Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic have been viewed as similar players due to their offensive skills. Both are elite scorers, playmakers and rebounders.
Both Harden and Doncic have an innate ability to lift their teams to greater heights and take games over in the blink of an eye. Obviously, Harden is not the same player he once was, but he still has a big effect on the Sixers — just as Doncic has on Dallas.
Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie hopped on “Outta Pocket” and was asked about the differences between Harden and Doncic and this is what he had to say:
I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad comp. I think where there’s a separation between Luka and Harden — I think Harden probably played with a little more pace so that would be where I would give him an edge, but the edges that I would give Luka, and these are pretty big ones, he participates on the defensive end. I think Harden, obviously, is a phenomenal player, athletically gifted and capable of doing so, I don’t think he did. I think Luka does have some athletic deficiencies, but he definitely participates and tries. He leads our team in steals and he puts effort there, and also, offensively, he’s a better post-up player than Harden was. So I would say in terms of ball-dominance, a lot of pick-and-rolls, and things like that, and loving the step back 3, I definitely see the comparison there. Savants in terms of passing the ball and stuff, get their teammates open looks, great guys, MVP caliber guys, those are the similarties I see, and then the distinctions are what I named.
Doncic is obviously becoming one of the faces of the league while Harden is more on the downside of his career. But The Beard is still averaging 21.5 points, 11.2 assists and 6.5 rebounds for the 2022-23 season. He still makes a big impact on the floor, and he and Doncic have many similarities in their games.
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