NBA 18-19: Unpopular Opinion; James Harden Will Not Win The MVP

#3 Keeping it on the down low on defense

James Harden lacking on his defensive skills against the king of the court LeBron James

The Houston Rockets are a talented bunch of players. They have been extremely successful in learning how to play with one another and have no doubt about taking their place in the playoffs. They may not be star-studded at present, but they are putting in the time to make it work. All this while dealing constant team injuries and issues in a difficult Western Conference that picks only the best.

While Harden has given some great performances this season, his obvious lack of effort was instrumental in the consecutive losses to the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately for him, the bad currently outweighs the good.

Now there is scope for the team to climb higher on the table, but there are a few factors holding them back and one is the lack of defense skills from James Harden.

While he is a magical player on the offensive end, he just doesn't seem to have the energy it takes to come back and put up a strong defense. While this may just seem to be complacency for many, his efforts off the court do not add up to this performance on the court, so this has to be burnout.