When James Harden decides to hang up his boots, he will be missed by the NBA fans dearly. Regarded as one of the best players to grace the league, the Beard continues to leave an indelible mark on his legacy as a future Hall of Famer. On Monday, it was yet another chapter in his illustrious career where he rewrote history by recording 32 points, which guided the Los Angeles Clippers to a 117-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Harden became the ninth all-time leading scorer in NBA history when he drained a pull-up three-pointer with 9:12 left in the third quarter. He surpassed Shaquille O’Neal in the leaderboard and once again proved himself to be the epitome of longevity as he is still playing at an All-Star level in his 16th season in the NBA. “I work my butt off. You don’t understand how hard it is to work and the longevity of it,” Harden told NBA Insider Joey Linn after achieving the historic feat.

However, when speaking about longevity, the Beard shies away from solely taking credit, and he also names superstars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook, acknowledging their efforts this season. “It’s a handful of guys who understand it and know it. A couple of them are still playing at a high level, which is a beautiful thing to see… Cherish it. Embrace it. Love it. Because once it’s over it’s over. You watch guys like Bron, Steph, KD, Russ do their thing at the highest level, still at our age. It’s a beautiful thing to see. It’s a testament to those guys and the work they put in, and we’ve put in, to be able to still doing it this long,” Harden added.

The former MVP is enjoying one of his best seasons in terms of output at the age of 36, which speaks volumes about his legacy.

James Harden is enjoying an All-Star-level season

Before Monday’s game against the Hornets, Harden was 15 points behind Shaq in the NBA All-Time Scoring leaderboard. He finished the game with 32 points and now has 28,614 points in total. He next trails Wilt Chamberlain, who had 31,419. Overall, he is now standing inside the top 10 scorers in the NBA while also being the 12th highest in the assists charts. He has also made the second-most threes in the league behind Steph Curry.

Overall, Harden’s ball-handling and physicality often go unnoticed, but he has been extremely influential in the league even at this stage of his career. His step back three and other variations are among the best in the league. While a lot of people will scoff at his ability to earn fouls, it is a quality that he has mastered. He led the NBA in free-throw attempts in seven out of eight seasons between 2012-13 and 2019-20. He finished in the top-10 of the MVP voting in all of those seasons while finally securing the accolade in 2018.

Harden has aged like fine wine as he is averaging 25.6 points per game this season, his highest amount since 2019-20. He is also recording as many as eight assists and 4.2 rebounds per game while also turning up in 36 games.

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He is also one of the seven players with a scoring and assist title, but the only feather missing in his cap is an NBA Championship. However, given the condition of the Los Angeles Clippers, that looks out of reach. They are 11th in the West with an underwhelming 16-23 record, this is even after Harden and Kawhi Leonard delivering their best performances.

Even if he finishes his career without a title, it hardly diminishes Harden’s legacy to the game. His name will be taken in the same breath as other legends present in the top 10 NBA All-Time Scoring leaderboard.