Latest / The Facts with Jamal 🇺🇸🦅👊 / #JamesHarden, great efficient scorer, but all time playoff choke artist.

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#JamesHarden, great efficient scorer, but all time playoff choke artist. · The Facts with Jamal 🇺🇸🦅👊

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  So I figured I'd put politics to the side for today, talk about
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  some sports. So this is one of the NBA, you
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  know, what player that's still active.
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  He has been really the one player that, since I've watched
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  him, I have never been able to figure out, like, how can you be
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  one of the better offensive players in NBA history?
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  Yeah, when it comes to the postseason, it's been mostly a
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  disaster. And the person I'm referring to
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  is James Hard. So in case you all need a
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  refresher on him first today he's back with the Cavaliers on
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  a three-year deal and look and my supplies like Cleveland even
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  bought him back today. Well, no.
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  Considering that they had to go get him to try help out the team
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  to avoid yet another playoff disappointment, I don't know if
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  he would have been the long term answer.
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  Here's why my estimation he might be.
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  You can argue the greatest show guard is in NBA history when it
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  comes to the playoffs because here's the reality.
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  For all the great numbers he has, you also have to point this
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  out every single time he's been in the playoffs.
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  It's like whenever he gets there he gives you enough of a reason
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  to believe in him only to leave you a century.
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  Like same old story, just a different year.
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  The reality is James Harden to me, he probably might end his
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  career in all likelihood with our championship.
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  And you can like you for the majority of his career it's been
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  of his own job. Now mind you, we're talking
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  about a guy three time scoring champion, MVP, one of you can
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  argue the most efficient scores in NBA history.
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  No championships to show for. Now mind you this was the same
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  guy at one point from a couple years back.
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  I said the now infamous words I'm not a system player, I am
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  the system. If that's the case, then why
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  hasn't said System won a championship?
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  Why hasn't he won a championship?
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  I mean, do I really have to say anything more than that?
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  But why I said that's not to say here and to say that James
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  Harden isn't a great player. That would be wrong.
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  The truth is I can't where we play him at high regard with
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  some of the all time other great scores because he's, he just, he
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  was too inconsistent for me at many times in the playoffs.
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  Cause the reality is all the great scoring that he has done
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  throughout his career, no championships.
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  So mind you, when he was in Oklahoma City, because that's
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  where he was to begin his career, it was a century, the
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  6th man, although he was starred at times, he was pretty much the
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  6th man, OK. And then when Oklahoma City
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  chose tonight, I guess extend them again to the luxury tax, he
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  then just moved to Houston. And that's where the real crux
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  of all this started. Throughout his 89 seasons in
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  Houston, he was the number one guy, the number one guy on that
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  team. And like I said, he had I
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  already ran awesome with his accurate, but he to me was good
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  enough to lead that blackest team to a championship.
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  OK, now mind you, in this time in Houston, he played for Kellen
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  McHale, who was his first coach there, Mike D'Antoni and then
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  Steven Cyrus. Cyrus, I'm sorry, but really it
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  wasn't until D'Antoni took over they finally released what we
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  saw James Harden really became in his prime.
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  Going to the conference finals 2 times, many playoff appearances,
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  but I always felt like that team with him at that point just
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  wasn't good. Now, I'll get to the individual
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  side with him a little bit later, but actually, you know
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  what? I'm about to go there now.
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  I don't know if there's been any player in NBA history, at least
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  in my lifetime, that you can argue has had more disappointing
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  playoff games individually than James Harden.
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  I mean, if you recall, there was that one series against San
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  Antonio one year where it was when to go home for Houston in
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  Game 6, James Harden complete, no show.
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  And if you want to go back prior to that, he was on the bench.
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  When the Rockets came back in that one game against the
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  Clippers, I think they were down by 20 plus points.
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  He was on the bench and they came back and won without him.
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  Whether it was now I'm adding in the team perspective as far as
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  Houston, like I said, that team at that point, they were good
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  but just not good enough to take that jump towards winning a
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  championship. Whether it was, you know, going
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  up against going stay in their heyday, you know, the Lakers
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  from, you know, that crazy year in 2020, whoever they may have
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  been. And you can't even argue that
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  San Antonio team who was at the last end of the airline as a
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  dynasty. And let me not forget to mention
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  2018 game seven in Houston or I could say homecourt against the
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  Warriors. They could not really hit a
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  three-point. I think they had gone were 2728
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  straight without making one from three-point and I surprised when
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  they ended up losing. So the idea that James Horn was
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  never good enough to win championship, it's actually far
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  from the truth. He was.
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  The problem is he kept running into your better teams or the
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  more overall point, he just completely wasn't no show.
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  And then of course, you know, he fell out in Houston, you know,
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  and he won it out. Wanted to join the guy that
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  bought him to Houston, Del Moy, but not yet.
