INGLEWOOD — James Harden stood on the sideline, watching like a field general in sneakers as the Clippers took on the Indiana Pacers. As the players came off the court during a timeout, he acknowledged each, sharing words and approving nods.
Harden, though, is more than a supportive teammate. He is a leader in short pants. A bearded godfather, who guides, advises and sometimes admonishes teammates for poor plays and questionable hairstyles.
As with the other places he has played during his 16 years in the NBA, Harden established himself as the resident leader a year after joining Clippers. With the departure of Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers and the delayed season debut of Kawhi Leonard because of knee issues, there was a void at the top.
It was a spot Harden knew he could fill.
Harden, who re-signed with the team last summer on a two-year, $70 million deal, didn’t waste time moving into a role that is as natural for him as growing facial hair. He assumed the reins before this season, organizing a brief camp at his alma mater, Arizona State, before the team’s actual training camp in Hawaii and hasn’t stopped being the guy in charge.
“From the jump, even before the season, is when he got his hands on everyone,” second-year forward Kobe Brown said. “He put all of that together, handled everything, and then he got us all out there and just started building chemistry from that point on.”
Now, more than halfway through the season, Harden’s fingerprints are all over the Clippers’ success, not only as a leader off the court, but on the floor as well. Through 51 games, he is averaging 21.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.5 steals and shooting 34.2% from 3-point range.
His play this season earned him his 11th All-Star Game appearance. He was named a Western Conference reserve and was then drafted on to Shaquille O’Neal’s roster for the new four-team mini-tournament format at Chase Center in San Francisco. He said his phone lit up when he was announced as one of the reserves.
“Once I realized what happened I was just excited. I was excited for myself, obviously, and then for this organization just because a lot of changes has been happening this past year and to be able to represent this team is a good feeling,” Harden told reporters at a recent shootaround.
Confidence is part of what makes Harden an effective leader, a trait he began to develop at Lakewood’s Artesia High and continued at Arizona State.
“In high school (is) when I really started being comfortable in who I was,” Harden, 35, said. “Then, as I continued to grow and continued to get more confident, getting better at the game of basketball, studying the game, understanding the game, then it just became super natural. I mean to where no matter who is in the room, I can talk because I’m confident of what I’m talking about.”
And what he knows best is how to win at basketball. He is a three-time NBA scoring champion, a two-time NBA assists leader, a Sixth Man of the Year, a six-time All-NBA First Team pick and a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. The Hall of Fame is a given.
It’s the kind of resume that gets attention.
“You don’t play with a lot of players like that,” Clippers guard Amir Coffey said. “When he has the resume that he has, the success that he’s had in the league and he’s also vocal, noticing guys, it definitely changes your perspective because you got no choice but to believe what he’s saying … it changes the dynamic for the team for the better.”
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Harden leads by example. He is typically the first to arrive at practice and one of the last to leave. He rarely takes a night off and often plays the fourth quarters whether it’s a close game or blowout. And he’s no poster child for load management, which he showed again in the final game before the All-Star break. On the second night of a back-to-back set, he had 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 49 minutes in an overtime win at Utah.
“He isn’t just putting that work in but taking the young guys under his wing like he did with Daniel Theis and Zu (Ivica Zubac), teaching them how to run a pick-and-rolls, where you want those guys to set screens and how he wants them to come off screens,” Lue said. “And then just taking young guys like Bones (Hyland) and T-Mann (Terance Mann), Amir, under his wing and just showing them the ropes. He’s been great with that.”
Brown said Harden not only gave him game tips, but financial advice. Hyland, who was recently traded to the Atlanta Hawks, was a recipient of another kind of advice.
Before a recent game, Harden sat at his locker and looked over at Hyland who had his braided hair in a ponytail on top of his head, spraying out like a fountain.
“Yo, what’s with your hair?” Harden asked “Man, you gonna wear it like that?”
Hyland ignored his comments about his hair but few can discount Harden’s advice about most everything else.
“He shares his knowledge, and he has a really good, great personality about him. He’s humble,” guard Kris Dunn said. “He likes to joke around, so he’s easy to interact with and because of that, I think that’s where you can ask him about the game of basketball. He loves the game of basketball, and he has no problem giving you game advice.”
It comes naturally to Harden.
“You got to learn how to talk and speak to different people in different ways,” the superstar said. “Just finding ways to approach people and because those ways are more impactful to them and they’re recognizing and understanding more, I just learned and I’m still learning. But it’s natural. Some people aren’t leaders or leaders in different ways – showing rather than communicating or speaking.”