James Harden is used to being “the guy,” having been the Rockets’ lone superstar in Houston, but Brooklyn has been quite a different story.
The Nets leveraged the majority of their draft capital to build the league’s latest “big three,” with Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on their roster. And while there were questions about potential chemistry issues involving those superstars, they’ve played well together, when healthy.
As a result, the Nets are the odds-on favorite to win the championship this season. Their defense remains a question mark, but they’re clearly built to outscore any team on any given night.
A lot of the credit goes to Harden, who appeared to humble himself upon arriving in Brooklyn, and accept that he wouldn’t be the go-to guy every night. He himself even hinted at his personal stats taking a backseat to winning, with this recent comment.
We’re willing to bet those zero points he put up in a recent scrimmage won’t affect his performance in Game 1 against the Celtics on Saturday night. Harden, Durant and Irving will likely put on a show for the national audience.
