James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers has arguably been the best shooting guard of this NBA’s generation. His resume speaks for itself, as he has accomplished a ton individually despite being the sixth man for the first three seasons of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
His game and performance on the court took off after that point as he became the focal point of the Houston Rockets‘ offensive game plan. He has made 10 consecutive All-Star teams since that move and had a stretch of seven straight All-NBA Team appearances from the 2012-13 season through the 2019-20 season.
Harden has also won the MVP award once, finishing second three times and third once. A spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame awaits him after his career ends as one of the best individual performers in the NBA in recent history. However, the one thing that Harden’s resume is lacking is a championship.
Harden has played on plenty of good teams in his career as he has made the postseason in every year of his career. But he has played in the Conference Championships four times, advancing to the NBA Finals only once with the Thunder in 2012.
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That lack of postseason success is what Harden believes is holding him back when people discuss the best shooting guards in NBA history. No one is catching Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant at this rate, but Harden has a legitimate case for landing right behind them.
Alas, not having a championship is what he believes is keeping him behind a player such as Dwyane Wade, who won three times. Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports shared the update.
“A championship is the one thing Harden’s resume lacks as well. People familiar with Harden’s thinking have long listed Dwyane Wade’s three titles as something Harden sees ahead of his standing on the great guard rankings in NBA history. The rebuilding Rockets aren’t exactly a more established situation for Harden to earn a trophy.”
There have been some rumors that Harden would consider heading back to the Rockets as he has an opt-out in his contract with a player option for the 2023-24 season. If winning championships is his No. 1 goal, it is hard to imagine that Houston would be on his list of potential landing spots.
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The Rockets are still in the early stages of their rebuild and would need a lot more than Harden to become legitimate contenders in the Western Conference. Harden will be 34 years old when next season kicks off, so sticking with the Philadelphia 76ers or finding another ready-made contender would be best for his quest at winning a championship.
