Russell Westbrook vs. James Harden: Who Has The Better Career? 

Love that you got Clayton Crowley involved. Everything he does is fantastic.

ok but “failed to make his team better” was a crazy thing to say 😂😂😂 that team would’ve been the worse team in the league without russ

Brother that elimination game vs the jazz when they were down like 25 and russ willed them back into that game, or had 40 points in the nba finals vs bron bosh or wade. Or when he had the game winning block on booker. 0 memorable playoff performances is crazy

Apparently westbrook was "holding the thunder back" but when he got injured in 2013 the team collapsed in the playoffs and let’s not forget how many memorable moments and series he had such as spurs vs okc 2016, mavs vs okc 2016, 2015 clippers, game 7 vs memphis in 2014, that iconic 2012 lakers series where he had that and one in game 5 and even though that he didn’t have much playoff success after durant left saying that he never had a good playoff moment is wrong . his performance in game 5 vs the jazz in 2018 to lead the thunder’s comeback is one of the best I have ever seen and the list goes on

Critics suggesting Russell Westbrook didn’t elevate his team in 2017 (top clutch scorer) have no credibility. They’re admitting they paid no attention nor watched that team.

His series against spurs in 2016 , in 2012 against the lakers when he made that steal and crazy shot and his series agaist the mavs when cuban said he wasnt a superstar and kd defending him. Stop the cap he has alot of memorable playoff moments. Watch the spurs 2016 series and watch how he dominated them

Harden never gets credit for taking the greatest collection of talent of all time to game 7 and prolly should have won if CP3 didn’t get hurt. They say he “choked” against the 73 win warriors with KD…

James Harden put the fear in God against those GOAT-esque Warriors teams. Russ is great, but Harden at his peak was slightly just above.

Is that you Clayton? LETS GO!!!

Clayton Crowley?! Holy cow! This is an amazing surprise!

It's harden for me. His offensive production during his prime was so good, he could be a one-man offense and still be top 15 in the league.

Harden never beat russ out for 1st team all nba, harden was a SG and had little to no competition other then and aged Kobe , Westbrook battled with prime curry and cp3 for first team honours

Is Clayton Crowley working with Bleacher Report now?

its definitely Harden, even with those 27 missed threes the game was still close despite how bad it sounds and he was literally the only person to ever give that superteam trouble.

I gotta say Clayton, I pick Russ over Harden for the same reason I pick Tim Duncan 1st overall. They would make coming to work worth it. I know without a doubt in my mind that neither of them are going to ruin the culture of my workplace or my locker room if I’m a player, coach, or GM.

Bro is that my boy Clayton Crowley on the voiceover!?

Russ has never helped out a team? He brought the wizards To the playoffs, something that hasn't happened in over 15 years

Post kd russ had pg but the roster wasn’t constructed for his exact style of play like hardens. I’m not saying that’s anyone’s fault, however I bring that up to make a point. If he had the space that harden had in Houston all those years. The narrative would be way different.

The goat getting exposure you love to see it

James Harden has never missed the playoffs in his career, and he is the NBA’s scoring leader of the 2010s

good shit clayton

Need more vids like this good work bleacher report

All you did was retell the story, you don’t mention the context of their teams and how it fit them, how Westbrook had terrible spacing and unoptimized teams. All the injuries that he played thru because of how bad the team was and you count it against him?

Russ never had a team built for him tho🤫

It’s Harden but Russ is a great player and deserves all his flowers

Westbrook of course

Just say you hate Harden. You bashed him the whole video. Smh. Hate him cause you ain't him.

Clayton!!! Congrats and well deserved big kan

No way Clayton is on BR no wonder why he hasn’t been uploading videos 😂😂😂

Hey is that Clayton Crowley I hear?

This difficult because Harden offensively is the more efficient player over history but Westbrook was a 2 way player even tho he was never a lockdown defender he was willing unlike Prime Harden

By far the best content that Bleacher Report have ever put out.

I would say Harden ... shouldn't need much explaining... Harden's style of play warrants more wins than Westbrooks if you ask me, although both of them aren't great play styles

As a massive Westbrook fan, it's Harden. Man averaged 36 for a season, averaged a 50-point triple double for a period of time in 2019, led his team further than Russ, and was a far better shooter and similar caliber passer.

I’d take russ simply because we haven’t seen a healthy version of him in the playoffs aside from the clippers since 2017, and harden has had good playoff performances but tends to choke when it really matters, albeit Russ and kd did choke in 2016 as well

Westbrook, not even close. One guy is one of the most unstoppable players of all time, never takes a night off, makes scoring look easy. One is a cancer to your team, needs a lot of free throws, he turns the ball over just as much as Westbrook.

