When James Harden joined the Brooklyn Nets, he was expected to play the role of a third superstar alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, the three superstars could never figure out how to build great chemistry between themselves.
While Harden is not the only person to take the blame as Durant has been sidelined due to injury and Kyrie just returned to play as a part-time player for the Nets. Regardless of the situation, Harden was the first to give up on the superteam experiment.
Before the NBA trade deadline, Harden made it clear that he doesn’t want to continue to play as a Nets player. As a result, the Philadelphia 76ers swooped in and traded for Harden after sending a trade package around their disgruntled superstar Ben Simmons.
While even after parting ways with Harden, KD supported The Beard by saying that he doesn’t need to explain his actions to anyone, some new information about the relationship between the two.
According to an article by Bleacher Report author Jake Fischer, Harden wasn’t happy about being second to Durant on the team. Fischer wrote:
Via Bleacher Report:
“Brooklyn coaches noticed Harden would roll his eyes when an after-timeout play was designed for Durant, sources said. Durant and Nash wanted a free-flowing offense, which Mike D’Antoni had helped install last season, but Harden preferred his patented iso ball.”
Considering Harden was playing a lot of iso ball when he was in Houston and was coached by Mike D’Antoni, it must have been hard for him to adjust to the Nets system.
However, in order to win games sometimes even the best of the best need to adjust to a new system and do what’s best for the team. Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened in Harden’s case. With him and Joel Embiid joining forces in Philly, the entire world will now have its eyes on the 76ers now.
Will this decision by James Harden finally complete his quest to win the first-ever ring of his career? Or will he regret leaving the Nets superteam? Only time will tell.