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  So Houston treated him to Brooklyn.
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  Like I said, I'm not going to hold that situation against them
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  because that was all Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, you know
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  why that did not materialize. So then he gets reviled to
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  Philadelphia where he is. We united with this site guy
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  that acquired him from Houston host years back in Del.
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  He ends up leading the NBA in assists one year and I think the
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  following year he was in the top ten and you know Philadelphia
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  was on the was knocking on the door of trying to get to a
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  conference final. Unfortunately, more of the same
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  from Harlan that he was in Houston, came to Philadelphia,
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  particularly in that series and his boss, he had two incredible
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  games, I believe it was games one and four, where he thought
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  maybe this guy should be a good thing, that James Harden might
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  turn around. Anyway, some of his playoff
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  failures wasn't the case and he was very bad to unfortunately
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  the guy we have come to know and really despise because of that.
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  And so then once that ended up happening, Philadelphia, not
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  surprised when he didn't make much headway in the postseason
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  at that point, hard and won it out once again.
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  And he lands with the Clippers. And look at that point again, it
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  was really only what, 2-3 years ago?
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  But again, same song, third, first, more of the same
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  productive regular season, mostly a playoff note show for
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  the 2 1/2 years he was with the Clippers.
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  And then, of course, this past season, Clippers had no
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  intention of bringing him back. Long time.
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  So he wanted out, ended up in Cleveland at the trade deadline.
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  And now in that situation, it's a mixed bag.
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  Of course, it was simple goal, you know, James Harden's start.
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  But I wanna go to Game 7 in Detroit in the semi finals.
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  Now mind you that when I have to have been a game seven had
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  Cleveland actually did the job at home against Detroit
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  tonight's prior. But the crazy thing was
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  Cleveland ended up blowing out Detroit by over 30 points and I
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  think was a + 28. He was a + 28 and he didn't
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  really contribute much offensively.
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  And so he thought, OK, if you're, you know, have a plus
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  minus that high and you didn't ultimately contribute that much
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  offensively, that actually says that, yes, the team didn't even
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  score. But it was like, not really so
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  much in a way with math. But then we get to game one
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  Eastern Conference finals and it's the eventual champion New
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  York Knicks. We all know what happened in
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  that game. And I'm just going to tell you
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  right now, I never felt sorry for James Harden cause of the
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  many shortcomings in his post season career.
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  But that one game, that one game, you know, when Cleveland
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  has hugely put New York on the ropes, maybe try to pull out an
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  upset win, and then they ended up collapsing down the stretch
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  and ultimately losing. That one game might have been
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  the only legitimate time I ever felt sorry for James Harden.
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  Cause Katie Atkinson left him out on an island against Sharon
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  Brunson and Brunson made James Harden look small.
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  I mean, that's how bad it was. And of course, you know,
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  Atkinson took a lot of people as he should.
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  But I can remember watching the game and subsequently the
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  highlights, you know, not long after I was saying to myself,
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  where was the help defense? Where is the help defense?
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  Cause Harden's on an island. Bronson is basically making him
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  feel like he don't belong in this league.
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  And then the next thing you know, Cleveland's league was I
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  believe was 22 at that point immediately evaporated and the
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  Knicks came all the way back and won.
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  And then of course they obviously Cleveland Knight is
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  lost four straight. And you know what if you again
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  total win Harden's time as the number one option or even when
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  he was with Philadelphia, the Clippers shooting extend and
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  this past season, you know, or half a season with Cleveland,
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  especially when he was in Houston as the number one guy.
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  He has had more playoff shortcomings than any player in
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  NBA history and work. Is he an all time, you know,
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  official offensive player? Well, considering how he was
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  able in a way to maneuver the rules so he can try to get his
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  own points, you kind of have to say yes.
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  In the same boat, however, it's like, well, where do you rank?
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  Where do you ultimately play a guy for his gift as he is
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  offensively continually year after year or whatever team he's
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  on, always finds a way to want you to yearn more because he
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  always finds a way to leave you at the end.
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  And most of the time come the postseason again, great all
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  timer fishing score. But just I mean, if you were to
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  ask me in no specific order, if I had to list, you know, top
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  five players in NBA history, OK, Spain from really the 1980s.
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  OK, If you were to ask me where would I write James Harden as
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  far as top five players in NBA history revival ring span from
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  the A's, I will have to put him at #1.
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  Now, you can argue with me about some other guys, especially from
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  my generation. I'm willing to, you know, hear
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  your thought. But for me, he would be #1 is
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  not even close. Because for a guy to be that
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  gift of offense, to be able to be one of the better, more
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  efficient scores of his hour, for him to come up short time
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  and time again in the postseason, again, I have to
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  really say he's just not someone you can really hold in high
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  with. God because of the myriad of
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  ways he has left you wanting more.
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  That's really the bottom line.