Clippers' James Harden: Winning NBA Title Would Be 'Very Important' for My Legacy

James Harden has developed a reputation as an excellent player in the regular season who consistently falls short come the playoffs, often shrinking in clutch moments.

A title with the Los Angeles Clippers, however, would finally change that narrative.

"Very important," he told Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports when asked how important a championship was for his legacy. "It's been like that. I always want to give myself a chance to win. I know how very difficult that is. There's only one team standing at the end of the year. So, I'll continue to keep trying to do that."

It didn't look like the Clippers were going to be in the championship conversation earlier in the year. The team lost six straight games in the immediate aftermath of landing Harden in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers and were just 8-10 when December rolled around.

The Clippers have been red hot since, however, winning 12 of their past 14 games as Harden has continued to solidify his role with the team.

One of the early issues was trying to find the fit between Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, four fairly ball-dominant players in their respective pasts. Moving Westbrook to the bench and tweaking the rotations, however, has allowed the group to thrive and has seen Harden increase his aggression by hunting his own shots.

For the season, Harden is now averaging 17.6 points and eight assists in 34 minutes per game, giving the duo of Leonard and George the high-level facilitator at point guard they've never consistently had during their time together in Los Angeles.

Westbrook, meanwhile, has made the biggest sacrifice, averaging just 11.4 points in 23.9 minutes per game off the bench. He's the team's sixth-leading scorer behind Leonard (24.4 PPG), George (22.9 PPG), Harden, Norman Powell (13.3 PPG) and Ivica Zubac (12.2 PPG).

The Clippers have wisely settled on a starting group of Harden, Terance Mann, George, Leonard and Zubac, a lineup that is outscoring opponents by 17 points per 100 possessions when on the court together, per NBA.com.

The team's depth took something of a hit in the Harden trade, though Westbrook and Powell provide plenty of firepower off the bench. Head coach Tyrann Lue has seemed to settle on a nine-man rotation when the team is fully healthy, with Daniel Theis and Amir Coffey seeing regular minutes as well.

The Clippers have found their groove, in other words. Whether it's enough to deal with the top contenders come the postseason remains to be seen. But it appears they're going to be a part of that conversation, and Harden will have yet another chance to add to his legacy.