I legitimately think they were underdogs in every series listed. “This dude sucks because his team lost to better teams” is uh, not my favorite argument.
And Kyrie, the basis for comparison, has done jack shit in his career when not paired w/ Labron. The Celtics went further in the playoffs the year Kyrie was injured than they did the next year when he played.
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Luka, our lord and savior, shot 50% from the line in the series vs the clippers. I guess he’s “not clutch”. Maybe if he wanted it more, like Kobe
Being a perennial underdog in the playoffs isn’t exactly a winning point for Harden.
If you don’t think Kobe had more desire than Harden then we aren’t gonna agree on much.
Hardens no show in game 6 vs the Spurs wasn’t in Kobe’s range.
He was only an mvp level talent when he had to get by the warriors.
Oh we definitely not going to agree much. I don’t do heart of a champion
Lol Kobe didn’t take a shot in a game because he was pouting. Heart of a champion!
You guys can patronize all you want but Hardens playoff performances are worse than any player you’ve named so far.
His angle shooting on offense is pitiful but his average defense makes up for it !
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For one, it’s not like his teams were Harden and a bunch of nobodies. He had talent around him. It’s understandable if a transcendent talent falls short when he’s got no support, but with multiple all-stars there, you should be able to put up. For two, losing to the Warriors when Curry is hurt is not something you can just write off as losing to the Warriors.
There is a very rich literature on choking in sport.
A bunch of all stars? When? The best team Harden was on they lost because Cp3 got hurt. Harden isn’t in the curry/lebron tier. He needs help and luck. He didn’t get enough of either.
That was an 8th seed team playing the first round against a team that won 73 games. This is such an odd conversation.
The far more interesting discussion is why Harden is so hated and players with near identical playing characteristics are beloved (coughluka)
I don’t even care that much, I just think that 99% of the “clutch” discussion is reverse engineering bullshit on a small sample size. Same for 99% of “character” analysis.
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Harden is alive
Kobe is not
Checkmate
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You’re the only one that has mentioned luka.
You’re the only one that has mentioned that I’m the only one who has mentioned luka.
Doesn’t really change my point. This isn’t specific to you, I don’t know anything about you.
It’s also bizarre because their entire point is exactly why super teams happen, which they’re so mad about. Harden tries to play on a not great team, loses to a great team. Gets Chris Paul, he gets injured. You call him a choker then get mad when he goes to am easier situation?
You also can’t complain about the nba product then say “nothing but the playoffs matter.” That’s entirely why the regular season is worse now!
Yeah I was about to point out how we started with “NBA unwatchable, Nets super-team is going to dominate for eternity” to “Harden is an overrated choke artist”. Does not compute.
I have also yet to get an answer to what era they want to go back to. Can’t say I fully get the MNGA movement.
hitting open 3s is superior to missing open 3s.
I think a lot of teams are completely unviable without parity or direct subsidies from the rich/good teams to the bad/poor teams. And THAT’S SOCIALISM!
There’s actually nothing more American than a carefully crafted system to give mediocre teams a chance to win, after which they can back fill a narrative about tenacity, desire, teamwork, and a little help from God.