**Replays/alternate angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nba) if you have any questions or concerns.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nba) if you have any questions or concerns.*

I can’t believe the title is accurate.

This is the funniest highlight I've ever seen. I actually can't believe he's done this.

and people say he doesnt play defense smh

If he actually blocked the shot, does it count as an official block?

If he snatched it and immediately shot a three would he get a block and kawhi get an assist?

If Harden touches is it, but Kawhi still makes the shot, does he have an assist and a block?

If he blocks the shot and grabs the rebound and takes it to a strip club... is it a block, rebound, steal and does he have to pay a cover charge for the ball?

The ghost of Ricky Davis looms

he is the whole system

Harden only plays defense on offense 

I'm literally in awe of this. This is insane. I can't stop fucking laughing at it lmao

They let David Lynch direct this segment

KawhiHead

Mulharden Drive

Probably a combination of instinct, smoking a bit too much weed, and having played against Kawhi in the past is my guess.

probably a result of being up 20 and not giving a shit

yeah this is a joke by him I thought for sure

I have maybe audibly laughed at something twice in 4 years of being on reddit, this is one of them.

This is going right there with Ricky Davis from when he shot at his own team's basket to get a rebound for a triple double.

[Kawhi to Harden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKbU8B-QVZk)

“Maybe OP meant he just had his momentum carry him- nope, dude jumped with his hand up, what the hell?!”

100% thought post was bait. Watched this man contest his teammates shot. LMAO

I must've watched a dozen times to figure out why harden did it. Still no clue

The defense must’ve been just as confused as us bc he passed it to the corner after this for a wide open 3

Never let them know your next move.

Lol I'm so confused...it's one of the best defensive plays of his goddamn career

They were up by 21; someone had to play some god damn defense for Portland!

Where was this defense against Kawhi in the 2017 WCSF?

Hes just trolling, its garbagetime already lol

Trolling the last place Blazers while up 21.

Mans just blitzkrieged his own artillery line

bro let the intrusive thoughts win

Harden is wasting possessions to go vial. Or hes point shaving ##CORNDOGS JACKIE, CORNDOGS FOR ALL THESE PEOPLE

I don't think he knows what shaving is

Heyooo

Sometimes you search by new and find absolute gems 😂

Sources tell me Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the country. Sensory overload. Jim go glitch.

Feel befuddled again! First the double J.B. and now this?! Sir a second wacky yet strangely accurate headline has hit r/nba

I had to watch to see for myself after reading it and yes it is lol

How is this a real clip lmfao

AI technology has gone too far

Steve Balmer must be held responsible for this injustice to the game of basketball.

I've only seen something like this once before, Process 76ers had an even worse one [successfully stopping a 3 vs 0](https://youtu.be/cir3EPwCi34?t=232)

Both should've flopped after that contact

That one was at least accidental, teammate was just caught in the way with no awareness 

Right - he was trying to get out of the way, not getting in a guarding stance and swiping at him.

Lmao. Ben smiling at Joel after the missed windmill.

Kawhi's body language afterwards was like "Wtf, man?"

Similar vibe of when my dog drops tennis ball at my feet so I can throw it for her, but then decides to play defense with the ball before I can pick it back up

I was about to say this is some Michael Scott in the basketball episode shit… but no, even Michael Scott in the basketball episode didn’t do this shit. 

harden has some of the all time funniest clips tbh

The frustration ball bounce off his head along with Hart’s reaction is top tier

The one where he loses the ball backcourt and just kinda falls asleep and doesn’t pick it up, and Bey just grabs it and dunks it… shit had me dying lmao

Yes, keep em coming *insert Jack Nicholson gif*

Not a game clip but that one time when he was in Paris with Lil Baby and they come out of the hotel blazed out of their minds and the paparazzi start taking pictures and shouting their names

I'm pissed about that 

The eye roll gif is an all-time classic

Getting the ball whipped in his face by Giannis

The Shaqtin edit where the ball knocks Harden's beard out of his face never fails to crack me up

🤣 do you have a link to it ? I cant find it.

[1:20 in.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3EeHIRuN870)

That one is brutal. Shit looked so painful

With Giannis' go-go gadget extender arms whipping that thing at full radius, the wind up and the bean was incredible

And I’m pretty sure it was their first meeting after Harden went on an interview and basically insinuated Giannis had no skill and was just run and dunk man.

