James Harden All 271 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2019-20 Three-ilation Part I)

James Harden's stepback three-pointers are a subject of much debate among NBA fans. Are they a benefit to the game, an aesthetic display of pure basketball skill topped with a bow of analytic-minded scoring efficiency? Are they a detriment to the game, an ugly manifestation of the kind of selfish, me-first basketball that some would argue has lowered the quality of the NBA's on-court product? Are they somewhere in the middle, neither a bright spot on the NBA landscape nor a shameful blight on it?
It's not up to me to decide. The debate will rage ever on whether or not I bother to toss my opinion into the fray. However, what I can do is provide some historical context to the subject, so that, in the end, all those who care to have an opinion on Harden's stepbacks will have been given all the facts necessary to form such an opinion.
After hundreds of hours of deeply personal, sometimes tearful, interviews with those close to James and, yes, even James himself, I have written a two-part oral history centered around James and his stepback threes, told in their own words by the people that witnessed it.
(If you are a fan of groundbreaking investigative journalism, consider donating to my Patreon: / downtobuck )
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AN ORAL HISTORY OF JAMES HARDEN'S STEPBACK THREE
CHAPTER I: BABY GOT (STEP)BACK
MONJA WILLIS (James Harden's Mother): James had a little toy hoop, you know, like all kids have. He grew up watching MJ and the Bulls, so of course all he wanted to do was dunk.
JAMES HARDEN SR. (James Harden's Father): When James was one year old he saw Michael Jordan on TV and called him a bitch. That's when I knew he would be a superstar. Only superstars have the balls to call MJ a bitch to his face.
JAMES HARDEN: I had a ball in my hands from a very young age.
JAMES HARDEN SR.: I always told James, "There's no guarantee you'll be tall enough to dunk," and I encouraged him to work on his handles and his jumpshot, but it's hard to reason with kids that age. Those toy hoops of his took a lot of abuse. We went through so many of them, Toys "R" Us went out of business.
JAMES HARDEN: I don't think you understand the anatomy of toddlers. There's no way that a two-year-old could make a three-pointer on a regulation hoop from regulation distance. I was seven years old when I made my first three-pointer and if you try to twist my words to say something else, I've got top-notch legal representation who would be more than happy to bring you to court.
(On a bright summer's day in a rough Compton park, guarded by men ten times his age and five times his height, James Harden made his first stepback three-pointer. He was just two years old. That day, a legend was born.)
DANICA ANDREWS (James Harden's Kindergarten Teacher): At recess, James would always be the first one out the door. When it was time to back to class, I would take the ball from him and he would cry and cry. And the only way I could get him to do simple addition and subtraction was to frame it in terms of points in basketball. So he couldn't really deal with any numbers bigger than three.
DAMON CARTER (James Harden's Childhood Friend): You're the same weirdo who interviewed me about James' beard, aren't you? That wig you've got isn't fooling me, man. You're that hack with the stupid TH-cam channel.
DANICA ANDREWS: I had the chance to talk with James recently and I decided to quiz him: 4 + 7. He couldn't figure out what I was talking about and got frustrated and started crying. It was like he was back in my kindergarten classroom again. If the NBA added a four-point shot, that would be a good start.
JAMES HARDEN: My mom didn't want me to hang out at the parks. She was always looking out for me, which I'm thankful for, but it meant most of my development happened in a team setting.
DWAYNE GEE (James Harden's Fifth-Grade Basketball Coach): James had advanced ball-handling skills for a kid his age. That's what always stood out to me. He probably would have crossed me up if I had given him the chance, but I didn't, because at the end of the day, I value my dignity. James didn't value anybody's dignity.
JAMES HARDEN: I was on some kind of AAU team when I was in fifth grade, I don't know if you call it AAU, but it was like that. And with that kid-size ball and the short three-point line, I was making it rain. Comparatively. Honestly, I probably shot 15% on three-pointers that season, but all my teammates were shooting, like 2%. They didn't even try to shoot from out there. I don't want to say they sucked, but they sucked. Bad.
SKYLER OWENS (James Harden's Fifth-Grade Teammate): I sucked. Bad.
JAMES HARDEN SR.: It was always just a matter of time before James combined his ball-handling, his footwork, and his jumper into a single deadly move. A move that would make Michael Jordan look like a bitch.
MICHAEL JORDAN (Bitch): I have a lot of respect for Harden's game.
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Part II: • James Harden All 271 T...