James Harden says some of his game was influenced by Steve Nash

James Harden says some of his game was influenced by Steve Nash.

Rockets all-star James Harden should be in for a career year under new coach Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni is known for his very uptempo style and that should fit James Harden to a T.

In Phoenix, D’Antoni’s run and gun style gave teams nightmares from 2003-2008 with him as head coach. With D’Antoni leading them to 50+ win seasons in 2004-2008.

The catalyst of D’Antoni’s offense was Steve Nash. Steve Nash was handed the keys to the offense and he excelled. Nash won back to back MVPs in 2005 and 2006.

With James Harden now as D’Antoni’s offensive catalyst in Houston, Harden is saying that some of his game was actually influenced by Steve Nash. With regards to how Steve Nash influenced some of his game, Harden told Calvin Watkins of espn.com that “I got a little bit of Nash in me. He had his own pace to the game; that’s what I took out of that. You could never speed him up, you could never make him do anything he didn’t want to do.”

What Harden said with regards to Nash and himself, is correct. Harden does play at his own speed similar to Nash as Harden is able to control the tempo of the game. Though Harden also plays no defense, which was another Nash trait. If Harden wants to take the Rockets to the next level he must improve on that end.

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