Who's higher all-time: Kawhi or Harden?

[Milenkovic]

Kawhi getting first option credit for the 14 ring is very weird. He was essentially Anunoby back then.

Agreed, arguably Duncan should've won FMVP again

[Homer38]

Kawhi getting first option credit for the 14 ring is very weird. He was essentially Anunoby back then.

He was the 6th best scorer for the spurs in the WCF!

Less points that Boris Diaw and Danny Green!

[Johnny Tomala]

Harden, way more career value, MVP, FIBA World Cup gold medal, Olympic gold medal, Kawhi two NBA titles and two Finals MVP doesn't put him over Harden.

[Onlytimewilltel]

Why no poll?

[_NoMas]

Kawhi getting first option credit for the 14 ring is very weird. He was essentially Anunoby back then.

He was the 6th best scorer for the spurs in the WCF!

Less points that Boris Diaw and Danny Green!

He was their best player in the finals. Hence FMVP and credit

[Rust_Cohle]

Kawhi all day everyday

[Homer38]

Kawhi getting first option credit for the 14 ring is very weird. He was essentially Anunoby back then.

He was the 6th best scorer for the spurs in the WCF!

Less points that Boris Diaw and Danny Green!

He was their best player in the finals. Hence FMVP and credit

Of course but the title by the spurs in 2014 was a total team effort....I still take Kawhi over Harden but this is not because of 2014.This is because Kawhi was a much better 2 way players and much better in the playoffs and I never been a fan of the Harden style(rely too much on free throw).It don't work in the playoffs.I don't think Harden would been able to beat the 76ers or bucks in 2019 with the raptors in the place of Kawhi

[maverick_41]

I don't watch the regular season, I don't know James Harden. Seems average.
I remember Kawhi as the lockdown role player for 2013-2015 Spurs teams, as the only threat to 2017 Warriors and as the Terminator in the 2019 playoffs.

[phanman]

No, they didn't. KD missed like one game vs the Rockets in 2019 (g6 I believe) but played the rest of the series.

Yeah that's my bad.

And in the finals that one comeback game where Durant played 11 minutes was one of the games GSW won lol. Imagine if he and he and Klay were actually healthy for the the majority of the series.

Kawhi was great, but the circumstances aren't even remotely close to what the Rockets went up against.

Nobody is going to argue with you that we didn't benefitted from from both Klay and KD getting injured, but our 2019 Championship team was a great team all around and although Kawhi turned into a superhero in the playoffs he also wasn't 100% by the end of things. We were also missing OG for the entire playoff run too. It's overlooked now considering we won, but that Philly team and Bucks squad were also really good teams that I don't think Harden could have willed a victory over either.

All of this to say, those super team KD Warriors teams weren't Harden's only chance to win a ring...

[longtallbrad]

Eh. Leonard for peak, Harden for career value. Kawhi is the Bill Walton of his generation.

[Haldi]

He was the 6th best scorer for the spurs in the WCF!

Less points that Boris Diaw and Danny Green!

He was their best player in the finals. Hence FMVP and credit

Of course but the title by the spurs in 2014 was a total team effort....I still take Kawhi over Harden but this is not because of 2014.This is because Kawhi was a much better 2 way players and much better in the playoffs and I never been a fan of the Harden style(rely too much on free throw).It don't work in the playoffs.I don't think Harden would been able to beat the 76ers or bucks in 2019 with the raptors in the place of Kawhi

First I just want to say that I agree with you on the first point. And I agree with the other poster on this page that said it shouldve Duncan, and 2007 too imo, even if Parker did have a killer series. Duncan was the biggest impact of both of those teams, although 2014 was such a well rounded team effort.

For your other point let me just copy paste this for a third time now:

That team was miles better than what Harden had to work with, so yea, with how close he was in 18 and how disfunctional the 19 team was, pretty sure he wins with a much better team in 2019. Already wrote this exact thing on the previous page but ill copy paste here for you:

“Prime Harden with Kyle, Powell, Siakim, Gasol, Fred and Ibaka… I’d say that Philly series doesn’t go anywhere near a game 7 buzzer prayer to win it. And the Bucks were a very strong regular season team that year but very much lacked playoff experience so although Leonard was very useful for the wall defense they set up against Giannis, Nurse can do the same damn thing with that roster as well. Team defense >>> than individual defense.

