“I just want a fair chance, man”
It turns out, there’s another Meme team. When things go wrong, just tell the press that James Harden sent you.
After hearing James Harden and the Houston Rockets whine about all the calls that went against him, my first reaction was to show one of his typical plays, in which he commits an offensive foul, but tricks the refs into giving him three free throws.
But then I thought I should provide statistical proof of how much Harden manipulates the refs, allowing him to lead the league in free throw attempts for the last few years.
One website, NBA Miner, tracked all the 4-point plays this season. Harden had 20, to go along with 75 other fouls on three point shots this season. Curry, who is a more dangerous shooter and has more people contest his shot only had 8 of these plays.
Here’s an article on 4-point plays, dating back to 2016, that gave the following list for career leaders in this statistic:
- Jamal Crawford — 47
- JJ Redick — 25
- Reggie Miller — 23
- Kobe Bryant — 17
- Steph Curry — 15
The fact that Harden had more 4-point plays this season than everyone but the top three players over their entire career shows something is really wrong with the rules, the referees, and especially Harden, who keeps inventing techniques to trick the refs into calling fouls.
Just quoting Harden and the rest of the Rockets could be turned into an episode of Game of Zones.
But I was wrong.
James Harden’s treatment has been cruel and unjust, and he must have a point, because I found a ton of people on the internet who hope to get the same consideration and compassion Harden deserves.
