James Harden’s enthusiasm for strip clubs is well-known around the NBA. When he was traded to Brooklyn, most of the jokes about him involved these establishments since Harden has been an avid visitor to these places. He can do whatever he wants with his personal life, but when that starts messing with his basketball career, things don’t look well for the Beard. Recently, a former teammate recalled how he played bad during the 2012 NBA Finals because of his habit to visit strip clubs.
Former NBA player-turned-analyst Kendrick Perkins recently revealed that during the 2012 Finals, and probably before that series, Harden went a lot of strip clubs, and those visits affected his performance on the court against the Miami Heat.
Joining Showtime’s “All The Smoke” podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the 2008 NBA champion made the revelation, explaining that didn’t sit well with anybody but Harden continued doing his team regardless of anybody’s opinion.
Kendrick Perkins reveals James Harden attended strip clubs during NBA Finals
Back in 2012, a young Oklahoma City Thunder team led by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, landed in the Finals for the first time since they moved from Seattle. The job was as difficult as possible, with LeBron James and the Miami Heat waiting for them in the big series.
They needed all the help they could get, even though they were extremely talented, but Harden never showed up during that series, as Perk recalled that the player was always going to the clubs instead of focusing on basketball.
“Russ and KD came to play. I had a couple double-doubles. Serge was doing pretty good. But, man, James ain’t give us s***. And you know why. Motherf***ing King of Diamonds and everything cut a hole in his hands.
“In San Antonio, he didn’t have a damn thing to do. S***, we got to motherf***ing Miami, s***, it was every-motherf***ing-thing to do. We couldn’t get that motherf***ker to buy a bucket in that motherf***er.
“In Miami, he couldn’t get his rest. Motherf***er was out every motherf***ing night.
Perk isn’t saving anything and this time Harden was exposed for his struggles during that series. He went from scoring 18.5 against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals to 12.4 against the Heat in the Finals.
That nightlife really took a toll on Harden’s performance and his team really felt that. The Thunder would lose that series in 5 games, which was the last one Harden played with KD and Russ. He would be traded to Houston in the following offseason and the rest is history. We don’t know what would have happened if he remained quiet during that series, but, indeed, his performance wasn’t good at all.
