After weeks of tantrums and speculation, James Harden finally got his wish. The Houston Rockets sent him tothe Brooklyn Nets to join forces with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to try and win his first-ever NBA championship.
Harden mishandled the whole situation, didnât show up in time to training camp, never wanted to mesh with his new teammates, and even claimed that the team wasnât talented enough and couldnât be fixed before being traded.
He claimed that he had âgiven everything to the teamâ and that there wasnât anything else he could do. Thatâs why Shaquille OâNeal didnât waste the chance to destroy him on NBA on TNT for talking a lot and not backing it up on the court.
Shaq Rips James Harden, Blames Him For The Rocketsâ Struggles
âYou know, when you say you gave the city your all, it ainât true. To say those things, keep in mind that, I have a G-14 classification to say those things. You asked for Dwight Howard, we gave him to you, didnât work out. You asked for Chris Paul, we gave it to you. You asked for some shooters, we gave them to you. You asked for Westbrook, your homeboy from little league, we gave it to you, didnât work. Then, when you say, âI gave you everythingâ, I say âNo, you didnât. The last five games when it comes to elimination, you shot 41%, 24% from three, 32 assists, and 27 turnovers. I used to be like James. I used to come home and complain âMan, he didnât do anythingâ and my father â Rest in Piece â told me âWell, what the hell did YOU do?â. He didnât do nothing. He didnât step up when he was supposed to step up. You know, when youâre âThe Manâ and all that money you make â $34 million a year â you have a big responsibility. Chuck has said it many times. When youâre âThe Manâ, you have a big responsibility, itâs all on you. So when it comes time toshow up, he ainât show up. So, I know a lot of people in Houston thatâs glad heâs gone. So now, heâs got his little super team, he gotta win the âchip. He doesnât win this year itâs a bust. Period,â Shaq said.
Well, thatâs an impeccable take right there. The fact is that the Rockets did everything in their power to help Harden win a ring. They gave him three All-NBA, All-Stars, top-notch players in their prime and he couldnât get it done.
They committed 100% to small-ball to surround him with shooters and he couldnât get it done either, and his numbers when the season was on the line were just subpar for a superstar of his caliber.
Now, Harden and the Nets are likely to make a deep playoff run, even if there are still plenty of doubts about the teamâs depth, defense, and how they will share touches. But even if they win the ring, it seems like itâll have a huge asterisk next to it, at least in his rĂ©sumĂ©.
