Kobe’s beef with style of play shows he’s very late to the party
Someone out there in the big ol’ world doesn’t fully believe in James Harden and the Rockets? What??? Crazy!
I’ve never, ever heard that one before.
Some treated Kobe Bryant’s recent words as fascinating news. Others acted like the 18-time All-Star had suddenly become America’s foremost expert in inside NBA analysis.
Yawn.
It was just ESPN, once again, promoting ESPN. The four-letter word publicly hyped an “exclusive” TV interview with the former Laker by publishing a web story that highlighted Bryant’s sizzling insight.
It had also already been said about 300,000 times … if you’ve been paying attention the last four seasons.
“There’s the style of play in which he’s using, which I’m not a fan of in terms of winning championships,” Bryant told the Worldwide Leader. “I don’t think that style’s ever gonna win championships.”
Really? You don’t say. The Rockets have opted for the other view, proudly pro-
moting Harden’s nightly binge as the “Unguardable Tour.”
I’d rather win a world title than sell T-shirts, but maybe I’m just old-fashioned.
I’m also somewhat amazed that our President didn’t address the pros and cons of the Harden debate during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Bryant obviously hasn’t been reading the Chronicle since 2015. And ex-No. 8/24 — Bryant was so good he required two jersey numbers with the same team — somehow must have forgotten he was the living definition of a one-man show during his final few non-golden years in The Association, when Los Angeles was nosediving toward a nasty rebuild and 10-for-24 nights became standard.
I’m not dumb enough to knock a five-time NBA champion who twice led the league in scoring and is one of the greatest shooting guards in history.
Michael Jordan led to Bryant. Bryant eventually gave way to LeBron James. Throw in Bryant’s good buddy Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, and that pretty much sums up the last three decades of NBA history (until Golden State started draining 3-pointers).
I’m only pointing out that Bryant turned his final season into a self-obsessed farewell tour. That the Lakers went 17-65 while a future Hall of Famer shot an embarrassing 35.8 percent from the field and 28.5 percent on 3s. And even when Bryant dropped 60 points during his last game, he required 50 shots.
Fifty.
My lord.
Harden’s 2018-19 season high in field-goal attempts is 38, which resulted in 61 points. He also has carried his Rockets without Clint Capela, Chris Paul and Eric Gordon and is staring at a second consecutive MVP season.
But that’s apparently neither here nor there. Bryant spoke, and The Beard was forced to respond to a champion he grew up admiring.
“I have to be ball dominant because we have injuries,” said Harden, who leads the NBA with a career-high 36.5 scoring average and is shooting 44.2 percent from the floor. “But when we get Chris in a rhythm and Eric back and our full roster, we have multiple guys that can make plays, dominate the ball.
“For right now, he’s probably right. This way won’t get us where we want to go. We haven’t had a full roster yet. I’m excited for that.”
I’m going to break some news toward the end of this column. Harden is going to deal with this — doubt, disbelief, lingering criticism, outside hate — until he finally hoists a trophy.
I can run out of words to describe his nightly shooting shows. The reigning MVP can average 43.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists in January. But the second you flip the talk-radio dial, some Hardenhating yahoo is yelling that Daryl Morey must immediately trade famous No. 13 for Anthony Davis, Jeremy Lin and Dwight Howard.
I’ve written it countless times this season and said it many more during previous years. A “worn-out Harden by the time the playoffs arrive” has been an annual topic since Howard was in red.
Bryant was right. Harden can’t do it all by himself, and his nightly freak show won’t cut it in June.
The Warriors are a deep, deadly, full team. Another MVP award pales when compared to a first NBA title.
But that’s old news if you’re a real Rockets fan. And no one knows that better than Harden in 2019.