CJ McCollum hails James Harden’s leadership with Houston Rockets

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While modern-day NBA fans have witnessed some of the greatest individual performances in the 2022-23 season. Be it Luka Doncic’s 60-point triple-double, Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 55-point outing, Pelicans star CJ McCollum was quick to remind everyone that James Harden had casually achieved such individual brilliance during his time with the Houston Rockets.

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New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) plays against the Miami Heat in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)

There is no denying that James Harden was a beast with the Houston Rockets. Not only was a much better 3-point shooter but his scoring average and numbers were quite significant as well. This is just what CJ McCollum stressed upon during the latest episode of ESPN’s CJ McCollum Show.

The New Orleans Pelicans star stressed how Harden was constantly putting up numbers in the 40s and 50s, and how it seemed normal at that time.

CJ McCollum on James Harden

CJ McCollum said, “I think at this stage I’m just numb to everything. You just expect crazy stuff to happen like Luka was doing 60-point triple-doubles and we’re talking about it more now than we ever before but I do want to go on the record of saying James (Harden) was doing stuff like this regularly. Not 70s, but he was putting up 50. He’d have a week where he’d go 55, 54, 50 with triple-doubles and we just didn’t really even talk about it.”

James Harden
James Harden

Harden’s legendary with the Rockets is not spoken of enough. Since he has left the side, they have struggled to stamp their authority, more so their presence in the conference.

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