He's been one of our best defenders in these playoffs. I trust them. You know, smart, great hands.

Didn't think about that.

That was Kenny Adkinson asking, did you think about taking James Harden out of the game?

Look, I said this on Monday morning. I actually thought he defended pretty well in game seven against Detroit.

I didn't think that his stat line was actually reflective of his game in game seven.

I thought he played better than the numbers would suggest in that game seven.

But more times than not, the problem with James Hardin is he's oblivious to the fact

that this is a different style of game in the postseason. At 36 years old, it is not dawned on

him over the course of his career, which is why he's been such a wretched postseason performer,

that the game actually slows down, it becomes more defensive,

it becomes more physical, and you can't play as casually as he plays and succeed.

Look, he's going to have games because he's one of the all-time great scores.

And even in the postseason, he's had some insane nights.

But he's never going to be the best player or even the second best player on a championship team.

That's never going to happen, ever.

You can't have one of your two best players be that completely clueless as to the game

change from regular season to postseason.

He's been one of her best defenders. I trust him. He's smart.

You know what? He does have great hands. He's got very good hands.

I've noticed that too. I mean, usually, you know, he'll, when somebody's going by him,

he'll do the reach around and slap the ball from behind.

You know, that's super bad defense.

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