Somehow Harden is hitting his stride and, in fact, getting even better as the season begins to wind down. Check out his February stats in nine games: 29.1 points on 53.9 percent shooting, 3.4 3-pointers on 50.8 percent shooting, 6.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 3.1 turnovers and 1.9 steals. Can you say Player of the Month?
Just as big of a surprise for the MIP candidate – if not a distant MVP candidate – is that he has managed to put the Rockets on the map to contend for a playoff spot. Traded to a new team with a completely unproven core of players, not many expected the Rockets to be this relevant – tied with the Utah Jazz for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Yet, Harden has defied expectations to become a true franchise-level player in the league. It’s hard to believe that just a season ago, the man was coming off the bench in favor of Thabo Sefolosha.
If Harden can keep up what he’s doing for years to come – and there’s no reason to believe he won’t – then he and Mill are absolutely right in saying that the bearded one will, indeed, become a legendary figure one day.
Tweet of the Day: LaMarcus Aldridge
Tweet of the Night: Kobe Bryant
James Park is a senior blogger for Sheridanhoops. You can follow him at @SheridanBlog.