Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden really thought that he had a repeat of his Wesley Johnson moment against Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart… until he didn't.
In their NBA Opening Night showdown on Wednesday, Harden gave himself all the space and time he needed for an easy 3-pointer after breaking the ankles of the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Of course Harden experienced that same moment before and was really confident about his shot, so much so that this time, he decided to pull out the shimmy.
The problem is Harden bricked his shot. Even worse, he air-balled it.
James Harden shimmied but bricked the shot so bad 🤣pic.twitter.com/w5KHik2b1y
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 19, 2022
James Harden was coming off a 16-point first quarter at that time, during which he has banked two of his three triples. With that said, it is easy to see where his confidence was coming from. Nonetheless when you decide to boast and mock your opponent at a time like that, you better not miss.
Unfortunately for the Sixers guard, he did. And boy, it gave NBA Twitter the perfect reason to roast him.
James Harden shimmying after Smart went down and firing up an airball was absolutely electric
— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) October 19, 2022
How does James Harden throw Smart across the floor and then brick the 3 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Xr7bmRnCSE
— KingCharge (@KingCharge) October 19, 2022
Epic fail here by James Harden https://t.co/S2JDJIEpFu
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) October 19, 2022




James Harden after crossing up Marcus Smart pic.twitter.com/JOIEugujgX
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) October 19, 2022
World Wide Wob had the perfect description for the epic fail moment, and it's hard not to get embarrassed for Harden. He really had to shimmy even before he hoisted the ball. Maybe the shimmy did affect his launch?
the flop. the shimmy. the slide. the brick.
one of the worst possessions of basketball you will ever see. absolute A+.https://t.co/pU9Em4uMTC pic.twitter.com/SBZUfPsW4J
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 19, 2022
He shimmie and airballed, amazing, 10/10, notes.
— Chris Manning (@cwmwrites) October 19, 2022
The shimmy admittedly plays better when you don't airball the 3. https://t.co/mHB9ic4MWE
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 19, 2022
Hopefully Harden has learned his lesson from that Shaqtin' a fool moment: before you shimmy, make sure your shot has already got it. If not, well, he knows how how NBA Twitter operates.