James Harden: What Does The Beard Have In Common With Tom Hanks?

What do James Harden and Tom Hanks have in common?

Well yes there is that beard that Tom Hanks has sported in various movie roles, but really has he ever truly come close to the magnificence of James Harden’s bushy physiognomy?

Sure they are both super stars in their own domains and they both can be seen on your television or computer screens on any given night, but no that’s not it.

Do you give up yet?

Well let me take you back to a week ago when Houston traveled East to play the Boston Celtics and a game where Harden did something he routinely does. Suffice to say Evan Turner will never be able to watch Cast Away or look at a volleyball the same way ever again.

Okay so, I’m toying a little bit with you. For those of you who watch NBA TV you’ll know there is the triumvirate of weekly specialty awards that have become mainstays fans look forward to on a weekly basis:

1. Shaquille O’Neal’s: Shaqtin A Fool
2. Top 10 Dunks of the Week
3. AND…. Steve Smith’s – Smitty’s Top 5 Plays Under the Rim

If you follow his weekly accolades you’ll know Smith has a propensity for a few guards in the league who’ve earned their own nicknames:

• Steph Curry is The Dry Cleaner
• Kyrie Irving is the Bus Driver
• Jamal Crawford is the Dance Instructor

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And, you can pretty much bet you’ll see Houston Rockets very own James Harden nicknamed The Barber appear in each weekly segment.

Though it’s hard to tell who Smitty would put first it’s safe to say Curry, Irving and Harden are his top 3 favorites. Further, you can tell how much Smitty appreciates your moves on a weekly basis by the accompanying visuals he adds.

To that end, James Harden made a big impression on Smitty this week and I found his entire graphic presentation one of his best of the season.

So, watching the Rocket vs. Bulls game Wednesday it was pretty obvious we were going to see this step back beauty where Harden put  defensive specialist Jimmy Butler on skates:

And while I searched high and low for a gif of the second step back where he put Butler on his bottom to share with you, I had no luck tracking it down. Fortunately,  it wasn’t necessary given Smitty was equally impressed with the second step back on Butler and included it in this weeks’ feature, albeit with a nice little spin on the the wording as to how it tied into his Barber vignette.

Yet the play which garnered the most appeal for Smitty occurred in Boston last Friday when Harden put Evan Turner on an island, introduced him to Wilson the volleyball and literally wore him down until he just gave up defending. You can see the whole series here with brilliant graphics and all.

Hope you enjoyed the weekly tribute to the Barber and hey maybe Tom Hanks will call Harden to ask what he does to make his beard so thick and luscious.