James Harden’s defensive woes have been well documented. The Houston Rockets shooting guard has seen himself featured on a bevy of vines for his less that stellar defense. The effort has often been lacking with Harden turning him into a bit of a punchline.
But no more! James Harden is planning on actually playing defense next year!
Following from a conversation with Lang Whitaker of NBA.com:
“Now with the more talent that’s going to release some offensive pressure off me, I’m going to be able to go out there and play both ends of the floor at a high level,” Harden said. “It’s really difficult to go out there, play all 82 games, lead the league in minutes, and have to do everything offensively. I mean, no one else had that weight on their shoulders in the league. So like I said, it doesn’t really bother me. I focus on what I gotta do and I just go out there and do it.”
Hey, well that sounds like a good idea.
Harden will have some offensive help this season with Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon joining the team. But Harden will likely be the de facto point guard on offense, expected to set everything up in Mike D’Antoni’s fast paced offense. That’s not to mention the injury risk with the new additions that could make Harden the only offensive option at any moment.
At the very least, Harden seems to be ready to work hard on that end of the floor. Whether that will translate to success and whether it will last the whole season remains to be seen.
