Hair clippers Point guard James Harden I recently sat down for an in-depth interview with ESPN's Shams Charania. The conversation covered a range of topics including Paul George Departing for Philadelphia in free agency, Harden's relationship to Kawhi Leonardhis role as a veteran leader on and off the field and his enthusiasm for playing in the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, among other things.

While the former league MVP acknowledges that the Clips' margin for error is lower in the 2024-25 season, especially with Leonard sidelined with a knee injury, he isn't worried about adding even more workload to the offense at 35 years old.

“I mean, first of all, I'll have a lot more options, which is easysaid Harden. “I am a born goal scorer. I am a born playmaker. So the last four years have been about sacrifice and whatever, but not just scoring and moving the game forward, leadership and finding other ways to win games is very important. That's all that matters up to this point.

“The numbers and things like that are going to happen, just because my usage rate is going to be high, I'm going to play a lot. They have a high usage rate, as the numbers will show, but it's about actual details and the impact that obviously has on the game and then on your teammates. So I feel like at the highest level I get the opportunity to show my teammates that I can be a leader in that regard.”

Here's more about the Clippers:

• Harden had mixed results in his first game of the 24/25 season. He scored 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in LA's overtime loss to Phoenix on Wednesday, but attempted 28 shots and committed eight turnovers. “I'm so disappointed we didn't winHarden said, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “This is probably one of the most frustrating things I can think about tonight, just the story in Inglewood, at the Intuit Dome. The fans came and showed what they could do, but we just lost out.” Head coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers are asking a lot of Harden until Leonard returns. “He has to be special until Kawhi comes backsaid Lue.
• “The Wall” — a steep section of fans behind the basket near the opposing team’s bench — made an impact in the fourth quarter last night, writes ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Suns star Kevin Durantwho has made 88.4% of his free throws in his career, missed two straight attempts in the fourth period Devin Booker (87.0% career) made one of two. Both players were impressed with the section. “I think I've experienced this (before).” said Durant. “There's like an arena at Oklahoma State that obviously isn't that big. But seeing something go straight to the top, and I always thought that was cool. The noise sounds slightly different. It's going to be a tough road environment for anyone coming in here.”
• Former head coach of the Knicks and Rockets Jeff Van Gundy was hired as Lue's top assistant in the offseason. According to Law Murray of The Athletic, Van Gundy, 62, has been tasked with leading the Clippers' defense. “He'll be the one, make sure we call the shots, make sure we talk defensively” Lue said of Van Gundy. “And we have to be a loud talk team. We need to talk about our reporting and understand what we do. And JVG set the tone early on.”