Clayton Crowley back with another superb analysis!

Love this video The OKC trio was actually balanced that’s the lesson there KD to rise as a leader the most efficient and the killer Westbrook to defer in the critical moments and focus on rebounds and defense with his relentless display every second Harden to be the floor general in

CLAYTON HAS MADE IT😭😭😭😭

I can't compare these two cause i grew to love both. When they went up against the Heat in the finals i only knew who Kevin Durant was, and i was going for the Heat. Right now, I want L.A Clipps to go all the way. 🚀

Super smart move bringing in Clayton. Dude is the GOAT of basketball RU-vid.

Harden. No debate

Perfect video

So glad to see Clayton Crowley here. May he enjoy many happy returns.

Great video clayton

I know that voice anywhere...Clayton👊🏾

Ironically both their careers kinda eclipse in a way if you think about it, although harden won more series as the best player on the team, they are both notoriously known for stinking it up in the playoffs, both players were on a decline at the same time period until they both found a way to remain valuable again, with Russ sacrificing off the bench and with harden willingly taking a backseat to embiid and now Kawhi and PG, Russ triple doubles kinda equals out harden averaging 36 PPG and 30+ PPG at that, despite the multiple 40 and 50 point games from harden, they both peaked within the same time period 2016-2020 that 4 year gap

i like clayton crowley, please continue letting him make videos and please continue giving him money

Would be nice if Clayton and his channel were credited in the description

Clayton Crowley on BR. WOW!!

why do people always have to put one person down and lift the other one up= i like both and they are brother and love each other, I was in Oklahoma when they both played together, they where so young they didnt realy understand how to play together but now they are older and they are doing good together. both are MVP

This is not even remotely close. Harden is better by a landslide.

There are only 25 players in the history of the NBA that scores 25k points and Harden and Westbrook are in that 25. They both made the top 75 list of players as well. They are both first ballot future hall a famers so at the end of the day they both did great

James harden is the greatest lefty ever. Top 3 shooting guard ever. Top 3 3pts made. Two time assist leader 3 time scoring champ. First 6man of the year award winner to MVP. His game isn’t appreciated now but it will be in the future when he’s gone

Russ never been an elite defender? He’s been snubbed for all defensive teams especially in 2017-2018. Many points in this discussion are flawed

Definitely Westbrook

Just commenting ti show support

These dudes in the comments section think that he had a lot of help in his Houston career, harden made them elite not another way around. Harden only got ang aging cp3 & Howard in his prime and a bunch of nobody. No superstar no all star at best. If you want to argue his support cast, where are they now? Capela only shine because of harden look where he is now? Even tho he is in his prime he regress fast. He dominating in gsw era and a borderline allstar but now look at him? Gorden is only relevant when he was with harden, dude so irrelevant for years after harden left Houston. And the other just can’t find a team after that Houston era and the others retired. For context lebron couldn’t even crack a single game ỉn playoff series against the greatest team that had been built and that’s a “2018 bron” who considered by the most the most complete version bron. 😏 meanwhile harden and cp3 and a bunch nobody went toe to toe against gsw nearly beating them. So who had a better team? Or maybe who was the better leader??? 🤔

Just think...okc had a superteam b4 superteams..three 1st ballot hofrs scoring champs mvps and champion...but cudnt work together because of russ...if they joined forces today it would be monumental and devastating to the league ! Imagine them in brooklyn with russ coming off the bench....sheeeesh...i say brooklyn because their bench and roll players are fukkin crazy...all they need is them

Russ has the more iconic MVP season, way more entertaining player, way more playoff performances and iconic moments. No slight on Harden but he’s a productive machine while being boring to watch. His stepback changed the game though

This guy is good

It won't take decades for someone to break Westbrook's triple double record Jokic will do it in a few years tops

IT'S A TIE. BOTH ARE HALL OF FAMERS.

Let’s not act like Russ was holding the thunder back when kd left. Who else was going to carry that team? Roberson? Steven Adam’s? Alex abrines?

harden def better between the two harden was the best player in the world for years he arguablly top 5 player in the game right now i think when its all said and done he will be top 10 all time

Jokic is coming after that triple double record tho

I think he did more criticism than explaining who had the better career

Thought that voice sounded familiar.

Harden as a first option at least made it to the conference finals a couple times. Westbrook as a first option never made it out of the first round. Case closed.

All I got to say if Westbrook And harden didn’t had to go against gsw they would not have this must hate imagine kd got less hate then Westbrook and harden smh

Clayton Crowley best nba RU-vid 🙌🏼

Russ gets standing ovations when he comes off the bench in OKC and Washington from his former team's fans.

