Nuggets broadcaster flames James Harden with label that is momentarily baffling

While the Denver Nuggets were up by ten points against the LA Clippers, announcer Scott Hastings used harsh words for James Harden as he checked in. Hastings labeled the former MVP as “the other free-throw merchant,” after claiming Nikola Jokic as the first. However, Jokic should have been the only one to receive the label during this game, given that whistles fell only in his favor from start to finish, and that these remarks were made in the fourth quarter.

Granted, a part of Harden’s game is maximizing contact. He became a master at it early in his career, and it has been one of the reasons why he is one of the greatest scorers the league has ever seen.

In fact, Harden is ninth in the NBA’s history books in points, trailing the great Wilt Chamberlain, fourth in free throws made, closing in on third place held by Moses Malone, and seventh in free throws attempted, behind the iconic Kobe Bryant.

Conversely, in this matchup in particular, Jokic had the Clippers’ superstar outnumbered by a mile at the line, making Hastings’ words laughable.

Nikola Jokic had nearly as many free throws as the Clippers’ entire team

James Harden is likely a player Nikola Jokic studied to learn how to exploit physicality against defenses. All of the great scorers in the current era have, and it is understandable, given how long Harden has been at the top of the ranks.

On the contrary, Scott Hastings called out Harden while Nikola Jokic was attempting his 16th and 17th free throws of the night. This is absolutely blasphemous, especially when being compared to the 11-time all-star, who finished the loss with a measly five attempts.

Furthermore, Jokic’s 17 total attempts were close to half of the Denver Nuggets’ total of 32, and almost the same as the LA Clippers’ total of 21. Yes, the Nuggets’ superstar had almost as many attempts as his opponent, and the announcer spoke about Harden like he was on the same boat in the same game.

The officiating was a massive issue in the loss, yet one thing was clear: Jokic was being granted extra opportunities way too easily.

That said, Hastings evidently overlooked the facts of the game. Jokic had more than three times as many free-throw attempts as Harden did, which made it unreasonable to group them together. 'The Joker' should have been on an island by himself, isolated far away from the three-time scoring champion in terms of luring free points in yesterday's losing effort.