It turns out that there’s more to James Harden’s success than a wild beard and a knack for drawing fouls.
Crazy, right? Here I was thinking that there was something about his facial hair that repelled defenders.
But the truth is that the secret to Harden’s record-breaking season is his work ethic.
Harden has taken his conditioning “to another level”, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told The Houston Chronicle.
“He sees that we can win the title,” D’Antoni said. “This is a big moment for him to do that extra stuff he’s doing – eating right, getting in shape – that’s what makes him so valuable.”
He does extra weights sessions before practice, runs the arena stairs before film sessions, and even added a special morning treatment and stretching session on game days.
And the secret to his stellar iso moves? After every practice, Harden has one-on-one battles with Gerald Green, Danuel House Jr. and P.J. Tucker.
“He’s bringing his ‘A’ game,” House said their post-practice games. “Of course, there’s no referee so everybody gets real physical.”
While Harden was never out of shape, he’s slowly added to his workload, especially after Rockets got off to a rough start this season.
But that’s what he loves to do.
“I love doing it,” Harden said. “Every day, man. I’m happy to be playing professional basketball and I would never take it for granted.
So every day, I put the work in and expect good results. And it’s happening.”
You’re damn right it’s happening.
Harden dropped 43 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in Houston’s 113-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday for his third triple-double of the season.
The performance also marked The Beard’s eighth-straight 35-point performance, which is tied for the 10th longest streak in NBA history.
As if that wasn’t enough, he also became the first player in NBA history to have at least 35 points and 5 assists in 8 straight games.
Oh, and over his last ten games, he’s dropped a cool 408 points and 89 assists.
It looks like The Beard is in the race for another scoring title, another MVP and maybe even his first ring.
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