James Harden Deserves More Credit for His Longevity & Consistency

What James Harden is doing in his 17th season in the league is nothing short of extraordinary.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Clippers have righted the ship over the last month after winning ten out of their last 12 games to climb back into a postseason race. Kawhi Leonard's emergence and All-NBA caliber play understandably stole all headlines, but this has also caused James Harden's extraordinary performance in his age-36 season to go under the radar.

Harden is showing no signs of decline once again. After only missing 13 games in his first two seasons in Los Angeles, Harden has continued to be remarkably healthy and consistent this season. Last season, only four players played more minutes than Harden in the entire league. This season, Harden ranks ninth in minutes per game.

Even more impressively, Harden has a higher usage rate this season (30.9%) than he has had since his 2019-20 season with the Rockets. His efficiency and free-throw rate have remained the same over the years, and he is doing a great job lifting the Clippers' offense. LA scores 14.7 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than off this season, per Cleaning the Glass. The 121.0 offensive rating the Clippers have with him on places them as the fifth-best offense in the league. This is remarkable considering how few creators and shooters the team has outside of him and Kawhi Leonard.

After putting on a 32-point, 10-assist clinic against the Hornets on Monday night, Harden talked about how he has managed to remain this consistently productive over the years. The former MVP discussed how much work he had to put in to achieve the longevity he has before giving a shout-out to the likes of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook.

James Harden shouted out LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook when talking about longevity.

“I work my butt off. You don’t understand how hard it is to work and the longevity of it. It’s a handful of guys who understand it and know it. A couple of them… pic.twitter.com/V7L8IJfNR7

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) January 13, 2026

NBA Fans Shouldn't Take James Harden for Granted

While LeBron James, KD, and Curry understandably get a ton of credit for the level they have been playing at in recent years, Harden rarely gets the recognition he deserves. He plays more games and minutes than any of his afore-mentioned brethren and has seen as little a decline as any of them. Yet, he has consistently lagged behind James, KD, and Curry in All-Star voting in the Western Conference. Whether he will earn the honors this season in a loaded conference remains to be seen.

Yet, Clippers fans shouldn't take Harden for granted. Despite the Clippers' horrendous start to the season, Harden didn't give up and increased his workload to help turn the team's season around. Regardless of where the Clippers go from here, Harden has been giving his all during his tenure in LA and that deserves more recognition.