Holding a 6-18 record through their first 24 games this season, it really has been a nightmare campaign for the Los Angeles Clippers. Unfortunately, through the first quarter of the year, it's obvious that one of James Harden's best seasons is being squandered.
This might seem like hyperbole, but Harden is having one of the best statistical years of his entire NBA career. He's averaging the most points per game of any season outside Houston of his 17-plus years in this league, with a 26.8 scoring average, along with 8.3 assists per night as well. He's doing so much, and yet it's not leading to winning due to the Clippers' roster not having enough reliable options around him.
Harden’s brilliance is even more striking when you consider the environment he’s playing in. This Clippers roster has been gutted by injuries, inconsistency, and a lack of two-way personnel. For long stretches this season, Los Angeles has been without multiple rotation players, including core defenders who were supposed to stabilize their approach.
The result has been a bottom-tier defense and an offense that becomes entirely dependent on Harden’s ability to create something out of nothing. No guard in the league is carrying a larger offensive burden for a team that simply can’t keep pace.
The Clippers are wasting one of Harden's best seasons
The Clippers’ shooting has also cratered. Outside of Harden, they don’t have consistent floor spacing, and the lack of reliable perimeter threats allows defenses to load up on him. He’s still producing at an elite level despite facing double teams and collapsing lanes that force him into tough reads every possession. Harden is generating efficient offense in circumstances where most players simply can't.
Even the stylistic identity of this team is broken. The front office imagined a roster that could survive on veteran savvy and shot-making, but what they constructed instead is a group without the athleticism or versatility to withstand 48 minutes of modern NBA basketball. Harden is thriving individually, but his numbers underline just how flawed this team's construction really is.
There’s also an emotional component that can’t be ignored. Harden came to Southern California believing this was his chance to rewrite the later stage of his career. He's done that to a large degree, but the team success hasn't come with it the way he had hoped. The Clippers’ struggles aren’t reflective of Harden’s commitment or performance, rather they’re rooted in a structural failure the organization hasn’t been able to fix.
Unless the Clippers make significant roster changes soon, this will go down as one of the most wasted elite seasons from a star in recent memory. Harden has delivered everything he promised, but the Clippers simply haven’t put anything substantial around him.