Ex-Teammate Gets Into Heated Debate About Comparing “Best Guard” James Harden to “Second Fiddle” Damian Lillard

In the modern NBA era, guards have emerged as the league’s top players. The traditional dominance of big men has given way to a fast-paced offensive style, with point guards taking the lead. In this era of dominance by guards, James Harden and Damian Lillard have stood out because of their volume-scoring. In their prime, the two guards became almost unstoppable. Naturally, their names came up in the debate for the best guards in the league.

However, Harden’s former teammate got into a heated debate while comparing the two guards. He defended his former teammate and considered Harden a far superior player, in his prime.

Austin Rivers picks prime Harden over prime Lillard

James Harden and Damian Lillard have been the standout guards of the last decade. They are undoubtedly two of the most talented guards in the NBA. However, the two have constantly been compared with each other. In a recent interview, Harden’s former teammate, Austin Rivers, picked the ‘Beard’ over Dame. He said, “If we are talking about careers, then James Harden has had a better career. I played with James in Houston, ain’t nobody seeing him. James Harden in Houston, buddy was the best guard in the NBA.”

Rivers further clarified his stance in the comments section of the video. He wrote, “Dame is that dude!!! Make no mistake about that!!! But prime Harden was putting up video game numbers!! League didn’t even know what to do lol. Teams started guarding behind him.” There might be some truth to Rivers’ stance. While Dame became an elite player for the Blazers in the late 2010s, Harden was on another level. He was recording video game stat lines regularly. Dame deserves his flowers. However, prime Harden reached stratospheric heights in terms of volume scoring.

Was Prime Harden the purest scorer in the NBA?

While criticizing Harden has become common, his performance from 2016 to 2019 showcased a different level of excellence. During this period, he displayed a scoring prowess unprecedented in NBA history, surpassing even the remarkable stat lines of Michael Jordan. In the 2018-19 season, Harden went on a tear, recording at least 30 points in 32 consecutive games.

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The 2018-19 season is considered Harden’s best season. He averaged 36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 78 regular season games. Despite his frankly absurd stat line, Harden didn’t win the MVP award. However, his exceptional performances weren’t enough to defeat the Warriors juggernaut, as the Rockets lost to the Dubs in the Conference Semifinals that season. Will Harden’s 2018-19 season go down as one of the best personal seasons of all time? Let us know in the comments below!

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