I'm 40 and I watched all the guys you are referring to. James Harden does stuff MJ never could. MJ was revolutionary in how he played. Wings didn't know how to guard him. The best defender of his era was 6'3" Joe Dumars who was about as athletic as Raymond Felton.
Every wing in today's game has to be able to defend on the perimeter. They train to guard guys who play like MJ. Even more, they now have to guard the 3. What Harden is doing offensively is incredible. Sure there was more contact in MJ's day, but you couldn't touch MJ. You couldn't hit him the same way other guys were getting hit.
For a concrete example, look at Reggie Miller. He played in that era and torched teams. Harden is miles better at everything than Reggie. Every facet of his game is much better than Reggie's.
So yes, Harden's offense can easily be compared to MJ. I actually think it's better. Harden is hitting step back 3's over 6'8" defenders. MJ hit fade away 14 footers over guys like Hornacek, Ehlo, Dumars, etc.
Sent from my VS995 using
JazzFanz mobile app