Ranking James Harden's Nasty Crossover on Ricky Rubio Among Season's Top 10

James Harden mopped the floor with Ricky Rubio in the Houston Rockets' 113-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Literally.

That got us thinking: Which other NBA players have been used as crossover props this season?

What Harden did to Rubio was dirty. It capped off a night in which he left everyone around him smitten by securing his second triple-double of the season, and the fourth of his career.

"He was amazing for others and for himself," Terrence Jones said of Harden afterward, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "He's just been that leader this whole year that's been carrying the team."

Easy does it, Mr. Jones. We're not here to make MVP cases. Not this time. 

The ensuing rankings are largely subjective, but are still based on a number of different factors. Both the aesthetic appeal and degree of difficulty matter.

Aside from those few technicalities, we're here to have some fun, watch certain players fall down and answer the question that's burning holes in the brains of everyone around the world: Where does Harden's ruthless treatment of Rubio rank among the league's best displays of dribbling debauchery?

Honorable Mention: Ty Lawson Is a Warlock

If only Ty Lawson had switched hands, then this real-time freeze frame of Chicago's Kirk Hinrich would have qualified as a crossover, securing a place within the top five.

Ah, well. At least we know Hinrich's podiatrist is still in business.

Final Honorable Mention: Deron Williams Is Alive

Crossovers have evolved into intricate theater over the years, but there's something wonderfully vintage about Deron Williams shaking and baking San Antonio's Marco Belinelli off the dribble like it's 2010.

Nothing about this is overly flashy, which is just fine. Simplicity can be an art form.

Mostly, though, this a reminder that on Dec. 3, 2014, Williams successfully used a time machine.

10. Kemba Walker Crossover, Take 1

Prepare to see a lot of Kemba Walker. 

Orlando rookie Elfrid Payton is his victim here; Walker loses him with a lengthy crossover. The dribble itself covers an insane amount of ground, allowing Walker to shake Payton back into yesteryear.

Just another day at the office for the unofficial king of crossovers.

9. Kyrie All Over

Kyrie Irving wants you to know there's no such thing as too much dribbling.

Although the crossover in this one isn't especially complex, Irving basically splits three defenders while managing to maintain control of the ball and ends up inside the paint. The entire play looks like a contrived accident.

No, that doesn't make sense. Then again, Irving's handles don't, either.

8. Kemba Walker Makes Chris Paul Stumble

Reason No. 2,347 why we cannot wait for Walker to return from his knee injury.

It's the seeming simplicity of this crossover that makes it so great. Al Jefferson sets the "Just kidding!" screen, and Walker both reflexively and smoothly cuts back to the left, sending Chris Paul into a full-on staring contest with the floor.

Though the floor technically won, there are no losers here—except, you know, Paul.

7. Kyrie Irving's Kyrie Irving Impression

Irving is a slippery little deviant. His ankle-breaking, ego-eviscerating attack on the Philadelphia 76ers' JaKarr Sampson had a little bit of everything: slashing, dashing, behind-the-back stylings and, of course, crossovers.

I know what you're thinking: These are the Sixers. The New York Knicks could score on them. Yet, while true, the Sixers aren't the defensive sieves you would expect. They rank 13th in defensive efficiency, just behind the Chicago Bulls, per Basketball-Reference, and Sampson is a lanky wing defender equipped to guard evasive floor generals.

It's just that when a lanky wing defender equipped to guard evasive floor generals meets a human water wiggly, the human water wiggly wins every time.

6. LeBron Introduces Thabo Sefolosha to the Floor

Thabo Sefolosha tried to play defense on LeBron James. He really did. 

For a moment, it looked as if Sefolosha actually won this possession. He poked the ball away from James who, upon recovering it, almost fell himself.

Instead of face-planting, James regained composure, showed right, went left and forced Sefolosha to wonder why basketball courts aren't made of foam, before finishing with the nifty kick-out pass to Matthew Dellavedova.

5. Kyle Lowry Can Dance

Kyle Lowry isn't all brawn. He's explosive grace, too.

Not many players could pull off this move so seamlessly. Lowry pump fakes, commits right, cuts back to the left and then goes right again, taking Victor Oladipo's defensive integrity with him.

Initially, this one fell lower on our totally subjective, not-at-all-scientific scale. But Lowry assists on Landry Fields' only made three-pointer of the season to end this spellbinding demonstration. And, well, bonus points are a thing.

4. Shabazz Napier, Ball-Handling Overlord

So this is why James wanted the Miami Heat to draft Shabazz Napier.

Crafty doesn't even begin to describe this. Napier crosses over Brooklyn's Kevin Garnett and Williams in the same play, using roughly six jillion different moves. That he found Chris Andersen with a no-look pass in the process only makes this cooler.

That Andersen couldn't hold on, presumably because he was admiring Napier's ball-bouncing art, only slightly detracts from the captured voodooism.

3. Stephen Curry Has a Christmas Gift for CP3

Around-the-back crossovers count. This one in particular counts twice.

In one fluid motion, Stephen Curry goes behind the back, crosses over Paul, splits a double-team and finds a slashing Marreese Speights. Somewhere in this sequence, he may have even stopped to film "Chef Curry with the Marble Mortar and Pestle," the sequel to "Chef Curry with the Pot."

Anyhow, this Christmas crossover proves it: Curry is a dribbling diabolist.

2. James Harden Shows Ricky Rubio the Meaning of Unguardable

Late in the game, with their lead over the Timberwolves dwindling, there was only one thing the Rockets could do: Give the ball to Harden.

Approximately two to 227 crossover moves later, Harden finds nylon on a step-back three-pointer, displaying the cursive calm of an extensively bearded Mr. Miyagi. Eric Freeman of Yahoo Sports explains:

"

The amazing thing here is that Harden doesn't even seem to be exerting himself especially strongly on the play. He's like one of those martial arts masters whose skill manifests itself in his economy of motion. There are no wasted movements on this play, and Rubio seems to be working so much harder than the guy he's guarding. Harden is in control throughout — he does only as much as necessary.

"

Now, the key to everything here—aside from Harden's upper-torso twerk at the end—is the shot itself. Harden finds himself just inside the three-point arc and is aware he must leap backward or suffer the consequences.

Remember, all of the Rockets' mid-range attempts are punishable by fines or a beard-shearing performed by general manager Daryl Morey.

1. Kemba Walker Makes Nikola Mirotic Fall Down and Go Boom

Picture this.

It's early December, your legs are actually Slinkies and Jimmy Butler is watching you try to defend crossover caliph Kemba Walker on a court that's just been freshly coated with pure vegetable oil.

#NikolaMiroticProblems.

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