James Harden, Brooklyn Nets. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
James Harden always felt like a target for the NBA’s new foul-hunting rules but he looks like a broken player trying to adjust to them.
Whenever the NBA announced that they would be trying to eliminate “foul hunting” from the game, it always felt as if Brooklyn Nets star James Harden was going to be affected.
For as talented as Harden is, the fact of the matter is that he has made a living at the free throw line throughout his career, largely due to his ability to create contact by baiting defenders into it — the exact type of thing the league was trying to eliminate.
Harden has clearly not adjusted to the new rules. Not only did he have just 12 free throw attempts through four games entering Wednesday’s game against the Heat, but he was consistently trying to dip into his old bag of tricks versus Miami and not getting any calls.
Watch James Harden try to hunt fouls and keep not getting calls
Harden kept trying to get calls.
And even when there wasn’t a whistle, he still kept trying.
Not to be deterred, he tried some more.
In terms of what the NBA was intending to take out of the game, those are three examples of Harden trying it and the officials backing up what the league said they were going to do.
However, it’s tough to see a former NBA MVP struggle in the manner that he has. Considering that he was averaging a meager 17.3 points per game on 36.4 percent shooting over the first four games, it’s clear that Harden is figuring out how to manage his game amidst the new foul rules.
Whatever he was doing against the Heat, though, was definitely not the answer.