From the outset, let's take a look at how the two players rested in the offseason.
How many games did Paul rest in two seasons during his time with the Rockets?How many games did Harden and Irving rest in the two seasons he spent with the Nets?
Even after so many games off, Harden's Nets are still in second place. And how many games did Embiid rest with the 76ers last season?However, their team finished third, an improvement from last season's fourth.
And look at how many games Paul has rested in the three seasons he spent with the SunsAlthough they reached the Finals in their first season, the Suns have already completed a rebuild, and the core of the team is Booker. Paul's stats over the course of three seasons are only at the level of the league's top starting point guards.
That way, we can start to think, who exactly brought the Suns to the playoffsHow important is the relationship with Paul?
Actually, we don't need to compare anything anymore. At the same time, we should no longer praise Paul as the god of point guards, and no matter what kind of teammate Harden is given, he is guaranteed to make the playoffs.
But if there is one more super thigh, at least the Western Conference Finals can be secured. Therefore, including Curry, the strongest point guard in the class of '09 is Harden.
Without Harden, Paul wouldn't even have had a chance to try the Western Conference finals, and was beaten by the Warriors to lose confidence and have to hug Harden's thighs. Unfortunately, he himself missed Harden's best chance to win the championship due to injury.
The following year, as long as Paul lowered his salary and retained the team's squad, they still had a chance to compete for the championship.
Paul, however, kept his eyes on money.
So, who led who to the Finals with the Suns?What about the results of the finals?The second year gives you a new chance, Durant, and then what?Will he be able to successfully string up two superstars?And the title of the god of point guards?By the time Harden led the Rockets to their first series win against the Warriors, the Warriors had already won the championship. Then Harden entered Cosmic Warrior mode, and we can't deny that the Warriors management did a good job of swinging the draft and giving Curry full support to build such a dynasty-like roster.
In contrast, Harden didn't swing or trade for a good player before joining the Rockets.
But they haven't missed the playoffs since Harden joined the Rockets, and there's no shame in losing to the Cosmos.
Paul is certainly guaranteed to make the playoffs, but the problem is that he's just playing off the bench right now, while the main players are digging holes. Paul's ability to lead the team is the best of the 20th century, and no one can surpass him.
To assess a person's ability to lead a team, we can look at how well he performs when a rookie is drafted by a lotto team. Paul took the Rockets to second place in the West in two seasons, and no one had a better record than him.
That's why some people mention his Western Finals, because everyone has seen his ability to lead the team, and they feel that it is really unreasonable if he can't lead the team to the Western Finals.
With so many players in the top 10 every year, why is he the only one who has a West Breaker?The other so-called abilities are the ones that complement you with the players you need when they already exist.
Through the analysis of the efforts that Paul and Harden put into the team respectively, we can see that they both contributed immensely to the team. The two superstars have shown their leadership and skill level in different teams.
While their collaboration wasn't as perfect as one would expect, that doesn't negate the hard work and dedication they put into the team. They are some of the best players in the league and there is no denying their contributions during their respective periods.