James Harden's historically unique offensive arsenal helped him reach milestone

James Harden will be remembered as not only one of the greatest shooters, and the way he has been able to do it with his style of play has been nothing short of spectacular.

With his sights set on another milestone, LA Clippers guard James Harden is in a position to surpass Ray Allen for No. 2 on the all-time list for made 3-pointers. Harden was able to make a living for himself in the NBA with his ability to score in isolation.

Armed with a dangerous but quick left-handed release, he is largely responsible for making the stepback three-pointer popular during his rise to superstardom. Harden only needs three more 3-pointers to tie Ray Allen for that No. 2 spot and four to pass him. When Harden achieves this milestone, it will legitimately cement his status as one of the greatest shooters ever.

Creating shots and using the stepback are sometimes extremely difficult for most players to master or perfect considering the amount of defensive pressure great shooters face on a game-to-game basis, especially when a player is responsible for facilitating the offense as Harden often has done.

James Harden is on the precipice of history

Even though it took Harden 16 seasons to get to this point, it could be argued that he could have reached No. 2 on the list sooner if it wasn't for his unique style of play. There is no doubt that Harden could have been more efficient with his shot selection was different. He is a very good shooter and his percentages may have spiked if he had a backcourt mate who could put him in position. Chris Paul comes to mind as he and Harden teamed up with the Houston Rockets for two seasons but that duo failed to achieve the success that was expected. Harden also shared backcourt duties with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn but Irving is a player who tends to look for his own shot first even though he has shown that he is capable of creating plays for others.

The only concern would have been how well he would have been able to move off-ball and allow himself those opportunities and probably not due to the fact he never played well off-ball, and also considering the fact that many teams have been structured around him to fit his skill set and compliment what he does best, which is to punish his defender in isolation.

His shooting attempts and shot difficulty must be considered as well because Harden just doesn't get many wide-open looks as he has to run the floor making stepbacks and deep shots which are unassisted the majority of the time. Harden has often been given the green light to shoot any shot he wants on any possession. Whether it's a step back, off-balance jump shot, or a contested shot, the degree of difficulty in making these shots is what made Harden's journey to this moment so amazing.

That wicked stepback was Harden's bread and butter as he dominated defenders for a very long time with that move as other players from all over attempted to copy and mimic it, but nobody has done it quite like Harden has. Despite the stepback being viewed as underrated and bashed by critics at times, Harden was able to make it a popular thing as there are plenty of highlights to show how he was able to take advantage of a lot of 4-point plays during the course of his career to show how he was able to use that move to his advantage and how it helped him elevate up the all-time list.

That stepback was so effective for Harden and due to its foul-drawing tendencies, it helped him create the space he needed to get his shots off. He changed the game with the stepback three-point shot, and it seemed like everyone began incorporating it into their arsenal and started shooting that shot more regularly.

A lot of people give Steph Curry credit for revolutionizing the game with his shooting, and he definitely deserves the credit for it, but Harden also deserves a lot of credit because his style of play practically developed modern NBA offenses and how they operate today. His stepback three-point shot just looks so smooth and effortless as he has truly mastered the move which is a huge reason why he is about to accomplish this illustrious milestone.

The most three-pointers Harden has made this season in one game was five. So far on the season, he is attempting eight shots per game from behind the arc but is only connecting on 2.5 per game. According to the numbers, it's likely that Harden will move up on the list during his next game, and what better way to do it against his former team where he made a name for himself in the Houston Rockets?

The Clippers will face off against them for the second time in a week as they are scheduled for an NBA Cup game at the Toyota Center. Playing against his former team may be extra motivation for Harden to get the job done, as he should appreciated for the contributions he brought to the game of basketball.