How Kawhi Leonard/Rockets’ James Harden are proof of media biases

Houston Rockets star James Harden and LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard have been two of the best examples of how the media develops flawed narratives towards players.

The national media has long developed a propensity of forming unjustified narratives about NBA players. It’s become blatantly obvious that many of these narratives have been formed to fit whatever premise the media is trying to promote, whether it be erroneous or not. Many of these narratives have even made their way to the Houston Rockets organization, and they too are inaccurate.

We’ve heard how Houston Rockets star James Harden doesn’t show up in the postseason, which couldn’t be any further from the truth. Not only is Harden one of the league’s best postseason performers, but he’s also been one of the most clutch players in the league.

But if you allow the national media’s misconceptions to influence you, you’d think Harden was a draft bust who only draws fouls and plays for stats, even though that’s also flawed. The reality is that Harden is one of the greatest offensive players we’ve ever seen, and has even been Jordan-esque.

But it’s much more convenient to bash Harden and scrutinize/criticize everything he does or has ever done. We’ve even seen Harden receive criticism for doing hospitable acts, because the media’s motives are to slander The Beard.

Perhaps the best example of this is how it’s viewed that Harden is the reason why the Rockets were unable to get over the hump against the Golden State Warriors. Anyone watching the NBA over the years knows that the Dubs were unfairly constructed, which is why no Western Conference team was able to get past them.

But aside from that, it’s also an extremely limited argument to base an overall narrative on how a player performs against just one team, or even in one postseason.

Next: Kawhi in Toronto