In chapter one of my illuminating oral history on James Harden and his stepback three-point shot, we investigated his upbringing and how it shaped him into the man that he is today. But his journey didn’t end when he made it to the NBA as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. His journey was…
Read MoreTag: James Harden
James Harden All 271 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2019-20 Three-ilation Part I)
James Harden’s stepback three-pointers are a subject of much debate among NBA fans. Are they a benefit to the game, an aesthetic display of pure basketball skill topped with a bow of analytic-minded scoring efficiency? Are they a detriment to the game, an ugly manifestation of the kind of selfish, me-first basketball that some would…
Read MoreJames Harden All 378 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2018-19 Season Three-ilation Part III)
This is the third and final installment of my groundbreaking oral history of James Hardens’ beard. Hundreds of hours of deep, heart-to-heart interviews were distilled into a concise narrative that sheds some much-needed light on the mysterious mass of tangled black facial hair. Enjoy. (if you want more hard-hitting journalism from DownToBuck, donate to my…
Read MoreJames Harden All 378 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2018-19 Season Three-ilation Part II)
This is the second installment of a three-part oral history exploring the story of James Harden’s beard, as told by the people who were there. Support my fact-finding endeavors by donating to my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/downtobuck PART II: ORIGIN OF THE BEARD JAMES HARDEN: It wasn’t until high school that I had to start shaving my…
Read MoreJames Harden All 378 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2018-19 Season Three-ilation Part I)
James Harden is notable for many things: his stepback three-pointer that looks like a travel. His ability to enrage opposing fanbases with uncanny foul-drawing ability. The fact that Sam Presti deemed his value in a trade to be equivalent to that of Kevin Martin. That funny commercial where he sang about taking his shirt off…
Read MoreJames Harden All 265 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2017-18 Season Three-ilation Part II)
Vikal Tawakal had no idea where he was, or even who he was. In an instant, his simple life in Indonesia had been replaced with something entirely different. His plain bedroom was now an impossibly luxurious chamber fit for royalty, but, more importantly, his mind now inhabited the body of a tall black man. There…
Read MoreJames Harden All 265 Three-Pointers Full Highlights (2017-18 Season Three-ilation Part I)
James Harden awoke to unfamiliar sounds outside his bedroom. For some reason, he could hear car horns blaring, engines running, the normal background noise of urban life…but he didn’t live an urban life. His home in Houston was tucked far back into an exclusive suburban community where the slightest hint of loudness would attract a…
Read More