NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The moment news broke that James Harden wanted out of Houston, he became Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of critics. He went to Brooklyn for a season and a half then wanted out. Oh, and how can we forget the situation in Oklahoma City? But why is all the blame falling on the shoulders of Harden?
Let’s break a few things down as quickly as we can.
While playing with the Thunder, Harden came off the bench. Yes, he played starter minutes, put up starters numbers, and he wanted to be paid like a starter. However, Sam Presti had other ideas. He figured he could ship Harden out and build a winner with just Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. And for a while, it worked. But then that fell apart. So, in that case, how is Harden the bad guy here? All he wanted was his fair due.
Harden went on to make waves with the Houston Rockets and while he was raking up accolades as a premier scorer, winning was not being added to the resume. He would have a few teammates that should have helped but none was quite on his star level. Well, that all changed with the addition of Chris Paul.
Paul was added to the backcourt for the 2017-18 season and it appeared to be a perfect fit. Although the two were never on the same page, on the court, the Rockets were winning. In the 2018 NBA playoffs, the Rockets would take the Golden State Warriors to 7 games in the Western Conference Finals. However, it’s James who takes the brunt of the Rockets losing when many forget that Chris Paul pulled a Chris Paul and missed Games 6 and 7 with a hamstring injury. This is what Paul had to say about their time together.
And James, I still say it, can’t nobody score the ball like he can. It’s crazy, man. … I wouldn’t trade any experience or whatnot, but I wish we would’ve had some of those conversations. But most of all, I wish I would’ve been able to stay healthy.
So, imagine where they could have gone if Paul never went down with one of his classic playoff injuries. The Rockets were up 3 games to 2 on the Warriors and lost that series. And yet, it’s James Harden who has to shoulder that load of being a loser.
The next season, it all began to crumble for the Paul and Harden tandem. Paul said the pair didn’t speak for almost 2 months that year and maybe, just maybe some of that had to do with Paul’s inability to stay healthy. Did anyone ever think of that?
Paul was traded to the Thunder for Westbrook and the old Thunder backcourt was back in action in Houston. But there were problems. The Rockets wanted to play “small ball”. The experiment worked for a period in the regular season but things are different when playoff time rolls around. That Rockets team was not constructed right after they decided to trade away Clint Capella.
With Daryl Morey leaving, the Rockers were in shambles and both Westbrook and Harden wanted out. Could things have been done better with Harden and his Rockets situation? Yes. But it was clear as we’re seeing now that the Rockets were looking towards the future, not the present. Once again, what was a superstar like Harden to do?
James Harden pushed his way out of Houston and found what he thought was a Championship contender with the Brooklyn Nets. The pieces were there for them to take the title last season but it just didn’t work. However, since Harden is now gone, the blame is pointed in his direction, again.
His first playoffs with the Nets began just as it should with the Nets beating the Boston Celtics 4-1. All three players played and this was the version the rest of the NBA was afraid of. If they could be on the floor together, this made Harden’s decision worth it.
In the 2nd round against the Milwaukee Bucks, things took a turn for the worse. Harden and Irving both go down with injuries and what was a 2-0 lead, turned in a 4-3 series win for the eventual champs. But that was a learning lesson. If the Nets are healthy, they will make a run the following season. And that right there is when all hell broke loose for Harden and the Nets.
The 2021 season began and the Nets were right back where they were against the Bucks, depleted. Even with a Big 3, this team could not find a way to be on the floor together. With Irving not able to play due to COVID issues and Durant injured, it was Harden on the floor with G-League-type players. It wasn’t fair that he was taking the criticism for what the team was going through.
Irving was allowed to play but only on road games. Harden put up numbers but the team was still struggling. This is New York where the media is out for blood and all the finger-pointing was in Harden’s direction. Something had to give. Rumors began to swirl that he wanted out of Brooklyn and the naysayers came at his neck. “He’s a whinner, a quitter, and that’s what he did in Houston”? Well, some of that may be true but what is a player in his situation supposed to do when he came to a team with title hopes and one is oft-injured and the other can’t play a full season? Durant was asked what happened and this was part of his response.
You try and look at it from his perspective, look up, and Kai’s [Kyrie Irving] not playing, and then I’m injured. He hasn’t won a championship before … he’s 32 years old. Looking at himself, wanted to make a decision to get on a team that can kind of get him to that
Harden wants to win and the things that are going on with the Nets, he feels as if this is not his best opportunity. Off to Philly he went and those same naysayers followed him there, “this is Harden’s last chance to win”. He can no longer afford to complain”. The truth is, was he really complaining? Harden, like most pro athletes, likes things a certain way. He’s at the stage in his career where a ring matters. He’s already rich. He’s already won top honors. He’s now chasing that ring.
To sum everything up, James Harden wants to win. To blame him for everything that has transpired over his career is not fair. He had no say in the Chris Paul injury. He had no say in what decisions Irving made regarding his vaccination. And he had no say in Durant missing time. And yet, everything that went wrong was blamed on him because he couldn’t lead a depleted Nets team to the top of the Eastern Conference. Name one player in the NBA who is doing that. I’ll wait.
James Harden just wants to win and most of the criticism he’s facing is not his fault.
Comments 1