Anonymous NBA Scout on James Harden: 'You Can't Guard Him. You Can't'

James Harden lit up opposing defenses in the 2018-19 season, averaging 36.1 points and 7.5 assists per game while shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc and making 378 threes, the second-most in NBA history. 

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that one Eastern Conference advance scout believes Harden is simply unguardable. 

"You can't guard him. You can't," the scout told Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. "You just hope that he misses shots and then the other guys will not beat you. He's going to do what he's going to do. You just hope he misses shots."

"I haven't seen someone that unstoppable in a while," a Western Conference scout added. "It's the way that he navigates in the lane, the way he handles the ball, he shot the ball from almost half court sometimes. He does so many things offensively that you just cannot prepare for."

James Harden Highlight Reel

One Western Conference assistant coach said hitting Harden with a steady dose of different looks on defense was the only way to slow him down, while another West head coach suggested forcing him off the three-point line. And the Milwaukee Bucks had some success during the regular season forcing Harden to go to his right.

And there's always the philosophy of letting Harden get his points so that the other Rockets don't get easy looks.

"I think that's what beats you, when he has his 40 points plus 12 or 13 assists that he's creating for other people, and they're threes and dunks," a West head coach said. "Do you just let him do his thing and hopefully shut down and limit the other guys and see if he can single-handedly beat you?"

Different teams will take different approaches. But as Harden showcased this season, few will slow him down.