After leading the Houston Rockets to last year's Western Conference Finals and finishing second in MVP voting, Harden appeared bulletproof—that rare ball-dominant star who avoided criticism for a seemingly selfish style.
Now, with a disappointing Rockets season stripping away the flak jacket of team success, Harden's taking heavy fire as the worst kind of pseudo-star: a stat-hogging gunner who can't lead and doesn't make his teammates better.
Tainted. Maligned. Picked apart despite obvious talent.
Harden is in Carmelo Anthony territory. In fact, he's been there a while. It's just that wins and the perceived potential that came with youth (Harden's still only 26) quieted the discontent for a time.