re: Harden the 1st guard since Jordan in 87-88..

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Actually someone just mentioned bailout calls

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That's understandable simply because he seems so much better at it than everyone else. He has a conspicuously high Free Throw Rate (FT attempts per FG attempt) of .521. The only starting level guards/wings that are close to that are MKG at .515, who doesn't shoot much because he can't, and Ty Lawson at .486. Everyone else close or better is a big or a non starter. LINK

Seriously, look at the list and sort it by FTr, Harden is quite unusual for a starting guard when it comes to getting free throws. There are many players with similar profiles in terms of Jumpers vs. Close and Assisted vs. Unassisted shots. I browsed through 82games.com looking for guys shooting at least 25%-30% Close and the rest Jumpers, and around a 30% or less assisted rate meaning they create most of their own shots meaning they are more likely to get fouled than in a catch and shoot situation. The list of comparables I came up with was:

James Harden .521
Ty Lawson .486
Eric Bledsoe .428
Goran Dragic .399
Monta Ellis .357
Tyreke Evans .354
Rudy Gay .318
Brandon Jennings .290
Tony Parker .282
Kyrie Irving .270
Mike Conley .268

There are some pretty big names on this list, so I don't think you can chalk it all up to "getting calls", but like I said, he is very far ahead of the competition. I also find it interesting that Jeremy Lin is pretty high up the list with a FTr of .426. Does Houston do anything in particular to game plan the officiating?