He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting. In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team. In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg) In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured. In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more. Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD. in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked. he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game. he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it. I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone. Curry has 7 such games in his career. Butler has 6. Melo had 4. Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs. His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5. I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West. Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades. Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs. James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy. Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team. Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision. This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league. Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case. At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric. Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along. Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS. Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS. Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws. Harden: 11 FTA (88%) Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%) Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%) Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high. Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3 Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3 MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though) Yeah well the game was much slower back then. Per 100 Possessions: Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time) MJ: 46.4 PPG Kobe: 45.6 PPG Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more. Then let's compare to the league average. Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS% Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS% MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS% This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times. Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence. And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3...blatant lmao Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned. There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman

Harden’s career is better and it’s not all that close

Not a Harden fan by any means, but harden's better with little to no debate.

Westbrook for me no doubt about it.

Its Harden easily

I actually went in to this video thinking I’d disagree. I’m a big Westbrook fan, and for years I have sat with thinking the naysayers are correct. And honestly, if you go ask around many people would say harden. But the end of this video has been and will always be my stance in this debate. I would much rather a player that would go out swinging. The bubble run when they were teammates in Houston sealed it for me. Harden went to his pass and stand there routine while Russ went out at least fighting Vs the eventual champs Lakers.

Give me the guy that gives 110% every single game and doesn't quit. Harden obviously is the better player but has proven to play when he feels like playing.

I’ve always loved Westbrooks game because he tries his absolute hardest

Russ best playoff game was in the finals of 2012 where he scored 43 in a losing fashion

Should have stayed a role player just like in okc maybe he’ll have a ring 💍 by now who knows?

They like brothers of the nba…two peas in a pod

Not just saying this because I am a Clippers fan, but this was a little unfair to Harden with his time in Brooklyn and Philly. With Brooklyn, the narrator did get it right that the Nets were dysfunctional. He asked for a trade after KD had demanded a trade in that prior offseason and wanted Steve Nash fired from the head coach position. There was also the issue of Kyrie playing/not playing due to not getting vaccinated for COVID and his propensity to take random days off. Nobody in their right mind would NOT want out of that dysfunctional situation. With regards to Philly, the narrator and everyone else in the media conveniently forget that Embiid was hurt and missed some games in the playoffs. Harden put up a couple of 40 point games. He also had beef with Morey due to apparently Morey reneging on a promise to pay him for him taking his taking less. With Houston, I put blame on him for that. Due to the multiple trade demands, Harden is unfavorable and has bad optics, but don't forget the nuance and facts of the situation. You're honestly painting with an EXTREMELY broad brush here. Plus, if the Clippers win the championship this year, nobody will care what this video has to say anymore.

clayton crowley my beloved

why drop that when both are team mates yall trynna start a sneaky beef Fr

Russ all day

Harden lez go. Hes jist shit when it matters. Maybe he's smarter than we thought and gets cold feet whenever shits on the line thats why he chokes.

Harden

after Harden went to huston, he was better than russ every single season till today (yeah even the year westbrook got his statpadded mvp)

Westbrook is absolutely a superior defender this year. Hands down.

If you think Westbrook. You probably just don’t like harden or a in denial okc fan. Numbers and wins don’t lie

In fairness to Russ, much of his bad rep about shooting only happened when he was with the Lakers. That being said, he was never the franchise player he was portrayed to be. Hardwork cannot cover lack of talent all the time.

Ball IQ/Talent/Peak - Harden Will/Hardwork/Intensity - Russ

This is why youndont play basketball saying going out shooting means you never played ball. As aplayer if your shots not falling then how else can you impact the game. When Harden shot alot and it didnt work he starred to pass more but teammates couldnt make shots and he stillbgot blamed no matter what he did or how teammates around him didnt help out Harden gotbthe blame. This is the best all around team hes been on since Okc days but keep hating thats all you're good for 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Westbrick is a stat padder and Harden is a born Play off chocker so its a hard choice

I hate the narrative that Westbrook will give you “ everything he has “ He will give you everything he has… In the ways that he wants to, he still is a terrible defender even though he has the tools not to be, and he was on the Lakers he set like a single digit number of screens for the whole year… One of the only ways, a non-shooter like him can really get involved in the offense when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. This in my opinion, is the crux of why he is not a winning player

This was full of media narratives also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Westbrook Roberson and Adams on the court together isn’t going to get you out of the first round

Brodie… SIMPLE

Dude named every single way a man can possible score n then said “kinda boring” 😂😂😂 man first take ruined yall