I think calling Harden's superstardom "manufactored" is ridiculous at this point. The guy gets calls because he's better at setting up his defenders than any other player in the league. What he's doing isn't easy, y'all. If it was don't you think the rest of the league would be trying to copy him by now?
Look, Harden has viciously quick first step and probably the 2nd or 3rd best handle in the league, and he uses it to bring his defender out of position, and then he has downright uncanny timing at catching his opponents as they reach in. Is it a loophole in the rules? to a certain extent, yes. But let's not act like Harden is the first guy to do this, people have swiped through defenders hands for ages, Harden is just the best guy to do it, possibly ever.
It may not be pretty or entertaining to watch, but it's effective and gets 'em wins.