Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden is one of the greatest playoff players in NBA history.
Cleveland Cavaliers star James Harden hasn't won an NBA championship yet.
However, he's undoubtedly one of the greatest playoff players of all time.
Only four players in NBA history have recorded 4,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in their playoff career. Harden is one of them, joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
If you are on a list with Jordan, James and Bryant, you are doing something right. Sure, Harden has come up short several times in his postseason career. He's only been to the NBA Finals once. That was back in 2012 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, there is no denying that Harden is a once-in-a-generation player. He was named a top-75 player of all time and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer one day.
Harden has been in the NBA since 2009. He has never missed the playoffs with the Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Cavaliers. That is mind-blowing.
As of this writing, Harden and the Cavaliers are one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland is up 3-2 on the Detroit Pistons in the conference semifinals.
An 11-time All-Star, Harden has career averages of 24.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the regular season and 22.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in the playoffs. It will be fascinating to see if the lefty can win his first NBA title this year with the Cavaliers, who have won only one championship in franchise history. That was back in 2016 when James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love beat the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
Harden has a $42 million player option for next season that he's likely to decline to enter unrestricted free agency. Most people expect the Cavaliers to re-sign Harden, who has a close relationship with Donovan Mitchell.
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