James Harden’s stint with the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t anything close to what NBA fans expected it to be. They expected it to be a long and fruitful relationship between the two sides, but it wasn’t anything like that.
For the most part, Harden failed to adjust to how the Nets wanted him to play. So much so that an anonymous source even revealed Harden used to roll his eyes when plays were designed for Durant during timeouts.
While many suspected that the relationship between Harden and his teammates was sour, there was no confirmation for quite some time. But with Harden being traded to Philly, each day some new information about his stay with the Nets is coming under the light.
Recently, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote a pretty detailed article about what role Durant played in the trade of Harden. As per the article, the two superstars were going through a cold war and the situation only kept getting worse.
Via Bleacher Report:
“‘Kevin was like: ‘F—k it. James isn’t bringing s—t,’ another figure with knowledge of Brooklyn added, ‘I don’t think that would have happened without Kevin making that decision.’ For weeks he had grown weary of Harden’s purported commitment to the franchise. When Harden first took to the bench with right hamstring tightness, Durant was among the Brooklyn figures who were skeptical of the injury’s severity. By Thursday morning, Durant dialed Nets general manager Sean Marks, sources said.”
Fischer further revealed, “With Irving inactive, and a greater workload heaped onto Harden and Durant, a strain formed between the Nets’ two active alphas. ‘Kevin and James had a cold war going for the last several months that made everyone miserable,’ one person with knowledge of the situation said. Come December, word started to percolate around the NBA about a mounting disconnect between Harden and Durant, which was buoyed by Irving’s absence. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid was reclaiming his MVP-caliber dominance from a season ago.”
He added, “When Durant made that fateful call to Marks, the Nets front office didn’t know what Morey and the Sixers would offer. Brooklyn hoped to acquire another young piece, and the Nets gauged rival teams’ valuations of Thybulle, sources told B/R, as Brooklyn and Philadelphia hammered out the particulars of draft pick compensation that met the Nets’ asking price without including Thybulle.”
As revealed by Fischer, Durant was frustrated with Harden’s shenanigans and it led to a feud between the two superstars.
The absence of Kyrie Irving didn’t help the situation. Maybe if Kyrie was available throughout the season, the situation could have been better. But at the end of the day, Durant played a huge role in getting Harden traded, and in a way, he did the right thing.
