HONOLULU — Can a trimmed Beard be a face of a franchise once again?
That’s what the Los Angeles Clippers want to find out. Former MVP James Harden, as prolific a scorer as there has been in the modern NBA, was brought in to be a complementary piece to superstars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard last season.
But with George gone via free agency and Leonard recovering from a knee injury as the 2024-25 season opener nears, Harden, 35, has been asked to reprise something closer to the version of himself of about five years ago, when he had the ball in his hands constantly and was still winning scoring titles with the Houston Rockets.
Harden, the 16th-year pro not always known as a beacon of preseason physical fitness, has responded by showing up to the University of Hawaii’s Gym II in what he estimated as his best shape in “five, six, seven years.”
“I don’t even want to talk. I want to go out there and show it,” said Harden, known by many as "The Beard."
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was asked on Thursday’s third day of training camp in Hawaii what role he envisioned for the 6-foot-5 guard, who is coming off a year in which he averaged 16.6 points — his lowest output since his second season in the league with Oklahoma City in 2010-11.
“Just the role he’s been in his whole career in Houston,” Lue replied. “Make sure guys are getting to the right spots (and) know he’s going to be able to deliver the ball, any pass he can make to get guys open shots.”
Harden has led the NBA in assists per game twice in his career and as recently as 2022-23 in Philadelphia (10.7).
While Leonard has effectively been ruled out all week, the Clippers could let Harden run loose with several of their up-and-coming players in Saturday’s sold-out 1 p.m. exhibition against the Golden State Warriors at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Golden State, led by superstar Stephen Curry, is holding its training camp at BYU-Hawaii on Oahu's North Shore.
A superstar’s participation in any NBA preseason game is a dicey assumption, but Harden was an enthusiastic participant when the Houston Rockets played the Clippers at the Stan Sheriff Center in October 2019.
Harden’s 37 points paced the Rockets in that 109-96 Houston victory. He took 22 shots and 20 free throws, an illustrative sample of his crafty, no-conscience style.
He attempted just 11.4 and 4.8, respectively, in 2022-23 as another veteran, ball-dominant guard, Russell Westbrook, effectively diluted the load further last year. The Clippers traded Westbrook to Utah in the offseason; he is now with the Denver Nuggets.
“I’ve seen both sides where I’m the primary or that there’s two people that the ball goes through,” Harden told a crowded media scrum in one corner of UH’s primary practice facility. “Then, I’ve been on teams where there’s three, four games where you kind of want to get shots. So, I think it just simplifies things, makes things easier. I think it helps everybody around you when you simply it as well.”
Until last year, he’d averaged 21 points or better the previous 11 consecutive seasons.
Forward Nicolas Batum was sent to Philadelphia in the trade that brought Harden to Los Angeles not long after Los Angeles’ Hawaii training camp last fall. The affable Frenchman signed with the Clippers to come back in the offseason and is one of the team’s elder statesmen along with Harden.
“James is ready to go. It’s good to see him like that,” Batum said. “Like, his old self. It can be scary sometimes, but he looks like his old self. He’s more comfortable (with us). He didn’t have training camp (here) last year. To go through that, it’s going to be good for him.”
Lue said that through the first few days with a defensive focus, he’s assigned guard Kris Dunn to hound Harden up and down the floor.
By rule, the whole team runs when there’s a missed turnover or free throw.
“A lot of running. A lot of conditioning,” Lue said of what he’s seen from Harden with a grin.
Harden, who ostensibly wanted to go to Los Angeles to win a title, was asked if he was disappointed when George left. That was an apparent allusion to reduced outward expectations for the Clippers in a season in which they debut their new home, the $2 billion Intuit Dome in Inglewood. Los Angeles is projected to win 40.5 games — basically a .500 season in the hyper-competitive Western Conference.
“Nah,” replied Harden, who earlier in the interview dismissed projections by "quote-unquote experts."
The years, miles on his legs and playoff disappointments with five franchises have given him some perspective that he says he is as eager to share to the youngsters in camp as standard X’s and O’s.
“The last four years I’ve been so caught on … sacrificing a role, sacrificing all this to win a championship,” he said. “Winning a championship is hard. It’s very, very difficult. You have to be very, very talented, you gotta stay healthy, and everything gotta come into place. It’s very difficult. So, in my career I don’t have no regrets. I’m happy where I am. I’m excited. I get to still hoop and have fun and get better and be a leader. That’s very, very valuable to me.”
On Friday afternoon, the Clippers will unveil a new computer lab at Anuenue School as part of their annual community outreach in Hawaii.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.