In a recent appearance on the ‘Earn Your Leisure’ podcast, former NBA MVP James Harden opened up on his failed tenure with the Houston Rockets. According to Harden, the Rockets had a 2-3 year window to win a title that was shut down when they ran into the Warriors dynasty.
“I’m still gonna try to get a [championship], but what am I gonna do? I had opportunities, but it just didn’t work out… the first couple of years in Houston, we just weren’t good enough. We were barely making the playoffs and then we had 2-3 years where we had a chance,” said Harden. “But [Chris Paul] gets hurt and we’re going up against a real dynasty. The Warriors, then add Kevin Durant. I’m going against real dynasty, head-up.”
Harden’s Rockets were always near the top of the standings in the West, and they were arguably the greatest challenge to Stephen Curry and the Warriors. But despite their dominance in the regular season, the Rockets always fell apart in the playoffs — especially against the Warriors’ dynasty, who they lost to multiple times in the postseason.
Suddenly, after 9 years with the Rockets, Harden forced his way out of Houston to pursue a different path, hoping to finally make that elusive title run. Instead, it was an utter disaster which Harden says was all for nothing.
“And then it’s ‘Well maybe let me just try to put my pride to the side and sacrifice the money, the individual accolades, all of that. Let me just try to sacrifice and switch it up a little bit and that’s when the Brooklyn situation happened. And then the Philly station where it’s like let me just be a playmaker and switch up my role. I sacrificed the money and I sacrificed being the top scorer that I am and I will be, for nothing.”
Harden, 35, spent his best years with the Rockets but things outside of his control limited the success he had there. Besides injuries and historical shooting anomalies (27 straight missed three-pointers in Game 7 of the 2018 West Finals), the Rockets had to battle some of the best teams in NBA history.
We’ll never know why he decided to leave the Rockets in his prime, but if you know anything about Harden’s history, then you know it hasn’t been an easy transition for him. He went from winning an MVP with the Rockets to playing second-fiddle behind Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.
To date, James Harden still has yet to win a championship, and he hasn’t been back to the NBA Finals since his first appearance with the Thunder back in 2012. This season, with the Clippers, Harden is reverting to his old scoring habits, and his play is keeping the team alive in the Western standings.
While Harden is bothered by his lack of a championship, he’s got no regrets over how it all went down. Going forward, he knows that there’s nothing more he can do but accept his role and play up to his superstar standards on the court. He’s been doing that with the Clippers, but at 35 years old, it may be too late for him to capture the Larry O’Brien trophy.
This season, through 16 games, Harden is still playing elite-level basketball with averages of 20.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game 37.2% shooting from the field. Harden has a chance to shock the world this season, and he still firmly believes that a championship could soon be within his grasp.
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