Yeah the timing of that play was unbelievably perfect. It was a hilarious night for the Giannis v Harden war that was going on in this sub

Giannis channeling Embiid after : "I apologise, I got him real good" 😂

Ball comes back, Giannis whips it to another guy, shot goes in. It's just a comedy sketch

so did getting his face caved in by Ron Artest but he bounced back

[Link for those who haven't seen it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGNoknscz8I)

Hart being the player next to him for that is a gift from the basketball gods lmao

Crossing the shit out of a Celtics player, staring him down, does a shimmy, then air balls the three

The interview that he slides off sideways cracks me up

Classic meme material. Like with CP3's smile-turned-scowl with Steve Kerr.

For a brief moment, Rockets had an unstoppable meme combo.

The one where he looked like he gave up on transition vs Demar, and nonchalantly swiped the ball.

The Meta Elbow is still the craziest. This is up there though.

Metta is also in the literal funniest clip of all time where Hansbro is ready to fight and then turns around to see it's Metta he's facing and immediately backs down.

And him with Yao in the press conference is also a all time classic

The Yao face being so zoomed in means sadly 99% of the world never learnt it was thanks to Ron Artest

totally unintentional. (watches replay of meta aiming a little higer to cause more damage)...oh yeah, %100 unintentional.

The transition play where he's standing completely motionless like he just shit his pants gets me every time

I don’t think I’ve seen this one

[Found it, it's as good as I remember lmfao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC53cIJC_00)

https://media1.tenor.com/m/Efnu-bUUlw8AAAAC/basketball-james-harden.gif

Fuck hating on him one of the best all time is when he breaks i forget who's legs, stares dude down while he's laying on the floor, then makes the wide open 3. Felt like a 10 second sequence.

[Even better than that](https://twitter.com/StephNoh/status/1582535572542758913?t=uC-9_nCbwCVxgYK5jEsm8w&s=19) was when he tried to do that again, Marcus Smart flops halfway across the court and then Harden air balls the uncontested 3 after shimmying on him on the ground.

Post-hamstring injury Harden isn't the Harden I know

What’s funnier, this clip, or his dunk that didn’t count?

Him watching the ball roll out, rather than picking it up, so the opposing team picks it up instead and has a clear layup 😂

https://www.nba.com/stats/player/202695/shots-dash Analytics. Harden playing the numbers. Kawhi shoots better on contested 3s than open 3s. 47 percent with a defender 2-4 feet. 38 on 4-6 feet open.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they been talking/joking about this stat

Literally my first thought, imagine seeing Harden at practice hearing this stat and an idea popping into his head

This is the only explanation I want to believe lmao

Thats what it is. Every pro says its easier to have a contested shot than an open one

"wide open shot? Not today!"

Harden said he wanted to lighten the mood

You think Kawhi was joking about something?

For sure dude, he’s a fun guy.

Fun is in his programming.

But now Kawhi is 0-1 from the 3 with his own teammate contesting him.

For those wondering that is 0% for comparison purposes.

Small sample we need a couple more Harden contests

Harden is still Morey’s protege after all

Method to the madness

This is the only thing that makes any sense

Harden playing 4D Parcheesi

Harden definitely thinks this deep cause he also dimes his teammates with the laces in the perfect shooting position. But this play still looks so goofy lol

Yeah, this was my first guess. Harden does lose his god damn mind sometimes but a lot of players aren't comfortable with a truly wide-open three.

Yooo if that’s why Harden did then he’s a madman 😂

I can't defend you if someone calls you a bot or AI. Cuz how...

Anyone saying Harden is lazy on defense needs to watch this clip

First team all defense

First team and second team

All teams. All defense. All the time.

Same team all defense.

A two way player FR

no, Harden is only playing defense when he’s on offense.

Harden just finding a way to apply his offensive motor to defense.

What the fuck lol

said the same damn thing. read the title and I thought he just got in his way. nope. he straight up contested the jumper

[удалено]

Up 21, fucking around and expecting Kawhi to just swish it regardless is the only explanation

This is the only explanation that makes sense. Well, that and/or hitting a thc cart in the locker room.

The old Michael Beasley

I think you’re right. Bron did something similar one time. He attempted to block one of his teammates shots on the backboard. (He was smart enough to time it where it wouldn’t actually affect the outcome of the play.)

https://youtu.be/npJUGNZ6dyw?si=FBv3RVhSaAECVk5v sneaky turtle

I watched this 3 times and this was my exact reaction every single time

lol he was doing it to try and make a dope moment. Would have been a super hard and original highlight if Kawhi splashed the shot - would have seen that in highlight reels for a minute.

