years controlling the ball, dominating the ball. Now, it’s a different experience for me, but it’s still great. It’s still basketball at the end of the day. I’m lucky to be able to do more than just one thing on the basketball court. It’s fun,” Harden told the media after beating the Miami Heat.
James kicked off his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets by putting together back-to-back 30+ point double-doubles. Nonetheless, he’s been far more modest since Kyrie came back to the lineup, scoring just 21, 19, 12, and 20 points.
More than that, he hasn’t topped the 14-shot mark on the past 4 games either, averaging 23.0 points with 7.3 rebounds and 11.3 assists in his six games with the organization, which is great for most players but odd for his standards.
Then again, Harden knows that his former style of play didn’t exactly translate into winning playoff games, andhis best shot to ever win an NBA Championship comes with learning how to sacrifice touches and complement KevinDurant and Kyrie Irving.
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