Stephen A. Smith floated the idea — jokingly, we think — that Rockets superstar James Harden looked like he was “drugged” Thursday night during Game 6 of Houston’s second-round NBA playoff series against the Spurs, which San Antonio won 114-75 to punch its ticket to the Western Conference finals.
Hyperbole? Maybe. But then again, Harden was that bad.
The five-time NBA All-Star, who averaged 29.1 points and an NBA-best 11.2 assists per game during the regular season, had just 10 points and seven assists while shooting 2-for-11 from the field. He finished a minus-28 as the Spurs beat the hell out of the Rockets in Houston despite not having their best player, Kawhi Leonard, and battled-tested point guard Tony Parker.
Harden looked so lost, in fact, that one NBA executive apparently wondered whether the MVP candidate was playing with a concussion.
An NBA executive texted me last night that he thought there was a serious possibility James Harden was concussed in Game 5. #rockets
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 12, 2017
The unnamed executive wasn’t the only one to toss around the idea, either. The concussion theory has become a popular internet talking point with Harden zombie walking his way through Game 6.
Discussed this in my pod with House last night. He's been awful since that happened. And he's had a concussion before. It's not crazy. https://t.co/4HZ7ikLEEm
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 12, 2017
James Harden is playing like we should all be upset that he's not going through concussion protocol right now.
— Ben Nadeau (@Ben__Nadeau) May 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/prvctice_/status/862872106035544064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fearly-lead%2Fwp%2F2017%2F05%2F12%2Fjames-harden-played-an-awful-game-6-and-some-speculated-did-he-have-a-concussion%2F
This might seem far-fetched, as one would like to believe the Rockets would have prevented Harden from playing with a concussion. But it speaks to how inexplicable his performance was Thursday after a season in which he dominated at times.
Thumbnail photo via Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports Images
