Houston Rockets: 4 false narratives about the team

Harden only tries to draw fouls?

Part of what has made James Harden’s offensive game so brilliant is his unique ability to draw fouls, as he’s led the league in free throws in each of the last five years. Because of this skill (which it definitely is), Harden has been labelled as a “flopper.” In addition to this label, there is a narrative that Harden “only tries to draw fouls,” which is an incredibly flawed argument.

For starters, he’s mastered his “unguardable” step back 3-pointer, which is part of why he’s led the league in 3-pointers attempted and 3-pointers made in each of the last two years. Despite shooting so many 3’s, Harden has been shooting nearly 37 percent from distance. But not just that, Harden has also led the league in field goals made and field goals attempted, which wouldn’t be possible if he were simply only trying to “draw fouls”. It’s important to keep in mind that Harden scored more points in the clutch than any other player in the league, which SHOULD be perceived as him being a clutch player, and not just a flopper.

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