James Harden “Found a Way to Manipulate the NBA” for His Own Benefit, Claims Ex-NBA Star

There have been only a few who forced the NBA to change rules, and James Harden is one of them. The most recent acknowledgment of this came during a podcast episode of Gil’s Arena. In one of the segments, the discussion emerged around questioning if James Harden comes among the top five shooting guards.

While Gilbert Arenas agreed on Harden in the top 5, Kenyon Martin faced the question of what stands out about the LA Clippers star. “He found a way to manipulate the NBA to cater to his style of play. The drawing fouls, the step back. Like he made it a thing… They (the league) were changing rules because of him… And now the gather and the sweep through to the fire, like all those things because of James. So that stands out,” he replied on the show.

Notably, The Beard was termed the poster boy of the NBA’s New Rule Change around 2021. It is well known that James Harden’s game was heavily based on drawing fouls from the defenders. This included some leaning into defenders, getting them to jump and then stepping into them, and hooking defenders with an arm to simulate a foul.

As per ‘Statmuse’, the 2018 MVP averaged 9 or more free throw attempts during all his seasons with Houston Rockets. Subsequently, the NBA had no option but to specify that officials would no longer allow offensive players to execute ‘non-basketball moves’ to draw foul calls. Although The Beard had said his playing style would not be affected, the impact on his game is visible. 

Did the new rules nerf James Harden to some extent?    

It cannot be denied the Clippers star is a proficient scorer, but he heavily relied on shooting fouls for a lot of his points. The fact his two highest ppg came in the two seasons in which he had the highest FTA testifies this. Additionally, the time when the 10x All Star was averaging more than 9.0 FTA every season, his points per game was 29.6.

But ever since his FTA reduced from the 9.0 mark, he has averaged 20.6 points per game. However, there is also an argument against the new rules that the refs are now missing multiple such calls which should’ve been called. And James Harden, being the poster boy of the change, obviously seems to be one of the most affected by this.

“Sometimes I feel like coming into a game, it’s already predetermined… Or I already have that stigma of getting foul calls,” he said, as per an article by ‘SBNation’. What’s your take on the recently highlighted issue of increasing missed calls by refs in the league?     

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.