James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo are two of the greatest scorers in the sport of basketball. James Harden is a revolutionary, transcendental talent. However, an NBA Championship title continues to elude James Harden.
The Greek Freak and the Beard have shown signs of conflict and dislike over the previous postseasons. Additionally, James Harden forced a trade to the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the season. While Giannis signed a contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks. This goes to show the different paths they took heading into this season.
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So what is the source of James Harden’s dislike of Giannis Antetokounmpo
It seemed to begin with last year’s NBA All-star game. The Greek Freak chose to draft Kemba Walker on his side as opposed to James Harden. When asked about it, he amusingly replied that he wanted somebody who was going to pass him the ball.
Later, following the All-Star game. Giannis was asked what strategy his team leaned towards on offence. He responded by saying that their strategy was to give the ball to whomever James was guarding. This is clearly a disrespectful statement to make.
James Harden was interviewed later. He responded to this attack by saying that he wished he could just run at 7 feet tall and dunk the ball, which required no skill at all. Harden also stated that he didn’t understand why Giannis felt that way. Harden had averaged more assists than Kemba Walker in that season. Therefore, he felt that the very implication of him hogging the ball applies to Walker as well.
The Greek Freak might have been wrong in attacking Harden twice before the Cameras. However, he has clearly proven that he can do a lot more than just run and dunk the basketball. Additionally, James was a shell of himself in the Bucks-Nets series. This was due to his hamstring injury. He was unable to take over a single game and dominate on the offensive end.
This has led to critics now stating that it requires no skill to join Kevin Durant and form a superteam either. Harden and the Nets were eliminated by the Bucks, who moved onto win the NBA Championship. Therefore, it looks like the Greek Freak has won both battles. However, the Nets are looking to be fully rested and ready heading into the next season. Therefore, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo may face off again.
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