{"id":1231611,"date":"2020-09-08T21:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T01:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/?p=1231611"},"modified":"2020-09-08T21:16:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T01:16:01","slug":"james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/","title":{"rendered":"James Harden Wasn&#8217;t the High School Player We All Envision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/james-harden-almost-cried-after-being-traded-to-houston-but-believes-it-was-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-him\/\">It took James Harden<\/a> a little while in the NBA before he blossomed into a star. The same was true during is high school days. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/tag\/Houston-Rockets\">Houston Rockets<\/a>&#8216; high-scoring guard didn&#8217;t come into high school with any fanfare, according to his high school coach. Like it did in the NBA, it took Harden a while to make a name for himself when he was a teenager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">James Harden traded to the Houston Rockets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Russell Westbrook And James Harden Best Plays From Early OKC Days | B\/R Countdown\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h-GNNy8WKvw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/being-a-virtual-fan-is-much-more-challenging-than-being-a-real-one\/\">Being a Virtual Fan is Much More Challenging Than Being a Real One<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Harden was part of his own Big 3 in the NBA when he was with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/oklahoma-city-thunder-players-blow-off-lawmaker-threat-and-kneel-during-anthem\/\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>. Harden came into the league in 2009 after playing his college basketball at Arizona State. The 6-foot-5 guard was selected by the Thunder with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harden spent the first three years of his professional basketball career with the Thunder. He was joined by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to form one of the league&#8217;s top trios. After three seasons in Oklahoma City, the Thunder was unable to sign Harden to a long-term deal. He was traded to the Houston Rockets in a package deal that included multiple draft picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day these situations have to work for all those involved,\u201d said Thunder GM Sam Presti back in 2012, according to The Oklahoman. \u201cOur ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Harden has blossomed with the Rockets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Best Of James Harden | 2019-20 NBA Season\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IZjKxPPvSRg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In James Harden&#8217;s first year with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/hakeem-olajuwon-reveals-the-rockets-could-have-drafted-michael-jordan\/\">the Houston Rockets<\/a>, he saw his scoring average jump from 16.8 points per game to 25.9. Harden became the main man instead of the sixth man as he was with the Thunder. He relished the role as the team&#8217;s go-to player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only did his scoring improve, but so did his assists (5.8 per game) and rebounds (4.9). Harden&#8217;s averages has steadily climbed throughout his eight seasons with the Rockets. Harden led the league in scoring average the last three years. He averaged a career-high 36.1 points during the 2018-19 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harden has become much more than a scorer. During the 2016-17 season, Harden led the NBA in assists per game at 11.2, all while averaging 29.1 points. During his eight seasons with the Rockets, Harden has averaged 29.6 points, 7.7 assists, and six rebounds per game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Harden&#8217;s slow start in high school<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HBD James Harden | Arizona State Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Yuv_vfadj_w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Most NBA players were high-school phenoms or at least came into their high-school programs with a lot of hype. That definitely wasn&#8217;t the case with James Harden. \u201cJames was a kid from Compton that I had never heard of and he came to my camp and maybe played and then enrolled with a very good freshmen class and I didn\u2019t even think he was the best one at the time,\u201d said his high school coach Scott Pera, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/nba\/la-sp-james-harden-profile-20180216-story.html\">Los Angeles Times.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pera saw he could shoot, but he wasn&#8217;t anything special at that time. \u201cWe knew he could shoot and he had good passing skills and a good IQ, but he wasn\u2019t like, \u2018I\u2019ll build my whole program around him and he\u2019s the next coming.\u2019 No way. Not even close,&#8221; Pera said. &#8216;That was the summer of 2003. He didn\u2019t start until maybe halfway through his freshman year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pera recalled one instance when Harden was a freshman that turned his game around. \u201cHe hit a buzzer-beater at Redondo Union,&#8221; the coach said. &#8220;That was a big turning point for him. I think that really boosted my confidence in him, saw he wasn\u2019t afraid of the big stage by taking the game-winning shot as a freshman. That turned our season around.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn&#8217;t nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":1231673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4838],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>James Harden Wasn&#039;t the High School Player We All Envision - Sportscasting | Pure Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn&#039;t nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James Harden Wasn&#8217;t the High School Player We All Envision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn&#039;t nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportscasting | Pure Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-09T01:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-09T01:16:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1037\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NostraThomas123\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/\",\"name\":\"James Harden Wasn't the High School Player We All Envision - Sportscasting | Pure Sports\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-09T01:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-09T01:16:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29a80dc9db3908a94711d1aa84518c\"},\"description\":\"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn't nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1037,\"caption\":\"LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 06: Rajon Rondo #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers steels the ball from James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter in Game Two of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 06, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"James Harden Wasn&#8217;t the High School Player We All Envision\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportscasting | Pure Sports\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29a80dc9db3908a94711d1aa84518c\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/author\/mike-thomas\/\",\"name\":\"Mike Thomas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mike-Thomas-96x96.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mike-Thomas-96x96.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Mike Thomas\"},\"description\":\"Mike Thomas spent 23 years on staff and 16 years as the sports editor at The Herald News in Fall River, Mass., before joining Sportscasting in 2020. Mike has a deep knowledge of and passion for the NFL and NBA, and he excels at interviewing sports celebrities to find out their Super Bowl picks. A New England Newspaper and Press Association award-winning columnist and an avid sports memorabilia collector, Mike enjoys keeping up with all the sports news and the works of former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly. You can find more of Mike's work on Muck Rack.\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"NostraThomas123\",\"\",\"\",\"\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Mike Thomas | Sportscasting Staff Writer, Producer - NBA\",\"email\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"James Harden Wasn't the High School Player We All Envision - Sportscasting | Pure Sports","description":"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn't nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"James Harden Wasn&#8217;t the High School Player We All Envision","og_description":"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn't nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/","og_site_name":"Sportscasting | Pure Sports","article_published_time":"2020-09-09T01:16:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-09T01:16:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1037,"url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mike Thomas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NostraThomas123","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike Thomas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/","name":"James Harden Wasn't the High School Player We All Envision - Sportscasting | Pure Sports","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-09T01:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-09T01:16:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29a80dc9db3908a94711d1aa84518c"},"description":"Houston Rockets all-star guard James Harden wasn't nearly the high school player we all envision, according to his high school coach.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/James-Harden-Rockets.jpg","width":1500,"height":1037,"caption":"LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 06: Rajon Rondo #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers steels the ball from James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter in Game Two of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 06, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/news\/james-harden-wasnt-the-high-school-player-we-all-envision\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"James Harden Wasn&#8217;t the High School Player We All Envision"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/","name":"Sportscasting | Pure Sports","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29a80dc9db3908a94711d1aa84518c","url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/author\/mike-thomas\/","name":"Mike Thomas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mike-Thomas-96x96.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mike-Thomas-96x96.jpeg","caption":"Mike Thomas"},"description":"Mike Thomas spent 23 years on staff and 16 years as the sports editor at The Herald News in Fall River, Mass., before joining Sportscasting in 2020. Mike has a deep knowledge of and passion for the NFL and NBA, and he excels at interviewing sports celebrities to find out their Super Bowl picks. A New England Newspaper and Press Association award-winning columnist and an avid sports memorabilia collector, Mike enjoys keeping up with all the sports news and the works of former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly. You can find more of Mike's work on Muck Rack.","sameAs":["","NostraThomas123","","",""],"jobTitle":"Mike Thomas | Sportscasting Staff Writer, Producer - NBA","email":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231611"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1232014,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231611\/revisions\/1232014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1231673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}