After 9 years leading the Rockets, James Harden moved to New York in 2021 with big aspirations. So far, his arrival has only been met with mayhem and dysfunction.
This season (after getting bounced in the second round last spring), the Nets are third in the East with a 29-18 record. After Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers, Harden couldn’t help but admit the frustration he is feeling.
“Of course I’m frustrated because we’re not healthy. It’s a lot of inconsistency for whatever reason – injuries, COVID, whatever you want to call it…I think everybody in this organization is frustrated, because we are better than what our record is. We should be on the way up. That’s all it is… I don’t talk to nobody, I have an agent. I don’t know reports. If you don’t hear from me, then it’s reports. I’m frustrated because I want to win, and I’m a competitor.”
A few hours later, as the NBA world was buzzing with reactions, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith offered up his own take on the ‘problem’ with Harden and the Nets.
In an appearance on ‘Get Up!’ he walked audiences through the level of difficulty involved with trying to play under dysfunctional conditions for a team “nobody cares about.”
“You know what the real problem is? He ain’t a Knick! KD is not a Knick, Kyrie is not a Knick — cause he talked them into coming to Brooklyn! And so what happens is this: you got people that pack the Barcley’s Center, but where else they talking about Brooklyn? Nobody cares! Nobody cares, and that’s what they’re finding out. If you’re James Harden, you didn’t sign up for this. You didn’t sign up for Kyrie to be a part-time player. You didn’t sign up for KD to co-sign everything that Kyrie does because that’s his boy.”
“All the drama that has surrounded the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden is finding himself saying ‘I got to carry a load that I didn’t anticipate carrying and more importantly it’s too much unnecessary drama. And for what? A franchise that, outside the Barclay’s Cente,r nobody cares about.”
On one hand, James Harden gets to enjoy the luxuries of living in New York City while hoping for health and prosperity in the playoffs. If the Big 3 can stay on the court, they are the favorites to win the East.
On the other hand, all the drama going on behind the scenes has completely taken over the season. There is also the undeniable fact that the Nets remain New York’s secondary team despite all the star power.
In the end, James Harden’s upcoming free agency does not have a clear conclusion and the Nets should consider the idea that their “Big 3” might be a “Big 2” by the end of the summer.
