NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan Lauds James Harden's Success in Houston

James Harden had a historic tenure with the Rockets, producing some of the best statistical outputs the NBA had seen in years.

Dec 31, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

On a recent podcast appearance with former NBA guard Jeff Teague, new Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan lauded James Harden's success during his time with the Houston Rockets.

The conversation was sparked by Teague arguing that Harden was a better scorer than DeRozan's favorite basketball player, Kobe Bryant.

While DeRozan never outright agreed with Teague, he did concede that Harden's offensive success with the Rockets was one of the most impressive feats he had observed.

"I've told somebody this multiple times, the run James (Harden) had," DeRozan said. "That ain't even a video game, that (s—) was like some (f—) Space Jam (s—). If you didn't watch the game, you just knew when you checked the box score, it was going to be something (f—) crazy. 40 or 45 (points), 15 assists, 10 rebounds. Like, that run he had bro, that (s—) was (f—) incredible. ... Looked like it was with no effort. ... If you really just sit and think bro, that run James had bro, was the most incredible (s—) I know I've ever seen."

DeRozan didn't specify which "run" he was referring to, but it is likely sometime between 2017 and 2020, when Harden averaged over 30 points per game for three consecutive seasons.

In the 2017-18 season, Harden averaged 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game en route to being named the league MVP. The following year, Houston's superstar guard tallied a career-high 36.1 points, 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game, earning second place in the MVP vote.

Harden succeeded his historic 2018-19 season with another remarkable campaign, tallying 34.3 points, 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per contest in 2019-20.

The Rockets were huge benefactors of Harden's success, as the team won 65 games in 2017-18 and 53 games the next year.

"What's real is real," DeRozan continued. "The (s—) James was doing, I don't think we'll ever see that again."

Since Harden's monster outputs around half a decade ago, the closest any player has come to replicating his offensive success is Luka Doncic, who averaged 33.9 points, 9.8 asssits and 9.2 rebounds per game in 2023-24.

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