Durant believes Harden is underappreciated
Having played alongside James Harden for three seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant knows first hand just how exceptional a talent the Houston Rockets guard is.
Since Harden left the confides of Chesapeake Energy Arena to compete in the Lone Star State, the 26-year-old has established himself as one of the most dominant scorers in the game. However, with his exceptional scoring prowess comes a controversial reputation of being a poor team player, which, paired with his occasionally comical defense and inconsistent effort, makes the four-time All-Star a truly polarizing figure on and off the hardwood.
Nonetheless, Durant continues to stand by his former teammate, questioning why others fail to see his greatness.
"Nobody really appreciates what he does except for the players in our league," Durant said prior to practice with the U.S. men's Olympic team on Sunday, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen. "Everybody on the outside doesn't really appreciate what he brings. Anybody that can put up 29 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and not make the All-NBA team, that's like a sin to even think about not putting a guy like that on the All-NBA team."
"As a player and someone that played with him and a fan of the game I was (angry) because somebody is right here in front of you and you can't appreciate him. If he were to retire tomorrow, we would have so many stories and videos about how great he is, but he's here right now doing it. Appreciate what he brings."
The 26-year-old recently inked a four-year extension worth a reported $118.1 million with the Rockets after averaging career highs in minutes (38.1), points (29), rebounds (6.1), and assists (7.5) in a full 82-game slate last season.
Houston won 15 fewer games than they did in 2014-15, though, which certainly didn't help Harden's cause in making one of the three All-NBA squads. The six guards who were selected ahead of him (Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, and Kyle Lowry) were also highly deserving, with their respective teams finishing ahead of the Rockets in the standings.