James Harden and Kyrie Irving were former teammates on the Brooklyn Nets. However, James Harden ended up requesting a trade, and ended up on the Philadelphia 76ers.
Back at the trade deadline, there were reports that suggested the duo had problems with one another. Irving reportedly “had something to do” with Harden requesting a trade.
Harden, according to sources who were in the room when it happened, was seated in front of his locker, watching Irving, and looked at Kyrie like he had three heads.
Definitely a weird vibe between them,” one source said. “You could tell Harden was annoyed, and Kyrie wasn’t feeling James.”
In two seasons, Harden has quit on two teams until they traded him. When he tries to explain this one, my guess is he will not come out and say, explicitly, that he wanted to be as far away from Kyrie as possible. But make no mistake, Irving had something to do with it.
Harden has said publicly he was frustrated the Nets weren’t playing better. He saw how much the Nets need Irving on the court, all the time, and did the math on how nuts that would be to play home playoff games without Irving, even though Irving isn’t hurt.
However, a recent report by Austin Krell of The Painted Lines suggested that James Harden and Kyrie Irving have no “bad blood”, and are reported “acquaintances” rather than enemies. The 76ers were notably on Kyrie Irving’s destination list if he were to leave the Nets, and it seems as though that is a possibility now.
Sources familiar with the dynamic in Brooklyn indicate that the perception that Harden and Irving didn’t get along is overstated. One source described Irving and Harden as “acquaintances”. Multiple sources dismissed the notion that there is bad blood between the two guards.
The same applies to Durant’s feelings about Harden. Durant famously chose Rudy Gobert over Harden with the final pick in the All-Star Draft after the blockbuster that sent Harden to Philadelphia. But, it appears as though the two-time former teammates are on good terms. A league source rejected the idea that Durant dislikes Harden. Durant doesn’t have bad blood with Harden over the departure, the source added. That same source threw cold water on the idea that there was animosity between the three stars.
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently in a solid position. Even though James Harden is a free agent, he is likely to re-sign, and the 76ers still have Tyrese Maxey and MVP candidate Joel Embiid on the roster.
If they were to add Kyrie Irving to their team, the Philadelphia 76ers would be unstoppable offensively. It remains to be seen if they are able to do so, and we all know that the NBA is absolutely unpredictable.
