Kobe Bryant poured some cold water on the Houston Rockets’ current style of play, and James Harden is actually in agreement.
On Monday, Bryant said on ESPN that Houston’s current style of having Harden dominate the ball is not one that can win championships.
“I’m not a fan of it in terms of winning championships,” Bryant said on ESPN. “I don’t think that style is ever going to win championships. But at the same time, you have to keep your team’s head above water to win games. You have to do what you have to do to win games. And he’s doing that.”
Bryant knows first-hand about dominating the ball and trying to carry a team the way Harden is. Prior to Harden’s run of high-scoring games this season, Kobe’s ’05-’06 season where he averaged 35.6 points per game was the closest thing that resembled it. The Lakers went 45-37 that season and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Harden is now averaging 36.5 points per game this season after a torrid January in which he averaged over 43 points per game. He knows he’ll need much more help from his teammates in order to have greater team success. He therefore agrees with Kobe.
Harden had no issue with Kobe Bryant saying being so ball dominant won't win a title. “I have to be ball dominant because we have injuries. For right now, he's probably right. This way won’t get us where we want to go. We haven't had a full roster yet. I'm excited for that."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) February 5, 2019
Now that they have Chris Paul back and are getting some other players back up to speed, Harden expects to be able to share things more.
The other part of that Harden quote: "But when we get Chris in a rhythm and Eric back and our full roster, we have multiple guys that can make plays, dominate the ball." https://t.co/yu5t3U09nc
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) February 5, 2019
Harden was more or less doing what he had to given the Rockets’ situation. With CP3 back, Austin Rivers and Kenneth Faried added to the mix, and perhaps another addition coming, Houston is getting deeper.
