Harden's usage is absurd but so is his efficiency. Hard to truly compare, and winning has to come into it at some point, but what Harden is doing this year is just completely insane.

He's averaged 44/9/9 in January.

Numbers smumbers. Kobe's ballhogging was infinity more entertaining to watch than Harden's dribble-a-thon.

Let's see harden do it in the playoffs first. He normally drops off in The post season but I've the feeling he keeps it up this year

I'm not a huge Kobe fan, but I'd take him in a heartbeat in his prime over Harden because he's a better basketballer. Harden is a great scorer, but like I said in the last Harden thread he is a master at taking advantage of the current state of NBA officiating as well. He's a genius for it, but I don't really find Harden or the Rockets a lot of fun to watch over 48 mins. But hey, lots of good highlights on Instagram, especially his step back three ankle breaker where he takes 6 steps to get into his shooting motion.

I'll reluctantly say that Harden's D has improved beyond the comically bad point it was at a few years ago, but being a great defender requires having a bit of mongrel in you. Kobe had that, Harden definitely does not.

Kobe has never played at the level Harden is right now, or even Harden last season, so that means Harden is a better player when comparing, but he needs to achieve alot over the next 5-10 years to go down as a greater player on the all time list.

Kobe's 2005-06 is the closest to Harden this year, but I'd like to see those stats adjusted for pace - I'm sure there's a site that does just that. Nearly half the turnovers for Kobe though, more assists for Harden. I also suspect assists are dished out more liberally now than 10+ years ago.

Last week Harden went 1/17 from three. Tied for the record for missed threes in a game. Yet I feel like everyone ignores the bad?

You cant talk about the refs in this case, same as the Lebron arguments vs the past, Harden is so physically strong he would have been able to bully opponents back then, and his defense would even be alot better because he could use his physicality to bump and hold. If twigs like Reggie Miller and Ray Allen could handle the era, Harden would have thrived.

You know how averages come about Perthworld? Yes Harden went 1/17, not good, but his % is clearly better, meaning Kobe had a lot of ugly shooting performances in 05/06 which don't get talked about either.

Imagine it was Harden with Shaq at his peak together! Rather than "my turn your turn" as it was, Hardens pick and roll mastery with Shaq would be impossible to handle.

Has Harden ever missed 30 shots from the field in one game before? I remember in one game when Shaq was out injured Kobe shot 17/47 from the field.

Ah, clueless? I believe the 1/17 we're talking about is from 3, harden 37% and Kobe 34%.

Lets look at some obejctive facts

As of now, the Milwakee Bucks are the best defensive team in terms of defensive efficiency with a rating of 1.011.

The same defensive efficiency rating oof 1.011 would rank 20th in the 2003/04 season.

So the BEST defensive team today would have ranked 20th in the 03/04 season.

Look at the defenses Harden faces toay against what Kobe faced.

That is the difference.