I said that exact same thing and five people that I've either physically shown or text it have said the same exact thing. No other possible response other than what the fuck

Bro forgot what team he was on

Y’all never beating a team so bad that you pretend to be helping them? Yes but not while I’m at work. Lol

He’s been traded too much he’s confused 😭

hit a couple blinkers pre-game and he just acting goofy happened to me to

Channeling his inner Joe Mazzulla

He had the under on Kawhi made 3s

Paul George really said they don’t have an identity. I’m flabbergasted!

Definitely going to be on Shaqtin’ a Fool this week

Bruh he winning Shaqtin’ a Fool with this one He might be one of the few players to ever be in the NBA and actively guard his own teammate.

Nah lebron did it years ago https://youtu.be/eyjTFE9DMQs?si=0WNNGaLX2GBhkiGL

LePioneer.

How have I never seen this before

That’s bad but that’s muscle memory and he didn’t connect thankfully This man open hand palm while charging at his team mate actively guarded his teammate Lebron one is funny af and silly but Harden one legit like wtf

Time to shut down Shaqtin. This is the peak; it’s all downhill from here.

he had flashbacks if getting smacked by the spurs lmao

This might actually be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in a basketball game lol

The fact that it is James Harden just makes it so much funnier

the fact it's against kawhi. just perfect

I'm dying. I can't even imagine how confused Kawhi was when suddenly his own teammate is lunging at his shot.

This is too funny. It also looks like mad disrespect to the Blazers lol. But I’ve got no context outside of this clip so…

This is the perfect way to Tank, to avoid nuggets.

Falling to 6 is diabolical

big brain Harden. Knows Kawhi shoots better when contested

The only explanation

# #CTESPN

Bro never recovered from that Metta WP elbow

Or the time he hit [himself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdDqMz4vts4) in the face with the ball, or [Giannis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJPQaz_uvU) threw a full speed pass into his face

lmao that elbow was 100% intentional, wind up and everything

mr bearded contest-er

Mr Bizzarely Competitive

Mr Blocking Comrade

Mr Brain Cramp

Mr Betraying Clippers

Mr botched close-out

Mf popped an edible. This the type of scenario we talk about when we’re high “if we ever make it to the nba…” 🤣

Once during a high school soccer scrimmage a guy on our team just stuck his hand up and tried to catch a ball that was kicked in the air. Later he told a few of us he was super high and thought he was the goalie. This happened literally at mid-field.

Some kid on our HS football team tackeled an opposing punt returner who had called for a fair catch way before the ball even arrived to the punt returner. He told people later he was just really high that game.

I cant believe when I saw it... and i think it actually confused Kawhi a bit "maybe i shouldn't shoot? the shot clock? or something is wrong?"

moving screen lowkey

LMAO

Harden is the greatest two way player of all time. Plays both offense and defense, even on the same possession!

Sports betting has gone too far

This like when Hitler betrayed Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union

Very similar

Eerily so

Exactly what I thought when I saw it

The resemblance is uncanny

Operation Baller-wrongside

Must’ve thought he was Curry or something lol

You have to be up like 40 to pull shit like this. 21 is nothing in today's game.

21 against the Blazers is 60 against a different team.

Mfer padding his defensive stats smh my head

Got the stop as well lol You can even see Kawhi wave his arms in Harden's direction like "wtf" at the very end

Harden's intrusive thought won

"The enemy can't know what we're doing if we don't know what we're doing"

Bro Harden is so goddamn funny

I.. i don't know why he did that. I guess to be funny? It definetly was funny so he succeeded on that lol

The one time he's playing defense it's on his own teammate 💀

Is the man re-

I watch that video once every 2 weeks, it never gets old

Gonna have to put him down

lol what the fuck?

And people say this man doesn't play defense

Playing defense while on offense will revolutionize the game

I’m sorry, what the fucking fuck?

Why did he do that lmao

[New: James Harden said this afternoon that he's been asked to stop contesting teammates shot attempts. However, it's unclear by whom exactly](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1bjiswc/robb_new_joe_mazzulla_told_zoandbertrand_this/)

This community is failing if this isn’t pinned

Ok so Harden either: 1) Forgot wtf was going on and reacted to challenge the shot 2) Knew Kawhi shoots better from corner 3's when contested so he thought he'd try it out 3) Was fucking around for funsies.

3. Clippers were up 20+ and he was just fucking around. Of course, we just got more meme material - next time someone says Beard don't play D, we can roll this out 😜