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James Harden, Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets will head into the 2021-22 NBA season without Kyrie Irving if the All-Star guard continues to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite the loss of such talent and skill, the Nets are, perhaps, the only team in the NBA who are still considered legitimate championship contenders. They have two former MVPs to count on despite Irving’s ineligibility to play.
Without the former Duke star, James Harden and Kevin Durant will have to carry a heavier load for the Brooklyn Nets to finish what they started last year. Harden, in particular, will carry the brunt of the playmaking duties that he and Irving were supposed to share. The Beard will also be more involved in the offense to partly offset the loss of the only player with a 50/40/90 stat line last season.
The Brooklyn Nets, sans Kyrie, will rely on James Harden to be the do-it-all star he has proven to be in his stint with the Houston Rockets. Because of necessity, Harden could rewrite the Nets’ record books in different statistical categories.
In only 36 games last season, he has already topped a few of these records. With more minutes and usage, he could reset more of them as the 2021-22 NBA season progresses.
Brooklyn Nets records that could be reset by James Harden
#5 Free throws made
Since being traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets (excluding his shortened play with the Brooklyn Nets last season), James Harden has averaged an impressive 687.6 free throws, including a staggering 754 makes, in the 2018-19 campaign.
He led the league in converted free-throw attempts six times, each time by a wide margin. The numbers don’t lie. Harden has been the most prolific free-throw shooter in the NBA for the last eight years.
The Nets’ single-season record is owned by Rick Barry when he sunk 641 of them in the 1971-72 season. That record could be erased by the King of Free Throws before the current season ends.
New NBA rules regarding unnatural shooting motions to get a foul should do little to affect Harden’s propensity to get to the line and make free throws.
#4 Three-point field goals made
In the age of space and pace, the three-point shot has become the NBA’s signature basket. Credit has been given to Steph Curry for changing the way the game is now played, and rightfully so. However, the Bearded One, now playing for the Brooklyn Nets, is not too far behind.
In James Harden’s last five full seasons, he has buried an average of 288 three-point shots. From 2017-18 until the 2019-20 season, no NBA player had sunk more three-point field goals than Harden. His 378 trifectas in the 2018-19 season are second only to Steph Curry’s NBA record of 402, which the Golden State Warriors star set in the 2015-16 campaign.
D’Angelo Russell’s season record of 234 three-point shots made in 2018-19 for the Brooklyn Nets could be in jeopardy, especially in an 82-game schedule and with more leeway on offense for Harden.
#3 Assists per game
Kevin Porter dished out 10.8 assists per game in the 1977-78 season. In 36 games with the Brooklyn Nets last year, James Harden had 10.9 assists.
Per NBA stats, a player has to play 70% of his team’s games to qualify for such a record. Had it not been for the lack of games played, this record would have already been in the bag for Harden.
Head coach Steve Nash previously scattered James Harden’s and Kyrie Irving’s minutes on the floor to make sure that an elite playmaker would always be around to orchestrate the plays for the Brooklyn Nets. Without Irving, the primary playmaking duties will fall on the Beard.
James Harden is no stranger to being the guy running his team’s offensive engine. While playing with the Rockets, he led the team in assists in 6 out of 8 seasons. In the 2017-18 season, he had even more assists on a Rockets team that featured the Point God, Chris Paul, himself.
It would surprise no one if the Beard’s APG will skyrocket this season, considering that he is surrounded by Brooklyn Nets shooters and rim runners. KD, Joe Harris and Patty Mills playing at the same time as Harden will be a nightmare to defend.
Harden will have the luxury of racking up his assist totals with this kind of shooting almost every time he is on the floor. He already had 15 in one pre-season game in limited minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
#2 Total assists in a season
![James Harden's assists are poised to go up this season for the Brooklyn Nets [Photo: FiveThirtyEight]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/10/02ee5-16345414293336-1920.jpg)
Based on James Harden’s huge potential in assists per game, his total assists in a season are also expected to go up. In 2016-17, when Harden won the assists-per-game title with 11.2 APG, he ended the campaign with 907 dishes in total.
Jason Kidd, the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, is the record-holder for the Nets, with 808 in total during the 2001-2002 season. The then-New Jersey Nets, behind an entertaining running game featuring Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles, were deadly on the break, with Kidd giving pinpoint passes.
It’s safe to say that this version of the Brooklyn Nets has a lot more talent and shooting skills than the Houston Rockets team James Harden played on. The record for total assists in a season for the Nets could be another one that the former NBA MVP could reset.
#1 Triple doubles in a season
![Despite the triple-doubles, James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets is still underrated as a rebounder [Photo: Heavy.com]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/10/6cd5f-16345410598432-1920.jpg)
In 2006-07, when Jason Kidd finished with 12 triple-doubles to hold the record for most in a season for the Nets franchise, he played a total of 80 games.
The following year, Kidd registered the same total, but it was time split between the Nets and the Dallas Mavericks. Last year, in only 36 games for the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden totaled the same statistical score.
The 12 triple-doubles by Harden for the Brooklyn Nets represented a spectacular 33.33% of his games. With a full training camp, pre-season and without Kyrie Irving, Harden is bound to shatter the record he currently shares with Jason Kidd.
The triple-double is supposedly the most difficult stat to hit because as the de facto point guard of the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden would have to spend a majority of his time on the perimeter. However, where he is at on the court has never really mattered based on his past games. He has a knack for the ball that allows him to get those rebounds while mainly staying outside the paint.
James Harden could be the holder of several franchise single-season records when all is said and done for the Brooklyn Nets this year.
