Clippers Continue to Ask Too Much of James Harden

Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden made his eighth All-NBA team last season. In Year 16, the former league MVP averaged 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in 79 games. Those numbers are up across the board this season, but so are his minutes.

Despite sitting the entire fourth quarter, Harden logged 31 minutes in a loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday, tallying a game-high 31 points. Harden is now averaging 35.8 minutes per game — slightly up from the 35.3 he averaged a year ago. With Kawhi Leonard limited to just 37 games last season, the Clippers asked a lot of a 35-year-old Harden. Which is why before this season began, both Ty Lue and Lawrence Frank emphasized the need to manage his workload.

When the Clippers were nearing an agreement to sign Chris Paul in July, Frank told reporters the team had a responsibility to take care of Harden. He said that was one reason why they chose ball-handling as the primary focus for their final roster spot. Just a few months later, Lue told reporters the same thing during training camp.

“We don't want that,” Lue said when asked about Harden’s usage last season. “We don't want that. I think we had to, but he just had to do too much for us to be successful to try to win games, to try to stay afloat while Kawhi was out. So we don't want James to have to do that all year.”

Lue said something similar before last season.