Kendrick Perkins has revealed that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and some members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team played a role in James Harden’s departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder. During an appearance on the Road Trippin’ podcast, Perkins shared that Kevin Durant told him Harden was leaving because of them.
“I remember having this conversation when KD, James Harden, and (Russell Westbrook) got back from the Olympics from winning the gold,” Perkins said. “KD said, ‘Man, we’re about to lose James and it’s not about the money.’ And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’
“He said, ‘We’re about to lose James because when we was over in the Olympics, ‘Bron, D-Wade, all those guys were telling James, ‘Bro, you’re too nice bro, to be coming off the bench. You’re a number one option. You need to have your own team.’ … Two months later, he’s traded to the Rockets,” Perkins added. “He turned down the contract extension and the rest is history.”
(starts at 0:24 mark):
“[Kevin Durant] said, ‘Man, [we're] about to lose [Harden]'… At the Olympics [LeBron James, Dwyane Wade], all those guys were telling James, 'Bro, [you're] too nice to be coming off the bench… You need to have your own team.’”
— Kendrick Perkins 👀pic.twitter.com/0N4TY9NQZd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 12, 2024
I should point out, that Wade was not part of Team USA’s roster for the 2012 Olympics. So, Perkins might be misremembering here or maybe the Miami Heat icon was around the team at the time.
All those players certainly were right about Harden being too good to come off the bench. He had shone in that sixth-man role for the Thunder, even winning SMOY in 2012, but it was clear he could do a lot more in a bigger role. It didn’t take him too long to show that after being traded to the Houston Rockets that offseason.
I would say, though, that even with those comments being made, the reason why Harden ultimately left was money. He wanted a max deal which would have been about $60 million over four years, but the Thunder were only willing to pay him $55.5 million, as they were worried about luxury tax implications.
The Rockets, meanwhile, were willing to offer Harden a five-year, 78.8 million deal, and so he gave the go-ahead for a trade. The Thunder ended up getting Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick in the deal.
Martin and Lamb didn’t make much of an impact for OKC while among those picks, Steven Adams was the only one to make any sort of significant contribution. It was just a woeful return for the Thunder.
Harden, on the other hand, would win an MVP, three scoring titles, and an assist title during his time with the Rockets. He averaged 29.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game as a Rocket and was one of the best players in the NBA for about a six to seven-year period.
Would Harden have become that great of a player had he stayed with the Thunder and played third-fiddle to Durant and Russell Westbrook? Probably not, but he certainly would have done better than the players they got for him.
I think Durant, Westbrook, and Harden would have at least won one championship if they stayed together for a longer period of time. They, of course, lost in the 2012 NBA Finals in five games to LeBron and the Heat and none of them were anywhere close to their best at that point. It’s a shame we’ll never know for sure how great of a trio they could have been.
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