PJ Tucker Compares SGA's Thunder To James Harden's Rockets

For the past two years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have imposed their will like no other NBA team has. The reigning NBA champions have a unique winning formula, but for one grizzled veteran, he has seen this show before.

Appearing on the “7 PM in Brooklyn” podcast, PJ Tucker likened the Thunder to a playoff powerhouse that he used to compete for.

“Shai will walk his way to 30, right? I really compare it to my Houston days with James,” Tucker said. “He’s gonna run the team and do what he does, but everybody else, we’re going to generate those wins.”

Tucker, who spent four seasons with the Houston Rockets in the late 2010s, highlighted the value of role players like him for superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and James Harden. “Right now, with them [the Thunder], it’s all about the others,” Tucker commented.

The concept of “the others,” popularized by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, refers to the supporting cast that helps franchise players in several different ways. In the case of Harden, he had 3-and-D specialists like Tucker and Trevor Ariza, a lob-catching big in Clint Capela, and a bench dynamo like Eric Gordon to help him reach the Western Conference Finals during his Houston heyday.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander and his no. 2 option, Jalen Williams, had their own talented ensemble to help them climb the summit last year: prized unicorn Chet Holmgren, defensive pest Lu Dort, and old-school enforcer Isaiah Hartenstein, just to name a few Thunder assets.

There is, of course, a significant difference between the playing styles of Harden and SGA. While Tucker and his teammates had to do a lot of standing around while Harden lulled his on-ball defender to sleep, Gilgeous-Alexander and his Thunder teammates have harnessed a more balanced attack on offense.

More importantly, while Tucker’s Rockets were solid on the defensive end, they are not quite the well-oiled machine that Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has honed these past few years. Harden and Tucker never reached the mountaintop during their time together in Houston, but the 6-foot-5 enforcer (who won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021) certainly knows what a lethal superstar + others combination looks like.