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james harden
compton June 26, 2018
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How James Harden went from Compton kid to the MVP the NBA

When the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted James Harden No. 3 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, most scouts thought he would become a solid sixth man on an up-and-coming team.

But in the 2012 Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Harden carried the Thunder back from a 2-0 deficit and vaulted them into the Finals where they eventually lost the to the Miami Heat.

Along with Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Serge Ibaka, that Thunder team looked primed to make multiple Finals appearances and become one of the league’s best teams.

But, in one of the most bizarre trades in NBA history, Harden was dealt to the Houston Rockets in the following offseason.

On the Rockets, Harden was given an increased role and has become a perennial MVP candidate and now, one of the league’s highest paid players.

No longer is he just a kid from Compton with a sweet lefty jumper and a lethal Eurostep: Harden is now the owner of the richest contract in NBA history.

Last weekend, Harden signed a four-year contract extension worth $160 million, guaranteeing the former Arizona State star a whopping $228 over the next six years.

In 2015, Harden signed a 13 year, $200 million dollar sneaker deal with Adidas. Harden is cashing those damn checks. Harden has come a long way from his days at Artesia High School.

He is now a fixture in the “Calabasas Crew,” having dated Khloe Kardashian and been spotted at events with Kanye West and Justin Bieber, Harden and his signature beard have become top-tier celebrities.

Now, the pressure is on Harden to live up to his enormous contract. But the kid from Compton shouldn’t worry, all these extra M’s are just gravy at this point.

james harden January 31, 2018
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James Harden drops league’s first 60-point triple-double, takes crown as NBA’s best scorer

James Harden, probably the most polarizing player in the NBA, made history last night against the Orlando Magic with the first ever 60-point triple-double in league history.

Harden had 60 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in 46 minutes on 19-30 shooting from the floor. It’s this kind of display that has Harden vying at the top of the NBA MVP race.

A montage of Harden’s field goals last night reveals pretty much every point comes either in the paint or behind the 3-point line. But, unlike Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, or any of the NBA’s most prolific scorers, Harden didn’t even go wild from 3, making only 5 3’s the entire game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKfMGYtL_YE

This wasn’t a blowout either. The Magic were hanging with the Rockets as Houston was dealing with the absence of Chris Paul and lost Eric Gordon in the second quarter. After Gordon’s injury, Harden didn’t get substituted for THE REST OF THE GAME.

That might be the wildest part of the night. Harden played all but two minutes of the game, despite the fact that most of his action came in the paint, taking bumps and abuse from bigger dudes.

Although his 60th point came on a ridiculous 4-point play.

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/958539256510668800

Harden told reporters after the game that as soon as Gordon was ruled out, he knew he had to take it into overdrive.

“I looked at Coach and said, ‘Eric can’t go.’ He said go get ’em. And after that, I didn’t come out of the game.”

And The Beard was full of praise for his entire team,

“I just gave it all I had tonight. We all did. We all fought for 48 minutes, we got key stops when we needed to and we made big shots.”

While Harden detractors (of which there are apparently many, NBA fans are some weirdos) will complain about the amount of free throws Harden shoots or that his game is “boring,” those takes are very bad and dumb.

Harden is a singular talent in the NBA. His game is pretty fucking bizarre to be honest, it’s like he was created in some kind of basketball efficiency lab. The Rockets, led by GM (and MIT grad) Daryl Morey and head coach Mike D’Antoni, predicate their style on efficient scoring, taking only the highest-percentage shots, either around the basket or behind the 3-point arc.

This means eliminating the mid-range jumper, the least efficient shot in basketball. Harden takes virtually none of these. He is the perfect player for this system.

https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/958604304063107072

James Harden now has more than a legitimate claim to the league’s MVP this season. He leads the NBA in points per game, total points, 3-point field goals, free throws, player efficiency rating (PER), win shares per 48 minutes, total win shares, and plus/minus.

Statistics and advanced metrics aren’t everything, but the Rockets stand second in the Western Conference, trailing right behind the Warriors, and are virtually the only team that could put up a strong challenge to the Dubs in the playoffs.

I’ve been #HardenHive for a minute now. He has probably the most unorthodox game in the league, but dude just gets buckets. With Harden balling at this level, the Rockets are a truly fascinating prospect going forward.

His fellow players were impressed.

Give The Beard the MVP.

james harden May 31, 2017
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Travis Scott’s new music video for ‘Way Back’ makes no sense

Travis Scott has had a wild couple months.

On May 22nd, the Houston-native’s last two albums, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and Rodeo, both went platinum on the same day.

Then Scott set the world record for performing the same song in a row, playing “Goosebumps” fourteen times in a row, then fifteen times in a row.

La Flare is rumored to be dating Kylie Jenner as well, which I guess is cool as far as those things go?

After dropping a couple new tracks last week, including “Butterfly Effect,” “Purple Green,” and “A Man” Scott has hinted at a new joint project with Quavo and a new solo album Astroworld.

Scott was then named as the new face of Nike and the new VaporMax kicks, shit seems to be working out for Travis Scott at the moment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhJ9QBFJlC/

Then earlier today, Scott dropped the visuals for “Way Back,” a pretty disjointed and bizarre video starring James Harden (who has not had a great month).

The video starts with recently-eliminated-from-the-playoffs James Harden watching talking heads on 6 different TVs with Stephen A.’s voice ringing out, then Harden back in his hometown of L.A. dapping up dudes lifting weights, then in a gym playing against himself, then randomly hanging upside down, then having… hallucinations about other people in the gym?

After about five minutes of that, the video cuts to different overhead shots of Travis sitting in the back of a convertible for the final 2:30 of the over seven minute long video.

For all of Travis Scott’s success, it doesn’t appear that directing videos is his strong suit… this video makes zero sense, it’s pretty much just a collection of images that are kind of cool looking.

James Harden also should not be an actor.

If we’re looking for takeaways from this video, it is kind of funny that Travis Scott just signed a Nike deal as this video is basically a James Harden Adidas commercial.

We look forward to more of Travis Scott’s music and non Travis Scott-directed videos.