The 6 guys listed there are levels and levels above the 2018 or 2019 rockets team that Harden had to work with. Again, Mbah Moute I don’t think ever played NBA basketball again lol. Ariza got a fat 2 year contract the next year which the team realized was a huge mistake and traded him and after never played NBA basketball again. Gordon hasn’t exactly shined in Houston after Harden left and is he still even in the NBA?? Clint seems to be playing less and less minutes every year, cause he has Trae instead of Harden now. Tucker was a decent 20 ish minute role player on that championship Bucks run, but he was playing 40 minutes a game with Harden lol. As for Danual House and Macklemore… yea. And Hartenstein is a solid backup in the NBA but was a rookie at the time. Im never gonna say anything bad about Paul’s play obviously, dude was amazing but missed the most important game and a half in 2018 and most of 2019, and was not himself that playoff run.”

I don’t know how you can look at both rosters and think Harden’s disfunctional and just recovered 2019 Rockets are better or even try the ‘fit’ argument with it. Harden would’ve done much much much better with that roster instead of his, and seeing how he was a hair away from beating a HEALTHY Warriors team the year before, I think it’s pretty clear what the result would be. Which is what most peoples deciding factor is in this debate, Kawhi got a team ring and Harden didn’t. Rings are ALWAYS a team thing.

[JayMKE]

Kawhi is one of the GOAT playoff performers, that's where legacies are made. Harden never winning is a huge black mark against him and its not like he hasn't team hopped trying to win. Kawhi will be remember as a champion in San Antonio & Toronto, Harden will be remembered as that bearded guy who put up big box scores when it didn't matter.

[Kingsway_fan]

Can't judge a guy who only plays part time ...

[MavsDirk41]

Peak Leonard
Career Harden

[Accurim]

i put kawhi. alltime lists are going to put harden ahead.

[Castle Black]

Read on Twitter

[sikma42]

Kawhi was the best player in the NBA for a couple of seasons and was the reason the Raptors won a chip. Clearly his peak is above Harden's. As far as career, I still think he has Harden beat since when healthy, Kawhi was considered one of the top 3-5 two-way players in the NBA and he's got multiple rings where Harden has zero and never played defense.

When has Kawhi ever been mentioned as the best player in the NBA? He was the best player in the NBA during that playoff run with Raps.

Never ever heard Kawhi being mentioned as the best player. One of the best sure but he's clearly been overshadowed by a bunch of players.

He was in the convo the season he got hurt in the playoffs by Zaza imo


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[KG Leonard]

Kawhi is one of the GOAT playoff performers, that's where legacies are made. Harden never winning is a huge black mark against him and its not like he hasn't team hopped trying to win. Kawhi will be remember as a champion in San Antonio & Toronto, Harden will be remembered as that bearded guy who put up big box scores when it didn't matter.

This is why there is no question between Kawhi and Harden imho . Regular season numbers are not enough for superstars, ATG. There are many Harden who have scored a lot but didn't win playoffs series in NBA history. There isn't many Kawhi between 2017-2020 when he was on same level or even better than prime Lebron. His 2019 playoffs he dominated like an MJ or Lebron. In 2014 he was a young Pippen like role and best defender on the best team by far. Harden has never reached those highs in his playoffs. What happened when he had a great team vs Warriors in 2018 and they were almost ripe for being beaten? The excuse is CP3 injury?.....

[Ballings7]

Kawhi fairly comfortably

More well-rounded, efficient scorer and shooter. Superior defender. Competent, smart facilitator.

Kawhi's hands, length, strength combination, give him a big advantage to score and counter-score/pass like a big man. Aside from obvious impact, tools on defense.

Kawhi's a novelty and a unicorn on both ends. 1st-ballot Hall-of-famer in time. No what-ifs needed..

Kawhi's had an awesome career - made his Dad very proud.

[JustBuzzin]

Kawhi won a championship as the best player.

Harden had a more healthy career, but Kawhi was the better overall player.