Georges Niang’s words about James Harden show why everyone should respect him more

Although Georges Niang enjoyed a phenomenal freshman season at Iowa State, averaging 20.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 54.6 percent from the field and 39.0 percent from downtown, he was selected with just the 50th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

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During his first five seasons, through stints with the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz, he lived on the margins of the G League and the NBA. However, his career took a completely different trajectory when he joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021.

With the arrival of James Harden during the 2022–23 campaign, Niang quickly became a staple in the rotation and a player who practically lived off Beard’s assists. How grateful the 6-foot-7 forward was for that dynamic is best described by his recent comments.

“His gravity is nuts. There’d just be times where he’d talk. A savant of the game, the way he’s like, ‘Hey, set this screen right here and if you get to here, I’m going to get you the ball,'” Niang

“And I kid you not, he’ll be looking up, so fire one here, fire here, fire behind the back. People forget what he was doing in Houston on a scoring basis and then when he was in Philly, it was like he can really pass.”

“I was sometimes almost like, ‘This might be the best part of his game,’ because I would just move to a certain direction, catch the ball and the only thing I had to do was shoot,” he added.

“You talk about gravity, all the attention’s on James Harden, but when he’s luring you to sleep and then passing to me and I’m catching it on the money and making threes, as long as I was making shots, me and him were great.”

Pick-and-roll mastermind

It was a season that the 2018 MVP finished with averages of 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 1.2 steals on 44.1 percent shooting from the field, 38.5 percent from deep and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line, capturing his second assist title alongside his three previous scoring titles.

On the other hand, Niang knocked down 40.1 percent of his 3-pointers, marking his fifth consecutive season shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc on a high volume of 4.9 attempts per game. As he admits himself, a big piece of that pie was due to Harden’s incredible court vision.

Though he will be remembered as one of the best scorers this league has ever seen, we are also talking about one of the finest floor generals of his generation and a pick-and-roll master who is set to join LeBron James as the only players in league history ranked in the top 10 in both points and assists.

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Yet, it wasn’t just his court vision that left the newest acquisition of the Golden State Warriors speechless. As he admitted, he was particularly inspired by Harden’s approach toward younger teammates.

“You talk about someone that people love to talk about, but one of the most unselfish players and unselfish people that I’ve gotten to be around. You talk about off the court, him taking care of his young guys, whether it’s going to dinner or watches, anything,” Niang stressed.

“He made sure everyone was taken care of and he looks out for his people and that’s admirable because he doesn’t have to do that. He is who he is, he knows where his career is going and he’s phenomenal and playing alongside him definitely helped the trajectory of my career.”

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Harden is one of the greatest to ever lace them up

Despite drawing criticism over the years, locker-room accounts consistently highlight Harden’s willingness to adapt. Throughout his career, he frequently accepted smaller scoring roles so co-stars could flourish and even took pay cuts to help front offices build deeper rosters.

Critics often focus on the absence of an NBA championship ring on his resume, but that chatter only speaks to his incredible stature.

Even if Harden ends his career without a ring, he will firmly hold a spot as one of the greatest players to ever step on an NBA court and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

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This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 9:16 AM.