#32 - James Harden is Matthew Abaddon

We’re talking sky is the limit potential, nay the bounds of SPACE is the limit potential, but a quick exit. IT’S LIKE the potential is HERE, but what we get is h e r e. That make sense? I already know that this is going to sound like to me that I don’t like James Harden nor do I respect his abilities, which is far from the truth like FAR as opposed to f a r, but I am going to be critical about him in that I think he’s like the best version of a Tracy McGrady/Carmelo Anthony hybrid. So, BIG SEASONAL SUCCESS and BIG STATISTICAL SUCCESS, so big I’m typing it in all caps, but yeah not any real post-season success and maybe they’re too much of a one-man band and I really should just get on with it. Anyway, James Harden is Matthew Abaddon who is played by the inimitable Lance Reddick as this enigmatic associate of Charles Widmore who super abruptly exits the show after only being on for 4 episodes. 

JAMES! Mr. Harden is arguably THE league’s greatest offensive weapon. Over the past decade, no one has scored more points in THE league than James Harden. That’s reason to be celebrated enough. Add to that, Harden was a sixth man for the first couple years of this past decade as part of the OKC Cerberus of him, Durant, and Westbrook. Once he took his talents to Houston and he became the big man on campus, Harden has been scoring buckets upon buckets and been the season scoring leader twice including last season’s fucking bonkers THIRTY SIX point ONE ppg(!!!!!!!!). It’s fucking nuts. FUCKING WILD. Seriously, back-to-back seasons of over 30 points per game and THIRTY SIX?! That’s really insane. And he’s an incredible passer, assistman too. In 2016, he lead the league in assists with 11.2 assists per game, which is fucking wild, and has been averaging 6, 7, 8 assists per game since he left OKC. Harden has that ability to be purely magic with the ball in his hand. He can create on his own, he can pile on assists when he’s inclined, and he’s truly an excellent ball player. Cannot stress enough how genuinely awesome he is at the offensive end of the sport and what he can do against anyone with that ball in his hands. 

Ok, ok, let’s get negative. I’m obviously more negative on these modern guys or someone from at least the 90s onward as I’ve seen them play a lot and there’s that, so I have thoughts. I think Harden and T-Mac are an easy comparison, especially since they both ended up in Houston. They are extreme talents who can score, can get lots of wins in the regular season, but, ultimately, there wasn’t a lot of success in the playoffs. Were the teams not good enough around them? Probably. Is defense an issue for Harden? I mean, yes. He’s not a lockdown defender and he’s shown times for sure where he’s also just a blatantly careless defender. And defense does seem to matter more in the playoffs. Adding to being on defense more, turnovers. Harden almost always has the ball in his hands and he’s not usually giving it away- although, as mentioned, he can and does, but he does almost always have it in his hands and he is keeping it a lot- and he does turn the ball over a lot. He can score 40 points in a game, fairly easily in a sense, and as great as that is, the rest of the team still needs to score another 60 points to get a win and it feels tough when so much filters through him or he’s taking the playoff because the last like 5 times down the court were all him. And there’s a real possibility all of this is because of the GM or whatever not getting a proper team or the right team around Harden, but anyway.

Then there’s the fouls. So, if I’m going to be really negative about Harden- he’s become less enjoyable to watch. At least to watch consistently. Harden loves, LOVES, taking a step-back jumper by the three point line and causing a foul. He’s the king of it. In the world of players exploiting the rules, Harden is an artist. No one has been fouled more times beyond the three point line than Harden and he’s set a few freethrow records as well. So, his game has evolved into this weird subgame of positioning and feinting by the three point arc that results in a lot of herky jerky games with lots of 3s being thrown up at odd angles and free throw shooting and looking at refs like ‘C’mon!’ Just saying, have to mention it. 

Who is Abaddon?! MATTHEW ABADDON?! WHO IS HE!??!?!?!?!? No idea. So, Lance Reddick just has this presence and voice and he’s captivating. When he appears, you think, nay you KNOW, that this guy means fucking business and he’s going to be the key to the whole fucking show. Abaddon appears to Hurley when Hurley is at the mental institution and it’s basically like Abaddon is some ghost or spirit or dead person. And while Lance Reddick does have an ethereal presence as mentioned, Hurley also does see spirits, ghosts, dead people, and so on and so forth, so that would make sense. Abaddon also appears to Locke when he’s in the hospital after he is paralyzed. So, two main characters see him out of nowhere, he’s creeping around, no one else notices him, he comes and goes out of nowhere, both of these main characters seem to be intimidated by him and outright scared, he says something scary to Hurley, BUT none of this amounts to anything. He’s legit just some guy. He’s a guy. Not a dead guy as he is later quite easily killed by Ben with a gun and it’s not a big confrontation at all, Ben just shoots him when he’s not expecting it at all and he dies. So, ALL THE POTENTIAL and yeah it didn’t really turn into a championship or a real revelation of the show. In the end, Abaddon is one of several people who works for Charles Widmore and that’s it. Is he the most interesting or coolest seeming person who works for Charles Widmore? Probably. But beyond that, he’s kind of just gone

So, Abaddon’s time with Hurley is shorter and maybe more important to the show’s mysteriousness and tone, which would be Harden’s time in OKC where he did reach the Finals and OKC felt like they were a real player in the league for years to come, but then that just ended. Then Abaddon’s story with Locke is longer and you see them interact more and get a feeling he’s going to be around a lot longer and then he has a super quick exit as Ben just ups and kills him out of nowhere, which is Harden having great seasonal success and zero real post season success in Houston. Is this guy a dead person, a spirit of THE island and could this be some truly enlightening shit and going to win NBA championships left and right? Or is this guy some guy who can get killed by bullets and that’s that and he kind of bows out in the second round of playoffs regularly? Everytime Abaddon appears on screen is points being scored and when he asks Hurley about whether the people on THE island are still alive - that’s the MVP. The stuff with getting Locke where he needs to be or whatever is I guess the assists. 

Fuck styles? I mean I cannot imagine kissing James Harden with that beard. It’s beautiful and impressive, but it’s basically a full pillow’s worth of hair that is going to be wet with sweat most likely and it’s all over you. He has a wonderful smile and very nice eyes, but if his lips can even cut through that jungle to get to you- it’d be like kissing a fur coat with lips. But judging by his game play, sex is on his terms. He’s going to have a lot of moves and can be quite giving, but the metaphorical sex ball is in hands. As for Lance? I mean as for Abaddon? Well, Abaddon is weird and we know nothing about him, so there’s a lot of power there and again I think sex will be on his terms. I think he’s in control mostly because you’ll be guessing what he wants and he doesn’t really let you know, so it’s like ok well I’ll just do whatever you’re going to do then. Since Abaddon is Lance Reddick physically, uhhhhhh I hope you like a dude cut out of granite and has a body like a motherfucking action figure. I feel like most do, in general. Like most of the human race would want to fuck a body like Lance has like given the opportunity for sure, so I think it’s going to be like that dream realized. You gonna be a hoe for the GI Joe. I think that’s good.