NBA (DR)

Arriving in the NBA in 2004, Trevor Ariza had the chance to play alongside legends such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. During a recent interview, however, he wanted to highlight another of his former partners, namely James Harden.

For now, a significant shadow persists over his career record.

While he has just finished his 15th season in the NBA, James Harden has still not won a single championship ring.

A shame for a player with such talent and who has teamed up with a multitude of stars over the years.

However, he has never seemed as close to the title as during the 2017-18 financial year.

At the time accompanied by Chris Paul or Clint Capela at the Rockets, the Bearded Man had failed in an incredible way at the gates of the Finals.

Eliminated by the Warriors after a crazy Game 7 scenario, he may regret having let this opportunity to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy slip away.

This, undoubtedly even more than Trevor Ariza, who was in his supporting cast at the time.

Trevor Ariza goes hard on James Harden

Beyond his four seasons without trophies spent in Houston, Ariza played several with the Lakers, including one synonymous with the title in 2009.

These allowed him to rub shoulders with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James , whom many consider among the top all-time scorers.

However, according to the comments made by the former winger in Run Your Race , none of them came close to Harden in this area:

Trevor Ariza: Best scorer I’ve ever played with? James Harden, without hesitation. He had figured out the ultimate way to score.

He had the method. Really. The stuff he did on the floor… It was crazy.

Sometimes, when I played with him and looked at him, I couldn’t believe it. Like, holy shit, did he really just do that?! (…) It’s a bit like Luka (Doncic) now.

Having left the Rockets in 2018, Ariza was then able to celebrate Harden’s only MVP title at his side before heading to new horizons. Quite paradoxically, this campaign does not appear to be The Beard’s most prolific in terms of scoring.

He actually finished the next one with an average of 36.1 points per game and offensive highlights that you don’t know what to do with:

Despite the scoring prowess of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Trevor Ariza makes James Harden the best teammate he has ever been with in the field. Proof of the strong impression that the Bearded Man left in his prime.