Lonzo Ball calls James Harden’s stepback ‘most unstoppable move’

Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball says the stepback jumper from Houston Rockets star James Harden could be the NBA’s “most unstoppable move.”

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In a new story via The Players Tribune, New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball says the renowned stepback jumper of Houston Rockets guard James Harden could be the NBA’s most unstoppable move.

Ball was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Pelicans this offseason as part of the blockbuster deal for Anthony Davis. Though he’s just 22 years old, the 6-foot-6 Ball already has a reputation as one of the league’s better and more versatile defensive guards.

In the one Pelicans-Rockets game this season in which Ball played (Oct. 26), Harden was limited by the likes of Ball and Josh Hart to 29 points on 8-of-29 shooting (27.6%) and just 2-of-18 (11.1%) from three-point range. That total is more than 10 points below Harden’s average of 39.2 points per game in the 2019-20 season to date.

However, Ball clearly has an appreciation for how difficult that job is to do on a regular basis. In his self-authored piece published Tuesday titled “The 5 Toughest Players I’ve Ever Guarded,” Ball writes:

James’s stepback might be the most unstoppable move in the league.

With James, it’s either gonna be a shot, or a foul. He kind of teases you by hanging the ball out there, like he’s daring you to take it. And as soon as you reach, he either hits you with the stepback while you’re leaning, or he’ll let you get into him and draw the foul. He’s savvy like that.

The only way to really stop him is to put your chest on him, because if you give him even a little bit of space and let him get into a rhythm with his dribble, he’ll set up that stepback, and it’s over.

The difficulty for defenders, according to Ball, is that they must simultaneously prevent Harden from getting space while also not committing a foul by reaching in.

During Lakers-Rockets games last season, Ball and his teammates became so frustrated by this dynamic that they tried defending Harden while holding their own hands behind their backs!

Ball, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, elaborates on the conundrum in his story:

But you gotta keep your hands back. That’s the toughest part because when the ball is right there in front of you, your instinct is to go get it. That’s what you’d do with most guys. With James, though, you have to change your whole mindset and be really patient. You can’t get greedy.

It’s the same thing when he drives to the rim and hits you with that Euro step. He hangs the ball out there, and he’s so good at drawing that foul. It’ll drive you crazy.

I don’t know how anybody can stop him. All you can do with James is try to stay up in him, keep your hand out of there, force him to his right … and then basically just pray that he misses.

Harden has largely had the upper hand against Ball’s teams, with the Rockets a combined 4-0 versus the Pelicans and Lakers over the last two seasons in games where Ball was an active player.

The next meeting between Harden’s Rockets (11-3) and Ball’s Pelicans (4-9) comes in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 29.

Other players on Ball’s “top five” toughest-to-guard list are Portland’s Damian Lillard; San Antonio’s Demar DeRozan; and Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Ball also named Durant to his all-time list of toughest one-on-one players, with the other four being Tracy McGrady, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Allen Iverson.

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