(Sam Amick) Harden slimmed down, fired up for upcoming season

He will never pass Hakeem no matter what he does in his career in Houston. Second best maybe but never better than Dream!

 

don't even know what happened ^there. ghosts in the keyboard.

 

True Hakeem had no star with him in 94... Harden's game 6 against Spurs finished him no way in hell he ever surpasses The Dream.

 

Still fat......too much A1 sauce on those T bone steaks.

 

He wasnt mentally stable. Max had some issues regarding his temper. Harden quitting was a different story

 

did mad max single handedy carry a bunch or role players to 3rd seed behind and and ahead multi star teams to 3rd seed over all being in a stacked west? then beat a team with the MVP and lost to a clearly superior team as the the lone superstar?

 

No one is arguing he is better, but he did help bring a championship to houston

 

Do you normally spread false information when you try to correct someone?

Here is his extension contract $228m https://www.si.com/nba/2017/07/08/james-harden-rockets-contract-extension-details
Here is his shoe contract $200m https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...3/james-harden-adidas-shoe-contract/31634809/
Our maths might be different but 228 > 200 for me.

 

1 ring from Harden and he's barely past Moses Malone who actually won 2 Rockets MVP's and had a Finals appearance. While Harden has embraced Houston, Hakeem MADE Houston first as a U of H Cougar then on the pro club.

Harden needs 2 rings, not 1 great ring to pass Hakeem.

 

Just saw the Harden pic, he looks great. No doubt this is a good thing.

As for the other debate I'm 47 so I can say without a doubt that it will take a monumental amount of success for James to match or get close to Hakeem BUT Hakeem brought us our first and ONLY major chips so it will always be special and unmatched in our city's history.

 

Hakeem had no established stars but he had lots of winners. Thorpe was an all-star once. Horry won 7 rings. Cassell became an all-star and carried a historically horrible clippers team to playoff the same playoff success as Chris Paul. Mario Elie won another championship with the Spurs. The 94 team was full over great players.

 

Hakeeem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Harden

No Debate.

End Thread.

 

Ever heard of sunk cost? His extension contract is due to the mega max so he gets 70M more than he would from any other team but if he leaves Houston he can get the remaining $158M easily from other teams since everyone agrees he is a max player. So really his decision for staying in houston is just 70M+whatever tax savings he gets.

His shoe contract is also more lucrative than his bball contract because he has a chance to earn lifetime royalties on his shoes just like how Kobe and Jordan still get $$$ from Nike after they already retired. In fact, MJ for example made 110M in 2016 and that is with him being like 50 years retired or whatever. In this day and people are more aware of the concept of passive income which is why they prioritize shoe deals and other endorsements over their salary (KD is an example of this). Your "maths" just takes the current contract at face value and doesn't consider potential earning in their deal. In all likelihood this will be Harden's largest salary as a bball player but his salary as a shoe endorser still has a lot of untapped potential just like MJ:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/06/09/the-nbas-biggest-shoe-deals/#40730d311520

 

Because one game where the ENTIRE TEAM sucked defines a career.

 

He will have to get rid of Chris Paul and get to the Finals with just Eric Gordon, Ariza and those couple of guys.

If he can win 3 championships he will pass Hakeem.

 

Whoop de doo, he's ripped. What does it matter if he mentally folds in a playoff elimination game? I ain't forgetting that crap. And the fact that he never truly addressed what his damn issue was during game 6 is another strike against him. Abs don't make a leader.

 

Harden will NEVER pass Hakeem!

 

Please, I didn't say that, or even imply that, it was entirely Harden's fault by any means. The entire team failed, but James Harden is our biggest star. He is capable of doing things, that none of the other players can even dream about. I acknowledge that nearly all the defenses were geared up against him, however a superstar is able to overcome pressure and give a good account of himself and feed the rest of the team as well. Winning and losing are part of the game, and I think most of the fans wouldn't have been upset if the Spurs hadn't blown us out. And for the record, I'm a fan of James Harden.

 

Preface: I am the biggest Akeem Abdul Olajuwon fan ever.

Hakeem at Harden's current age was not head and shoulders above James so I can't say he will never pass Dream. If he does, I will enjoy the parades.