How one James Harden stat signifies the superstar-centric approach of his teams

A James Harden statistic that is often a talking point when it comes to analyzing his game is his usage rate, which is an estimate of the team's plays used by the player.

Harden is an isolation-heavy player and scores a large number of his points off the dribble or by drawing fouls. Harden's incredible appetite for scoring has made him one of the greatest scorers in NBA history.

Harden's 2018-19 campaign, during which he put up a staggering 36.1 points per game, was the highest scoring average any player had put up in 32 years. The last time someone averaged higher than 36.1 ppg was Michael Jordan during the 1986-87 season.

We take a closer look at why usage rate is "The James Harden stat" and what makes him such a prolific scorer in league history.

The one James Harden stat, performance in iso-possessions and drawing fouls

The defining James Harden stat: usage rate.

Since leaving the OKC Thunder in 2012, the one James Harden stat that saw a significant jump was his usage rate.

The average usage rate in the league between the 2012-13 season and the 2018-19 season was 19.9%. Harden's usage rate in that time frame was 66% more, at 33.0%.

During the 2018-19 season, Harden recorded the second-highest usage rate in a single season in NBA history, as he used up 40.5% of the Houston Rockets' plays.

Harden's high usage rate is primarily due to two things. One, Harden is a masterful iso player. He had an effective field-percentage of 55.2% in iso possessions during 2018-19, scoring 12.2 ppg off iso possessions.

In the same season, at 1.22 points per possession, Harden had the highest output of anyone with at least 50 games played with an iso frequency of 15% or more.

Note: Iso possessions/playtype refer to a player's possessions in a game where they are isolated with a defender in a one-on-one situation. Iso frequency refers to the frequency with which a player partakes in iso playtype.

Unsurprisingly, Harden led the league in iso frequency that season, at 35%. He also led the league in FGM off of iso possessions at 3.5 per game.

The second thing that makes Harden's usage rate significantly higher than that of his peers is his modus operandi as it relates to scoring. Harden is incredibly proficient at drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line, perhaps more than any other guard in the league.

These two aspects of his game — iso proficiency and foul drawing — neccessitate that the ball be in his hands until he either misses/makes a shot and/or draws a foul.

During the 2018-19 season, Harden drew 358 shooting fouls, which is about 4.6 fouls drawn per game. Naturally, he led the league in free-throw attempts, shooting 858 free throws, the highest of his career.

In fact, Harden has a bit of a monopoly when it comes to leading the league in free-throw attempts. He's led the league in that category seven times in his career, with six in a row between the 2014-15 season and the 2019-20 season.

Harden has been top 10 in fouls drawn every single year from the 2011-12 season to the 2019-20 season.

Between his iso-heavy play and penchant to draw fouls, a high usage rate is inevitable. This makes most of the teams he has been on depend largely on him, the superstar, on the offensive end.

While usage rate is far from being called "The James Harden stat," it has surely encapsulated his career adequately.