James Harden was attacked especially for his performance in the playoffs. His struggle in the 2025 postseason has led to prominent criticism from people like Shaquille O’Neill.
James Harden was a well-known name in his 16 years in the NBA. He is one of the players who cemented himself as a historic star through his production in court. Harden’s Prime had plenty of daunting performances due to his absurd statistics.
Unfortunately, their individual successes did not lead to team success, especially in the postseason. The farthest thing he reached was the meeting final with the Houston Rockets, but they lost to the Golden State Warriors.
Despite his struggle, Harden remains an icon for some. However, people like Shaquille O’Neal feel that Harden’s postseason struggles are fundamentally problematic.
During O’Neill’s career as a top player, he didn’t care much about media criticism. Of course, he had some burning Cen moments, but he mainly focused on the game and his team.
For O’Neal, that’s not the case for Harden. He finds the 2018 MVP to be too big in his mind when it comes to his performance in the postseason. This was revealed in the 2025 postseason for the Los Angeles Clippers, when Harden had a poor performance.
In a 7-game complete series with the Denver Nuggets, he had good counting statistics. He averaged 18.7 points, 9.1 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game. However, he was extremely inefficient and led to rage around the NBA community.
“When you care, I can see it in your eyes. We had a 7 of some games and people didn’t step up. I knew they weren’t going to step up because that was the topic of conversation,” O’Neill said on a big podcast.
“If you have a ‘I don’t care’ attitude, you’re going to take 30 shots, not James Harden. When he was playing, I can say he cares about what people say. You are in the Hall of Fame, you still have that money, but you care about what people say.
As one of the best players of this generation, if Harden retires without a championship, that’s a shame. It’s likely to happen as he’s not younger. He had a productive 2024-25 season, but by the time the 2025-26 season is off he will be 36 years old.
Playing for the Clippers can lead to success, especially as Kawhi Leonard sees healthy games from game to game. However, Kowhi’s injuries will close the Clippers’ championship window for a long time.
This would be a scar to Harden’s career when he retired. He was Stellar, an incredible security guard worthy of his performance. Unfortunately, it will only be a footnote due to his lack of postseason success.
If O’Neill’s point can persuade him, Harden should not pay too much attention to the story. He’s a great player and if he doesn’t lock in and pay his heart to others, he could be a winner.