Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Net’s newcomer James Harden are all used to leading their teams, scoring points and setting records. How are they going to divide, to step back from being hierarchical heads to playing good soldiers?
“Chemistry. Sacrifice,” Harden said Friday. “We’re all elite, so depending on the game and what’s going on in the course of the game, that will determine who gets the ball and who makes the plays.
“We are all selfless, we are all willing passers-by and we play basketball the right way.”
Harden is doubtful about making his debut against the Magic at Barclays Center on Saturday. He and coach Steve Nash continued to use the word ‘sacrifice’ Friday, as general manager Sean Marks had done the day before. Harden knows he can’t play the same way he has in the past and expects to win the ultimate prize.
“We have two elite scorers that the world already knows,” said Harden. “My job is to come out and, of course, score the ball when you need to, but my ability to play well – in terms of getting shots from our shooters and our big finishes around the edge and improving from the whole team – that’s one aspect of my game that will excel in this offense.
“As long as I make my teammates better, it doesn’t matter about the points. Everyone knows I can score the ball with a high clip, and that’s where the sacrifice comes in. “
Harden won the last three scoring titles in Houston, taking isolation basketball to unprecedented extremes. The Nets will clearly be iso-heavy with this Big 3, but Harden will have to dribble less and pass more.
“Yeah, it’s going to be an adjustment for him,” Nash said. “He’s been playing the same role for years, in the same way, in the same style. So he will be able to mimic that in some ways, but in other ways he will have to adapt to playing with other guys, namely Kevin and Ky. “
Why would anyone think Harden will change his game?
Harden’s isolation has fallen from 14.1 assets to just six, and his aid ratio (30 per 100 assets) and aid turnover ratio (2.44) are career high.
Most telling, though, was the rejection of a $ 100 million two-year extension to leave Houston for Brooklyn. After chasing the money earlier in his career, Harden now says he’s looking for his first ring.
“[When I was] younger, giving myself a chance but wanting to get paid and take care of my family was very important to me, ”said Harden. “Now, at this stage of my career, I give myself the opportunity to do something that I have not yet achieved in this competition. That’s very important to me right now and that’s the situation I’m in, and that’s why I’m here in Brooklyn. “
Harden is not the only one who will have to adapt.
Over the past 10 seasons, Irving’s usage rate of 42.5 in clutch time has topped the NBA. Durant and Harden were in third place at 39.7.
“They won’t be the same volume they are used to,” Nash said. “But they are all excited about the opportunity to play with other great players.”
Durant is a two-time Finals MVP, while Irving took the most iconic Finals Game 7 winner of the past decade. If Harden wants his own ring, he’ll have to make other changes. Over the years, his defense has been questioned and this season he got out of shape in the camp.
When asked what his conditioning was like, Harden replied, “Great!” with a half smile, half a grin. But he said external doubt cannot motivate him more than he is.
“I am as motivated as they come. I don’t pay attention to defense and conditioning [talk] because everyone starts the same as the training camp, so I don’t care, ”said Harden. “I don’t really pay attention. I know that I am one of the best basketball players we have in this league. My job is to get out there and focus on what we should be doing every night. “