James Harden Scores 45 points

#13, James Harden, enjoying a light moment with fellow superstar #7 Jeremy Lin.

James harden scored 45 points in his second game with the Houston Rockets. And he has a lot to smile about. The NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for 2012 and also a member of the 2012 U.S. Basketball Team to the Summer Olympics was traded by the Thunder to the Rockets after they could not match Houston's $80 million offer for five years. Oklahoma only offered him somewhere between $50 to $55 million.

Harden has been described as one of the most efficient players in the league. He averaged almost 17 points per game last season, despite coming off the bench for the majority of Oklahoma's games. He is considered to be a facilitator so it might be surprising that the Rockets are depending on him to be their main scorer. But Harden is capable of massive point productions in the past. There was a game in April of 2012 where he scored 40 points against the Phoenix Suns. And prior to the NBA, in the 2006 Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 championship, he scored 34 points against Michael Beasley's team and 33 points against Kevin Love's team.

So the beard is capable of being the main man. But being in a supporting role in OKC and even in the Olympic Team has kept his talent hidden from most of basketball fans out there. Most of the time, we are only impressed when we are blown away with high scoring points, assists or rebounds. But there are great players, both past and present, that have given a team a lot more than what is reflected on the stat sheet. Is Harden that type of player?

While it may be sad for OKC fans to see their triumvirate superstars broken up, what could have been a Jordan - Pippen - Rodman connection that might have led to a possible NBA Championship, I wish the best for Harden and hope that this success isn't simply a two-game fluke. If the Rockets make a strong showing in the Playoffs this year, then we would know who got the better end of the trade deal.