James Harden may be poised to have a monstrous year this season. With Dwight Howard gone to Atlanta, Harden is the unquestioned leader of the Rockets. Under Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense and with shooters all around him, Harden is primed to put up huge numbers.
But before the NBA season starts, Harden has been putting in work in the summer circuit. The shooting guard once again showed up to the Drew League. Wearing a uniform that looks way too much like the Atlanta Hawks’ (shots fired at Dwight Howard?!?!) Harden easily scored 42 points.
However, it wasn’t all gravy for the Rockets’ guard. Harden faced some high-level defense in the form of a heckling fan who focused on the former’s penchant for flopping to get to the free throw line.
It appears that Harden has a semantic issue with using the term “flopping.” He did not fake contact; he merely exaggerated it. I don’t know if the dictionary definition agrees with Harden but I guess he’s the expert. I’m willing to use a different clever name for what Harden did as long as someone else comes up with it.
Most importantly, we now know noted boy scout James Harden was Vlade Divac-ing it out there.