Jerry Colangelo on Team USA's leader: 'Right now, I think I would look to Harden'
The past few months have put a few dents in James Harden's reputation, which is a strange thing to say about a guy coming off an All-NBA First Team season, in which he finished fifth in the league in scoring (25.4), set a career high in PER (23.5) and garnered more MVP votes than all but four players.
But when the Houston Rockets dropped their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team widely considered to be less talented than they, questions swirled about Harden's commitment to defense, his shot selection, his focus, and his leadership.
On that last point, the noise got turned up even louder when one of his teammates accused him and Dwight Howard of separating themselves from their fellow Rockets.
So it was particularly heartening to hear USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo tout Harden as the team's nominal leader ahead of the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
From Michael Lee of the Washington Post:
"Right now, I think I would look to Harden as that leader," [Colangelo] said as his team continues to prepare for the tournament in which the winner earns an automatic berth in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. "Harden is kind of a natural leader and he seems to be willing to accept that role. And you can just kind of feel it and sense. He’s the one."
[...]
"I don’t know if he’s been waiting [to lead]. It’s evolved," Colangelo said. "He came in as a pretty high draft pick. Got off to a great start in Oklahoma City. Whether he was disappointed or surprised by what transpired, he found himself in another uniform and that’s part of life in pro sports and the NBA, and I think he’s adjusted to that and his numbers get bigger and he’s being recognized more and more as the player he is. And this is a great platform for him to come out as a leader."
The Rockets can only hope that Harden - who claimed to come to Team USA's camp with the express goal of being a lockdown defender - and who recently declared himself the best player alive (see below) - can embrace the same role in Houston when the 2014-15 NBA season eventually kicks off.