DeMarcus Cousins Goes to Bat for Rockets' Legend James Harden

James Harden's play drew a heavy dosage of complaints, during his time with the Houston Rockets. Many were dismayed with the heliocentric nature of his game, although that was a by-product of former Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni's offense.

Harden dominated the ball, but also led the league in total assists, which seems like it would contradict the point. Harden's usage rate was consistently sky-high, at or around 30 percent every season he starred in Houston.

Harden even eclipsed 40 percent one season, which led the league. To that point, Harden led the league in usage rate twice, consecutively from 2017-2019. 

Skeptics and naysayers described him as a ball hog, with Charles Barkley describing Harden's style of play as "dribble, dribble, dribble", while later coining Harden "The Dribbler".

However, the Rockets were consistently a top-10 offense with Harden and even had the best offense in 2017-18, followed by the second-best offense the subsequent season. 

Harden won MVP in 2017-18 and was named a finalist in four other seasons, en route to becoming one of the game's best isolation scorers. But the basketball observers continued to complain about his play style, especially his knack for getting to the foul line. 

NBA great Kobe Bryant noted the difficulty of winning a championship with that playing style and Harden agreed.

Another Los Angeles Lakers star, Luka Doncic,  has long drawn comparisons to Harden. And understandably.

Both players are heliocentric players whose teams benefit from them dominating possessions. Neither player is uber-athletic but both players can light up the scoreboard.

However, Doncic hasn't drawn nearly the amount of scrutiny as Harden, according to former Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins, who took to FanDuel's Run it Back to make Harden's case.

"When James Harden was at the peak of his career, one of the narratives was, 'That style of play isn't going to win championships.' Everybody was on board with that. Why is it now a change in tune when it comes to Luka, who plays a very similar style?"

Interestingly enough, Cousins and Harden played together in Houston, albeit in a relatively small span of time (eight games). Harden requested a trade and became a bit belligerent, which caused Cousins to call him out through the media, calling Harden's behavior disrespectful. 

The Rockets next take on the Detroit Pistons, hoping to bounce-back from a thrilling double-overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the season opener.