James Harden is an amazingly gifted offensive player. His defense, on the other hand, is literally laughable (this clip is over eleven minutes of 2013-2014 defensive lowlights).
If the Rockets have any chance of coming back from their 3-1 deficit to the Blazers in their opening round series, some of what you see here (at least try James!) will have to change.
Culture Challenged 
You’re right! Harden gets into the defensive zone, he sometimes swipes with his arm, he sometimes does a little poke, but mainly he seems to be just watching it all transpire! He really plays NO DEFENSE! I’d never quite realized how bad a defensive player he is because I’ve been enthrall end with his offensive prowess. I should pay more attention to how his coaches use him. I’ll bet he goes on and off the court more than other players depending on the team’s need for offense or defense. Folks used to criticize Kevin McHale as a defensive player despite his frequent achievement of a 60% FGP and 80% FTP, but Kevin looks like a defensive gem in comparison!
Quick edit: The bane of autocomplete functions! My comment should read “enthralled with”