In chapter one of my illuminating oral history on James Harden and his stepback three-point shot, we investigated his upbringing and how it shaped him into the man that he is today. But his journey didn't end when he made it to the NBA as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. His journey was only just beginning.
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AN ORAL HISTORY OF JAMES HARDEN'S STEPBACK THREE
CHAPTER II: (Step)Back to the Future
JAMES HARDEN: I was shooting threes in Oklahoma City, but not the stepback kind. There was too much talent on that team for me, the newcomer, to spend possessions doing stuff like that.
KEVIN DURANT (Victim of the Average NBA Fan's Obsession with Championship Rings as a Barometer of Career Success): James was a hard worker for sure. You would see stuff in practice that you wouldn't see in game. Stepback threes, yeah, but he would also do this thing with his beard where it puffed out like an angry cat. It was really funny.
SCOTT BROOKS (Ex-Oklahoma City Thunder Coach): The sixth-man role was perfect for James early on, but you could tell he was outgrowing it by the end.
JAMES HARDEN: I hit a few stepbacks in my second season, and the seed was planted in my mind. I knew I could get that shot when I wanted.
SAM PRESTI (Oklahoma City Thunder GM): If we had known that Harden would be the guy averaging thirty points per game with an unstoppable stepback that he could shoot at high volume, obviously we would have prioritized retaining him. But we didn't know he would be that guy. I think he knew it all along and didn't tell us.
KEVIN MARTIN (ex-Rockets Guard, Traded for James Harden): I don't even know what Harden's signature move is. I bet he doesn't even have one. Meanwhile, everybody knows what my signature move is.
JAMES HARDEN: No shade on KD or Russ, but to make a name for myself, I needed to be on a team where I could be the guy and show off my complete game. That's the only way I could have gotten to where I am now. I couldn't have Russ standing there not moving and begging for the ball back while I dribbled my man to sleep. I needed to be that guy not moving and begging for the ball back when somebody like Trevor [Ariza] is standing there with it like a moron.
DARYL MOREY (Houston Rockets GM): When James got here, he was still doing the midrange stepbacks that you see a lot of scorers doing. But he was very receptive when we told him that midrange shots are punishable by five-game suspensions. When we acquired Chris Paul to give him some help, I don't think the dissonance between my actions and my words really occurred to him.
CHRIS PAUL (Oklahoma City Thunder Guard, ex-Harden Teammate): There was just a difference of philosophies. James wanted to handle the ball out past the three-point line, and I wanted to handle it into the paint. It's not about who's right or who's wrong, but who's gonna fit with the direction of the team and the personnel of the team.
SKIP BAYLESS (Analyst, ESPN): There was the one report that it got so bad in practice, going back two years ago, that Chris Paul was making fun of James' man boobs in practice to the point that he broke down in tears and had to leave a couple of practices.
JAMES HARDEN: When you're handling the ball more and more, and then coach is telling you to shoot as many threes as you can...the stepback just comes naturally. It's the only way to ISO into a three-pointer. That's how it became my move.
P.J. TUCKER (Rockets Forward, Harden Teammate): That thing is such a travel. I clown James all the time for it. Just because I've never dribbled into a three-pointer in my life doesn't mean I don't know what a travel is.
DARYL MOREY: You know we're all about analytics here in Houston. Well, I got one of our video guys to slow down the video of James' stepback, like, slow it way way down, super slo-mo, zoomed way in, all the way in, and we sat there and counted eight steps. Eight! Can you believe that?
NORM DRUCKER (NBA Referee, 1953-1977): Mr. Harden would have been called for traveling fifty times a game if he played in the 60's. Then again, every possession would be a turnover within four seconds because of somebody carrying the ball on their dribble.
SKIP BAYLESS: Man boobs.
JAMES HARDEN: It's not a travel.
ZACH LAVINE (Chicago Bulls Forward): Harden's stepback pisses me off because there's an off-season workout video where I'm doing the same exact move, way before Harden perfected it, and everybody was telling me it was a travel. So I stopped doing the move, and now, whenever I try it again, it feels like a travel in my head. I hope the refs start calling it.
JAMES HARDEN: I've got a new move that I've come up with, something more creative, and it's gonna look like a travel, but it's not.
MICHAEL JORDAN (Bitch): It's a travel.