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A year after his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers from the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden said he no longer “looks like the crazy one” after fellow superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving also left the organization.
“It was a lot of dysfunction. Clearly,” Harden said after the Sixers’ 101-98 win over the Nets on February 11. “But it was a lot of internal things that I’m not going to ever put in the media. And that was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decision.”
The timing of Harden’s trade request — shortly after the Nets lost Durant to an MCL sprain, effectively dooming their season — fostered the perception of Harden as a quitter.
“But now, fast-forward to date, I don’t look like the crazy one. I don’t look like the quitter,” he said. “I knew what was going on and I just decided to [say] ‘Hey, I’m not built for this. I don’t want to deal with that. I want to play basketball, have fun, and enjoy doing it.’ And fast-forward to today, they’ve got a whole new roster.”
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James Harden Sounds Off on ‘Frustrating’ Time With Brooklyn Nets
Some observers viewed Irving’s inactive status for most of 2021-22 as a factor in Harden’s requesting a trade. Irving played only 29 games last year, sidelined for the first half of the season because his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccination.
Harden refused to directly answer whether his trade request was tied to Kyrie’s absence, but he did say he chose to play in Brooklyn because of a desire to team up with Durant and Irving. But the trio rarely appeared on the court together and, as the 2022 deadline drew closer, Harden said, he “knew it wasn’t going to change.”
“That’s not something that I’m going to answer. But the reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, which was to leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie. That didn’t happen as much as I would like to or the organization wanted to. It was just something where I knew it wasn’t going to change,” Harden said.
“Frustrating. It’s a lot of what-ifs when you play less than 20 games together. So, it’s a little bit frustrating. But it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody’s in a good place now, and we can move on.”
Insider: James Harden Had Issues With Steve Nash
Harden wanted out of Brooklyn because he did not get along with former Nets head coach Steve Nash, according to Bally Sports’ Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson. Nash eventually would be fired on November 1, 2022.
“Steve Nash and James Harden weren’t getting along,” Robinson said during an appearance on “Straight Fire With Jason McIntyre” in October 2022. “The two of them [Irving and Harden] are cool, I can tell you that on record. The issue was Steve Nash and James Harden.”
Robinson also said Durant was upset by Harden’s trade request because he felt it made him “look bad at his job.”
“The fact that Kevin Durant was pushing the Nets management to make that trade for James Harden last season. That’s why they were on the outs because it made him look bad at his job,” he added.
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