Veteran NBA writer and podcaster Bill Simmons drew criticism Monday after an odd comparison involving the passing abilities of Houston Rockets star James Harden and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic. Doncic had 36 points, 19 assists,
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Veteran NBA writer and podcaster
Bill Simmons drew criticism Monday after an odd comparison involving the passing abilities of Houston Rockets star James Harden and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
Doncic had 36 points, 19 assists, and 14 rebounds in his team’s overtime victory over Milwaukee on Saturday night, and his
late pass to Maxi Kleber for the pivotal dunk has understandably drawn attention.
For Rockets fans, the play probably looked familiar. After all, there’s a reason the 21-year-old Doncic has regularly drawn comparisons over his first two NBA seasons (
in a positive way) to the 30-year-old Harden.
Both guards are in the NBA’s
Top 10 in assists per game this season, with Doncic at 8.9 and Harden at 7.5. Harden is the better scorer, at 34.3 points per game as compared to 29.1 this season for Doncic.
Overall, the two All-Stars appear to have somewhat similar playing styles and abilities. On paper, that should be quite a compliment to the second-year Doncic, considering that Harden has been an
MVP finalist for four consecutive years — including his victory in 2018.
Simmons, however, felt the need to go a step further. During a new podcast with Ryen Russillo, The Ringer‘s CEO said this as part of a discussion comparing Doncic to Hall of Famer Larry Bird:
That opinion was widely condemned on social media, including by numerous fans with no connection to Harden or the Rockets.
