In one of the craziest events in the James Harden-Houston Rockets saga, the shooting guard reportedly threw a ball at rookie Jae’Sean Tate out of anger. Now we’ve learned the details behind that moment and what led Harden to made such a questionable decision against a first-year player.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Beard wasn’t enjoying that DeMarcus Cousins and Tate were outscoring the starters and when Tate tried to trash talk Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP let him know he wasn’t having any of that.
Via The Athletic:
Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that Harden had verbal confrontations with teammates in a Monday practice, with rookie Jae’Sean Tate part of a heated exchange that included Harden throwing a ball in his direction. Sources say the root of Harden’s exchanges was the nature of an intrasquad scrimmage during Monday’s practice. A source says the second unit — which included Tate and backup center DeMarcus Cousins — were outplaying the starters. According to a source, at one point, Tate scored a tough basket on Harden and let him know about it, which prompted the exchange.
Harden isn’t happy with the Rockets and he’s less happy knowing that he’s stuck in Houston and nobody knows where he’ll actually leave the franchise. He’s reportedly willing to join more teams other than the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets, with the Trail Blazers and Celtics appearing to earn interest from the player.
Harden has done everything to demonstrate he’s not happy with the Rockets, even breaking the league’s COVID-19 protocol. It’s unclear when and how this will end but the player is clearly unhappy with his current situation.
