The Houston Rockets aren’t living the best times in recent days. James Harden is keen to leave the franchise and they’re still looking for a trade partner; they have been unsuccessful and that is starting to become a problem within the team. Harden is ready to start a new chapter with another contender but things haven’t been easy for anybody in the organization.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Beard is anything but comfortable with the team right now. The team has had several confrontations in recent years and Charania reports that Harden even threw a ball at a rookie out of anger.
As long as Harden remains on the roster, there will be a greater level of scrutiny around the team. All eyes will be on the Rockets and every move made, by Harden especially, will be dissected and interpreted under the context of his desire to be elsewhere.
For instance, The Athletic learned that Harden has had multiple verbal confrontations with teammates in practice on Sunday and Monday, and one confrontation included Harden throwing a basketball at a teammate on Monday.
Sources say Harden and rookie Jae’Sean Tate had a heated exchange during Monday’s practice, culminating in Harden throwing the ball in Tate’s direction. The ball did not hit Tate. Interactions like these between teammates during practice can be part of a normal, competitive environment. Harden, however, is known by those in the organization as a laid-back and calm personality —especially as superstars go — and some around the franchise are viewing this as rising to an uncharacteristic level of frustration given his ongoing situation.
This is definitely a bad situation for the Rockets. It has similarities to what happened with Jimmy Butler and the Minnesota Timberwolves two seasons ago. Harden wants out of Houston, he feels his time win a ‘ship there is finished and the more the Rockets last to trade him, the angrier and more frustrated he’ll get.
