Why Prime James Harden Was Impossible To Guard

At his peak, James Harden was one of the most complete offensive players in NBA history, but what was it that made him so impossible to defend?

[_JustReal_]

Harden bag so deep im about 18 mins in and he still haven’t even mentioned his passing/lob throwing ability yet

[Jeff_x]

Glad the first step was highlighted. A lot of people talk about his step back 3s but prime harden had that plus an unbelievable first step which made him unguardable

[LordAbe]

James Harden was one of the NBA players that brought me to the beautiful sport of basketball. He is like an engineer trying to figure out a way to simply their craft without sacrificing any resources or adding any costs. Many don't know this but it was reported that prior to the 2019-2020 season Kawhi wanted Harden on the Clippers rather than PG13. That would have been insanity. PS: Great Breakdown Hoop Venue!

[Iso_SSB]

Prime harden was something special man, almost the most broken team of all time 😂

[davidblack]

Being a die hard harden fan it’s been tough seeing him being disrespected in real time. But every year passes and people realize he should have won more than 1 MVP and probably a title. They went 0-27 straight from 3 and only loss by single digits

[frz_-]

I see hoopvenue breakdown all time players i click

[WuiggiWRLD]

James harden is overhated and under appreciated

[jhakilsharpe]

I will never disrespect harden
From 2014-2020 he averaged 31 PPG
From 2020-2024 he averaged 10 APG
Not including 2016–17 where he averaged 11
If we don’t include rings this man is offensively the best greatest COMBO GAURD of all time

[pman]

Harden was an extremely underrated passer during his prime. Him and capela had the best 2 man game in the league during those prime Houston years. He wasn’t afraid to start his games passing before taking open shots.
People complain about his lack of mid range game but if you watch 8 hours of highlights like I have you’d know he definitely took his fair share of mid range buckets.

[送りバント-uy]

I think the Harden rockets, who won 3 games in the playoffs against 73win GSW + KD, were stronger than many champion teams. I wanted to see GAME 7 without CP3's injury. And the Warriors with KD are a team that is unfair.

[FunNHonesty]

Prime Harden was an entire offense. He could give you 35 and 15 every night. He has a top 5 of all time offensive prime! I did not say player because he isn’t even top 20.

Imagine if he played defense, wasn’t self-absorbed, cared about his conditioning, and didn’t party every dam night.

[Jeff_x]

Finally more people are starting to appreciate peak Harden

[Armandytalks]

Not going to lie, He was fuckin the league up to the point where they had to change certain rules. No one gives harden enough credit

[Jeff_x]

Harden is the ONLY player I’ve ever seen not get a ring in his prime because he went up against the GOAT team be held against him smh

[wasquash]

thanks for this video. definitely gonna watch this a lot. very educational break down of james harden’s play.

[allphornunn]

Harden developed himself into an all-time great scorer before slowed by injury. His major shortcoming was he didn't know how to progress into being all-time great leader & winner, too. I think he wanted to make that shift in his later Houston era, but he didn't know how to, really. So, like another all-time great _scorer_ KD, he used his cache to *force* his way onto winning teams... he just wasn't/isn't a great leader like MJ, Lebron, Bird, Kobe... Doesn't change that he was one of few best individual scorers ever with MJ and Wilt

[beeebz]

if you will continue the trend of breaking down more all time peaks this off season, itd be sick to see you make a video on prime cp3. Love the content bro, big big fan

[a_RD_]

Please do more historic player analysis! This was one of my favorite videos you’ve done!

[rockysalvatore]

3:04 no illegal Draymond screens here. Just pure basketball ability. Not special treatment for global marketing

[routerguy]

I never realized how athletic James Harden was