The James Harden saga continues for the Houston Rockets. The players recently claimed he’s focused on staying with the team but everything else points out that the Beard is ready to leave the franchise this season. Harden landed in Houston in 2012 from the Oklahoma City Thunder and ever since that moment, things changed for the organization. Harden became the face and soul of the team and that has become a problem for the team.
Talking on “The Hoops Collective” podcast, Tim McMahon revealed that the Rockets always did what Harden told them to do, what players to land and even the practice schedule.
“Harden has had the right to say who comes and goes in Houston, wanted and then did not want: Howard, CP3, Westbrook, McHale. Determined the practice schedule, post-All-Star Game the team did not practice because Harden wanted to stop by Vegas.”
Of course, that didn’t sit well with anybody around the league and Harden earned plenty of criticism. Legendary reporter Michael Wilbon chimed in on that situation, confirming what a lot of people around the league believe: Harden won’t lead the Rockets or any other team to win a title with his style of play. During a recent edition of ESPN’s “Pardon The Interruption,” Wilbon made the case against Harden.
“We’ve seen the best of James Harden. James Harden ain’t gonna be the best player on any team that wins a championship,” he said.
"We’ve seen the best of James Harden. James Harden ain’t gonna be the best player on any team that wins a championship."@realmikewilbon on revelations in @espn_macmahon's Harden story 👀 pic.twitter.com/hqQV54Vd8f
— PTI (@PTI) December 16, 2020
Harden reportedly requested a trade from the Rockets at the start of the offseason and the team is trying to get the most benefits from their superstar. The Beard is ready to start a new challenge and so are the Rockets, but they need to find the perfect package to finally part ways with the 2018 NBA MVP.
