The Rockets superstar has a kindred spirit in the Juventus frontman, bound by a robotic ruthlessness that will never win over the masses beyond the confines of their home arenas

Not even his most ardent critics – and there are plenty of them – dispute James Harden’s greatness. His numbers are undeniable, he efficacy is unimpeachable, and his continued evolution, still adding wrinkles to his game at 30, is inspiring.

Yet it’s unlikely the Houston Rockets guard will ever be universally adored, at least not to the extent of a LeBron James or even a Stephen Curry. It is a question of style, rather than substance, that prevents so many basketball fans truly taking Harden into their heart. And, in this regard, there are parallels to be drawn between the NBA scoring machine and soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of course, Rockets fans worship Harden, just as supporters of Juventus and Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s current and former club respectively, idolize the Portuguese forward. Fans inside the Toyota Center have watched Harden blossom from the perennial sixth man traded from Oklahoma City to escape the shadows of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in 2012 into an MVP, a one-man offensive juggernaut; they’ve seen the work that has gone into that potential being realized.

And they appreciate – just as Madridistas knew Ronaldo’s individual output guaranteed team success – that they will always have a championship-caliber offense as long as Harden is on board.

But the robotic ruthlessness of both men’s scoring won’t, in itself, win over the masses beyond the confines of their home arenas.

Harden and Ronaldo are elite scorers in their respective sports, employing a volume approach to posting historical points and goals returns. Ronaldo has taken more shots than any other player in Serie A this season, and it was largely the same story throughout his time in Spain, where he scored a frankly ridiculous 450 goals from 438 games across nine seasons with Real Madrid.

Nobody in the NBA shoots as often as Harden. He leads the league with 38.0 points per game – more than seven points more than reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in second. He attempts more three-pointers and draws more free throws than anyone else in the league, and he makes more of both, too. His accuracy from beyond the arc is actually at a career low of 33.8% this season, but the sheer volume he is shooting with means his production is historically high. His 13.8 threes and 14.3 free-throw attempts are both career and league highs – Antetokounmpo, with an average of 10.8, is the only other player currently getting to the line more than 10 times per game.

It is unquestionable, then, that Harden and Ronaldo are scoring machines whose mere presence elevates their teams to the level of title contenders. But, for many fans, it is their almost mechanical approach to their craft which grates.

Non-Houston-supporting basketball lovers seem to find Harden’s perceived manufacturing of fouls unpalatable and plainly not fun to watch. Likewise, Ronaldo has often been accused of trying to buy favorable decisions by dramatically overreacting to any contact.

Their dedication to sharpening every technical tool at their disposal – be it Harden’s step-back three-point shot or Ronaldo’s dominant heading ability – has to be admired. But such repeated, rehearsed moves don’t quite elicit the same joy as something that feels altogether more improvised, such as a staccato Lionel Messi dribble past four players or a behind-the-head Luka Dončić assist.

Harden and Ronaldo’s stylistic similarities extend to their weaknesses, too. Both have, throughout their careers, tended to offer little on the defensive end. There are YouTube compilations of Harden letting opponents ghost by him, and Ronaldo, when his team is out of possession, is permitted to hold a high position away from the defensive action, conserving energy. Harden, to his credit, has shown improvements in this area: his 2.0 steals per game is good for a tie of third-best in the league, for example.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harden is averaging a league-high 38.0 points per game, more than seven points higher than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is second on the leaderboard. Photograph: Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

A large portion of the distaste many fans feel towards Ronaldo, it must be said, is a result of his preening public image and perceived self-obsession – not to mention, more recently, lingering allegations sexual of assault. The Harden hate is not nearly as personal.

But purely in terms of what they do on the venue of play, the main area in which they differ is the fact that Ronaldo has consistently delivered silverware for his teams, while Harden is yet to win an NBA title. The Portuguese, who has won the Champions League – European club football’s most-coveted prize – five times, is widely regarded as one of soccer’s great big-game players. Even some of Messi’s strongest advocates will quietly admit that, if it came down to a choice between the two for a single, high-stakes game, they’d plump for Ronaldo.

Harden, on the other hand, is plagued by some notable post-season faux pas, such as the time he struggled to impact the 2012 finals off the bench for OKC versus the Miami Heat, or his wasteful showing in Game 5 of the 2015 Western Conference finals against Golden State.

But both assertions are slightly unfair. Although Ronaldo has certainly impacted many key fixtures throughout his career, it could be argued that he has only produced one truly great performance in his five Champions League finals – against Juventus in 2017. And Harden has scored 40 or more points in eight play-off games, a figure only James and Durant can better among active players.

Like 34-year-old Ronaldo, Harden will be more resistant to age decline than many of his peers; his ability to create separation or generate free-throw opportunities can withstand waning athleticism, and a drop in speed shouldn’t hurt the output of a player who preferred a slightly slower pace to begin with.

Longevity will be another feather in Harden’s cap, and it will allow him to stay in the mix for MVP races and scoring titles long into his thirties. But still, in the eyes of many, there will be something missing.

Conspicuous by its absence is the artistry of James or Messi reading a developing play to make assists no one else sees, or the ethereal, uplifting quality found in the improvisation of Dončić or Kylian Mbappé. It is these moments of unimaginable brilliance, beyond the craft of fine-tuned technique and brutal efficiency, that elevate players to the echelon of the adored.

Harden was crowned the regular-season MVP for 2017-18; he probably should have won the award the year before, too. And Ronaldo has won soccer’s most-prestigious individual award, the Ballon d’Or, five times. They are suitably recognized, respected and revered for what they do. The adulation that spreads beyond the borders of tribal fandom, though, is reserved for the magic of Messi, the genius of LeBron.