Harden was dead.
It was over.
The memes & photoshops were warming up, the tweets were saved as drafts and the Instagram posts were ready to roll.
James Harden who in my mind was the real MVP of the regular season, had kept the Rockets afloat and led them to the #2 seed while dealing with injuries in a tough Western Conference was chilling on the bench pondering what went wrong.
At the moment, he got something that every superstar no matter how great needs from time to time.
HELP
The help came in the form of players who he had helped all season, Terry, Ariza, Smith and others. When he needed them the most they came through for him (same can’t be said for the Clippers).
One man can’t beat a team, no matter how great that player is. Doesn’t matter if you are Michael Jordan, Magic, LeBron, Kobe or whoever, you need help. If the Rockets run continues, it is Harden that will get all the accolades and he deserves it, but just who saved him.
A lot of times when we try to compare players especially from the past, we see them as individuals, we don’t see the team. When you have a great player, they only move to legendary status when they have a great team behind them. Jordan went 7 years before winning a title, LeBron had to take his talents elsewhere, once Shaq left, Kobe needed Gasol.
You know the saying, behind every good man there is a greater woman, same goes for team sports. Behind every superstar, there are teammates that will be needed to pick them up when they fall.