James Harden Comments on Leading the NBA in Minutes Per Game
Houston Rockets superstar James Harden, who leads the NBA in playing time at 39.7 minutes per game, is hoping the team can start to get more involvement from other members of the roster to give him a better chance of being effective.
Calvin Watkins of ESPN noted Harden is seeking fewer minutes and passed along comments from the 26-year-old guard about the amount of time he's spent on the floor during the early stages of this season. He admitted it's not an ideal situation.
"I mean 40 a night is pretty tough especially if you want to be efficient on both ends of the floor," Harden said. "We got to figure out how to get guys more minutes and be more effective in the court so we can get better."
Only Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls averaged more minutes per game than Harden last season. The Rockets' leading scorer is checking in at 2.6 minutes more than the next-closest player, the Detroit Pistons' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, so far during the current campaign.
The lack of time on the sidelines has allowed the Arizona State product to put up terrific individual numbers. He ranks second in the league at 29.8 points per game while also averaging 6.6 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals across 18 games.
Clearly he's starting to feel the weight of that burden, however, and the team as a whole hasn't benefited from his heavy usage. The Rockets, which entered the season with high expectations in the competitive West, are just 7-11 so far.
It's a tricky situation for interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. He's trying to dig the team out of an early hole, and that usually translates into more minutes for the top players. Now that Harden is suggesting a lesser role, the team will need more production from Corey Brewer and Jason Terry, among others.
Striking the right balance between keeping Harden fresh and still giving the team its best chance to win will be Bickerstaff's job moving forward. It's a situation that's going to get watched closely now that the team's top offensive threat has spoken publicly about it.
