James Harden calls out Clippers doubters: ‘They’re nowhere to be found.’
After continuously showcasing his disdain for Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers front office over the summer, James Harden finally got his wish barely a week into the 2023-24 NBA season. He got traded to the Los Angeles Clippers–the destination he wanted all along–in a seven-player swap, joining Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook with hopes to further make the Clippers contenders in the Western Conference.
It got off to a rocky start; Harden went viral after saying “he was the system” and the Clippers subsequently lost their first six post-trade.
Though Los Angeles has won 18 of their last 23 games, including 13 of their last 15, vaulting from No. 12 in the West–their standing before their 23-game stretch, when they were 3-7 (small sample)–to a top-4 seed, where they’re 21-12 and three games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best seed in the West.
Better yet, Harden had some fun calling out Clipper haters earlier this week.&nbsp;
“Obviously it didn’t start off well,” Harden said after Wednesday’s 131-122 win over the Phoenix Suns, according to beat writer Joey Linn for Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation. “It gave people so much to talk about in a negative way. And now those people that was talking, they’re nowhere to be found. Like literally nowhere to be found.”
Since arriving in Los Angeles, Harden’s averaged 17.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists on 47.0 percent shooting and 43.3 percent from 3-point range. His 59.4 effective field goal percentage is a career-best while his 66.0 true-shooting percentage would tie a career-best set in 2011-12, his last season in Oklahoma City.
Harden has handled a decreased role perfectly, transforming the Clippers into one of the most efficient offenses in basketball after they placed No. 19 (‘22-23) and 25 (‘21-22) in offense the last two seasons.
Though the most important Clippers stat is the games played statistic: Harden has missed just one game since arrival (the very first one); Leonard’s missed four games; George has missed two games; Westbrook and Norman Powell have played in all 33; Terance Mann’s missed six.
There’s been some fluctuation throughout the back of its rotation, but for the most part, all of the Clippers’ top-7 have been available for much of the season. Developing that chemistry and comradery will be crucial for a deep playoff run, which has been non-existent in Clippers’ lore.
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