On Wednesday, James Harden will make his second return to Houston in a Nets uniform since the Rockets traded him to Brooklyn ten months ago. It's almost unbelievable how it hasn't even been a full calendar year since the trade. So much has happened for both the Nets and the Rockets in that timespan and it generally feels like both fanbases have moved on. Such is life in the fast-paced NBA.

And that's why this return feels different. Harden originally returned less than a full two months after being traded to Brooklyn. The Rockets were on a massive losing streak and the wounds were still fresh for the fanbase. It didn't feel like your typical star return even though it went through the usual beats like a tribute video.

This time, Houston is trying to protect a six-game winning streak and the fanbase has shifted into rebuild mode. Most fans aren't bitter about Harden's exodus and have generally had time to reflect on his tenure. For some reason, we're all hardwired to be dismissive about teams and players that weren't able to win a championship. Suns fans can't enjoy the ‘Seven Seconds or Less' team without re-living the pain of ill-timed injuries and suspensions. Clippers fans couldn't even enjoy the ‘Lob City' team in the moment without hearing of their playoff shortcomings.

Rockets fans endured similar pain with those Harden teams. In contrast, I actually view all three of those examples as wildly successful periods for those franchises. ‘Championship or bust' is such a toxic way to go through fandom. It's totally fine to enjoy victories gathered along the way because it's ridiculously hard to win it all.

And that's kind of the point of this exercise today. We're re-visiting some of the best moments from the Harden-era Rockets because Rockets fans should be allowed to re-live and enjoy them. Also as a disclaimer, this isn't a ranking.

James Harden Rockets Moments

1. James Harden dunks on Draymond Green (Game 4 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals)

This is more-so about what this dunk represents than the actual dunk itself. The Houston Rockets in 2017-18 were at the peak of their powers in the James Harden era. Harden was playing the best basketball of his career (earning MVP honors that season) and the Rockets as an organization had finally figured out how to maximize his talents. The franchise also wasn't shy about their intention to take down the Warriors and win Harden his first championship.

And they came pretty damn close. Every Rockets-Warriors game was a slug-fest and this game in particular is where Houston won and tied the series 2-2. Sure, the dunk was awesome, but it represented everything about what they were that season as a team. The Rockets were unafraid to challenge the top dogs and appropriately viewed them as their biggest obstacle on the way to a championship.

2. James Harden makes Wesley Johnson an internet meme (February 28, 2018)

Staying on the theme of the 2017-18 season, this is the highlight that will forever show up first in James Harden's career montage. Unless he has another crazy highlight play on a bigger stage, this is just too hard to top. In addition to being one of the greatest crossovers in NBA history, this is Harden at the peak of his powers making a statement that he was at the top of the league. And while that may sound like a crazy retrospective look, at that very moment it wasn't.

From 2016 to 2018, he was probably the best player in basketball. There were no holes in his game. Offensively, he was the full package as a scorer and passer, second to nobody in the NBA at generating points. Defensively, he had gotten to the point where he was actually average in most areas and a positive when switched onto big men.

The theatrics of Harden pausing to admire his work and lick his lips before shooting is also hilarious.

3. James Harden beats Warriors in Oakland at the buzzer (January 4, 2019)

 

James Harden went into Oracle Arena with Austin Rivers as his second best available ball handler and beat a full-strength Warriors team. That's just a ridiculous sentence to type out. This was an improbable game for the Rockets to win and nobody expected them to do so because of the injuries. Houston was in the middle of climbing out of an early season malaise and this game was supposed to be a schedule loss.

After going down 70-53 at halftime, Harden dragged Houston back into this game and over the finish line. He even played all five minutes of overtime and scored 11 points in the period. Harden finished the game with 44 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. Most notably, he hit an insane game-winning three over the outstretched arms of both Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. It was a herculean effort from Harden.

4. James Harden wins a duel over LeBron James and accelerates his MVP campaign (March 1, 2015)

When Harden was in the middle of his third MVP campaign in 2017-18, I remember going around and asking people what was the singular moment or game they started to mentally put him in the top echelon of the league. When I asked it, I already had my personal answer in mind, but was curious to see what others had to say. It was incredible how frequently this game came up considering how little it's talked about today. It was also the game I had in my head.

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As someone in attendance, it really left an impression for a number of reasons. The first was obviously how good the game was: an overtime thriller that had multiple highlight plays and physical confrontations. The second was how big the stage was: the MVP race was heating up, the playoffs were just around the corner, and the NFL season had ended the month prior, meaning a giant swath of sports fans were tuning into the NBA season for the first time that year. It was also a ‘Sunday Showcase' game on ABC, with two of the three leading candidates for MVP facing off.

It confirmed to me that Harden could be the best player on a championship team. He was already an All-Star by that point, but the 2014-15 season was really his coming out party as a top-tier talent in the league. The Toyota Center crowd was treated to a true MVP duel, where both players legitimately went at each other. Harden went for the throat of the best player in basketball that night and came out on top.

The Rockets social media team also brought their A game that night.

5. James Harden's debut in a Rockets uniform (October 31, 2012)

So, I could have picked from a slew of awesome Harden performances where he put up even better numbers than this. The 60-point triple double he put up against the Magic and the 57-point triple double he had in Madison Square Garden are strong honorable mentions. This one stands out because after years of mediocrity following the Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming era, the Rockets had finally landed their star. Following the blockbuster trade and contract extension, Harden poured in 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 block on 14 of 25 shooting from the field and 4 of 10 three-point range and led Houston to the first of many wins.

Doubts of his All-Star talent were prevalent before this game, but they quickly disappeared after it. This kickstarted one of the most memorable 8-year runs in franchise history. It had to make the list. There was no way around it.