James Harden Deserves Better Than This Clippers Mess

The Los Angeles Clippers are now 4-11 for the season and have lost nine of their last ten. Perhaps their worst loss of this disastrous stretch came on Thursday when the Clippers were completely outclassed by the Orlando Magic. Falling behind by double digits in the first half, the Clippers never showed signs of life and threw in the towel before the end of the third quarter, thanks to one of their worst offensive performances of the season.

A big silver lining, however, continues to be the vintage performance James Harden has been putting on all season. The 36-year-old had another excellent performance in Orlando, finishing with 31 points, five rebounds, and eight assists on 8/16 shooting from the field, 5/11 from three, and 10/12 from the free-throw line in 31 minutes of action. In the first half, Harden scored 24 of LA's 49 points. Besides Harden's isolation plays, the Clippers failed to get any good looks, and the rest of the team was 11/34 from the field.

James Harden's Vintage Season Is Wasted on the Clippers

This has been a familiar story for the Clippers all season. Harden has been doing everything he can to elevate the team, but other than Ivica Zubac, he can't find anyone to join him. Kawhi Leonard has missed nine straight games, Bradley Beal is already out for the season, Chris Paul is in and out of the rotation, Bogdan Bogdanovic looks like a shell of himself, and Brook Lopez isn't giving them anything. Things are so desperate that the Clippers are hoping that the rookie on a two-way deal, Kobe Sanders, is an upgrade in the starting lineup.

All of this is forcing Harden to play over 36 minutes per game. While the rest of the league is trying to ease the burden on their aging stars to extend their careers, the Clippers are putting an unsustainable amount of mileage on Harden.

By all accounts, Harden is happy with his workload. He is thriving in his role, having his most productive season since his Rockets days. At the same time, he shouldn't have to be doing this at this stage of his career. Harden is with the Clippers to chase the championship that has eluded him throughout his career. Unfortunately, the organization hasn't put him in the best position to succeed.

Complete misevaluations in the offseason caused the Clippers to move on from Norman Powell and bring in declining veterans who can't help a championship contender at this time. Every move the Clippers have made over the last year has only put more on Harden's shoulders. Add the unreliability of his co-star Kawhi Leonard, and it's impossible not to sympathize with Harden. While he is still performing at an All-NBA level, Harden deserves better than what the Clippers have been giving him.

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