For years James Harden has been getting a pass. Praised for his individual statistics though always falling short when it came to solidifying his place among the all-time great champions. Running with rappers and strippers and using his natural one-on-one gifts to stat pad and elevate himself in the eyes of fans who follow statistics but have no clue how winners are made.
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Rap legend Fat Joe finally said what many fans think about “The Beard” who is as well known for his friendship with rapper Lil Baby and making it rain in the strip club as he is for his prominence on the hardwood.
Fat Joe Gets Offended When Jadakiss Compares Dylan Harper To James Harden
Fat Joe went off on Harden in a recent episode of his podcast “Joe and Jada,” calling him the biggest loser basketball has ever seen.
While discussing five-time NBA champion Ron Harper’s son Dylan, whose Spurs team just lost to the Knicks in the NBA Finals, both Jada and Joe were fawning over the player’s recent performance and potential. Harper averaged 11.8 points per game this season as part of the supporting cast of Victor Wembanyama. He is also a 14.1 point per game scorer in the playoffs and showed flashes of superstar potential.
The conversation was going smooth until the lead rapper for The Lox compared Harper to Harden, and Joey Crack lost it.
Fat Joe Calls James Harden A Loser
“Don’t call him James Harden. Don’t do that. FOH. James Harden is at the strip club. He ain’t no winner. This kid gonna win chips. FOH. Don’t ever call (Dylan Harper) James Harden,” Fat Joe said.
“James Harden is a LOSER guys, if you don’t understand he’s a fken loser. James Harden is a loser. He’s a cancer, he’ll mess up your whole team.”
Jada respondedd by reminding Joe that according to “the numbers” James Harden is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Joe agreed that he has the numbers, but also that his style of play (as Kobe Bryant told us time and time again) and lifestyle hasn’t resulted in a championship. In fact, Harden has come up short in the most important games of his career. Never willing to discipline himself enough or make the necessary adjustments during NBA title runs.
“He’s probably the last player in the NBA to be part of that individual achievement sh*t,” Joe added.
James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dominique Wilkins…
Basketball heads know what Joe means. The iso-era where guys such as James Harden and Russell Westbrook filled the stat sheets at an all-time rate by controlling the ball from the guard position AND taking the most shots, isn’t it anymore.
They are the poster children for that era, but neither was able to take championship-contending teams over the hump. They both lacked certain intangibles that prevented them from elevating past “great” players to all-time champions.
That’s just the facts. We will remember these guys in the same way that we remember great players such as Dominique Wilkins and Carmelo Anthony, who are undoubtedly all-time greats, but retired without a serious championship run to cement their legacies.
Fat Joe may not have articulated his point with enough clarity for some to understand why he would dog Harden so hard, but the fan reaction proved that he hit a sore spot.
Fans React To Fat Joe’s Verbal Assault On Career Of James Harden
Defending the legacy of great players without rings has also become a job for social media. Some fans didn’t appreciate Joe’s comments.
“i can’t wait until the podcast era is over, the more people talk, the less they make sense,” one fan said.
“See…that’s the issue with this ‘new NBA coverage’…in the podcast era. Too many dudes, that don’t have an athletic bone in their bodies…commenting on actions they know NOTHING about. Harden has had some ALL time great years,,, could argue a Chip was ‘taken’ from him,” a user commented in Harden’s defense.
Some fans took the diss personally, but others totally understood where Joe was coming from.
“I think he’s trying to say Harden has a Loser Mentality. I don’t think Fat Joe is disrespecting Harden’s Game. Only a fool wouldn’t acknowledge Harden is nice as hell. Rappers were sitting Front Row at Thunder/Heat Finals. Then they’d see Harden in the club the same night,” one fan recalled.
Other fans took Joe’s comments and added their own theories to why Harden seems to disappear in big moments.
“I honestly think harden be gambling too but i could be wrong lol,” one user commented.
“Bro I forgot what game in the Detroit series, he turned the ball over and did the lightest f-cking jog back on the fast break defense. He was the only man to beat and he was f-cking jogging lmfaooo,” another user agreed.
“Bro the man had 20 points at halftime & never scored again. His over/under on points was randomly 20.5,” quipped one netizen.
James Harden Is All-Time Great Despite Lack Of Championship Hardware
The 36-year-old has compiled a statistical resume that can compete with any guard in the history of the game.
- Points: 9th all-time – 29,339 PTS (28.2 ppg)
- Rebounds: 135th – 6,809 TRB (5.6 rpg)
- Assists: 12th – 8,873 AST (8.0 apg)
- Steals: 20th – 1,794 STL (1.7 spg)
- Blocks: 195th – 683 BLK (0.6 bpg)
- 3-Pointers Made: 2nd – 3,390 (37.5% FG3)
- 3-Pointers Attempted: 2nd – 9,323
- Free Throws Made: 3rd – 8,627 (88.4% FT)
- Games Played: 46th – 1,221 games
- Triple-Doubles: 8th – 82 games
His Game 7 playoff résumé won’t help his overall cause. It’s been documented throughout his career that his shooting, particularly from three-point range, dives miserably in clutch games.
From his 16.7 percent shooting in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against Milwaukee, when KD needed just a little help and got none. To his 2-11 performance from the field in Game 5 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, after disappearing the first three games and going down 3-0 prior to his Game 4 explosion of 45 points. The next game he returned to one of the most unclutch performances by a superstar and ushered his team out of the playoffs and a chance to win a championship. There are others.
The legacy of James Harden will be discussed for years after he retires.
