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James Harden’s previous team, the Brooklyn Nets, was among the busiest teams at the NBA Trade Deadline, having traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. In light of the Nets trading their two superstars and Harden’s former teammates, the Philadelphia 76ers star did not hold back on how he sees his departure following the Nets’ most recent trades.
“Now, fast forward to today, I don’t look like the crazy one,” Harden told reporters, per Ky Carlin of SixersWire. I don’t look like the quitter or whatever the media wanna call me. I knew what was going on and I just decided I’m not built for this. I don’t wanna deal with that. I wanna play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. Fast forward to today, they got a whole new roster.”
Though his tenure did not end on good terms with the Nets, Harden answered affirmatively when asked if the Nets could have kept him had they done things differently, though he did not go into details.
“Yeah, there was a lot of things. A lot of dysfunction, clearly. There was a lot of internal things, I’m not gonna just put in the media or anything and that was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decisions.”
Harden’s Thoughts on Playing With Irving and Durant
Harden delved into some of the frustrations of playing with Irving and Durant knowing how few games they played and knowing what could have been.
“(It’s) frustrating. There’s a lot of what-ifs. I think we only played less than 20 games together so it was a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody’s in a good place now and we can move on,” Harden said.
Though it’s clear he was frustrated with how it turned out, Harden made it clear that he enjoyed his time playing with Durant and Irving and wishes them the best going forward.
“I enjoyed my time. Obviously, playing with KD and Kyrie for those games. There’s a lot of possibilities of what could happen, but it’s a part of life. I’m sure everybody’s in a better place, a good place, and here we are.”
Harden’s Thoughts on Irving’s and Durant’s Departures
When asked if he could have imagined his former teammates be gone by the time he made his return to Brooklyn, Harden answered in the affirmative, while also calling back to why he asked out to begin with.
“Yeah. I didn’t just ask to leave for no reason. I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn’t have a chance to win the championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family and all the things that I created there to Brooklyn for, what a year and a half? To just up and leave? It was for a real reason.”
Harden added that he’s happy with what the Nets got in return.
“But I’m happy for the organization in what they got back. They got some really good pieces.”
