Nets’ James Harden-Kevin Durant dynamic turned into a ‘cold war’ that ‘made everyone miserable,’ per report

James Harden admitted on Tuesday that when he was basically forcing his approach out of Houston at first of final season, his first choice was to be traded to Philadelphia to affix up with Joel Embiid and reunite with Daryl Morey. It took him a yr longer than he would’ve favored, however he lastly acquired his approach. 

From the sounds of a detailed report from Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, Harden basically pressured his approach out of Brooklyn the identical approach he did throughout his time in Houston. Harden’s rising apathy on the court docket and distancing from the group off the court docket in the end left Kevin Durant, who reportedly was in opposition to buying and selling Harden initially, with no alternative however to log out on the take care of Brooklyn GM Sean Marks. 

From Fischer:

Primarily based on conversations with Brooklyn figures and people near Durant, it is clear the Harden blockbuster commerce for Ben Simmons would not have occurred with out Durant’s blessing. As increasingly Nets personnel confronted the fact approaching the commerce deadline that Harden needed out, Durant’s approval mattered greater than anybody else’s.

“KD did not wish to eliminate James,” one particular person conversant in the 2 superstars stated. “However he knew it was over.”

“Kevin was like: ‘F–k it. James is not bringing s–t,” one other determine with information of Brooklyn added. “I do not suppose that will have occurred with out Kevin making that call.”

For weeks he had grown weary of Harden’s purported dedication to the franchise. When Harden first took to the bench with proper hamstring tightness, Durant was among the many Brooklyn figures who have been skeptical of the harm’s severity.

By Thursday morning, Durant dialed Nets normal supervisor Sean Marks, sources stated.

Whereas Durant had initially resisted swapping Harden for Simmons, Harden had lastly pressured his hand. Brooklyn’s spiral of losses and Harden’s freelancing habits created an untenable state of affairs.

“Kevin’s the one which pulled the set off with this,” one other supply with information of the state of affairs stated. “Kevin’s the one which stated, ‘Do that deal.'”

Fischer went on to notice that Durant was “upset by the poor conditioning Harden sported throughout these early Nets practices,” and that the absence of Kyrie Irving for a lot of the season put such a heavy workload on Durant and Harden that the connection turned additional strained. Durant and Steve Nash reportedly most popular a free-flowing offense, whereas Harden needed to play his iso ball. 

One in every of Fischer’s sources stated that Brooklyn coaches had observed Harden “roll his eyes” when an after-timeout play was known as for Durant. One other described the Harden-Durant dynamic as “a chilly warfare” that “for the final a number of months made everybody depressing.”

It’s a must to really feel for Durant, who may be cantankerous with the media and overly confrontational on social media however in the long run is a pure basketball participant. All this man needs to do is hoop. He is concerning the final man who would go away his group within the lurch as a result of he will not get vaccinated. You are not going to listen to about him skipping out on group flights so he can pop bottles on the membership. He would by no means, underneath any circumstances, give something lower than 100% on the court docket. 

Druant relocated to Brooklyn to chase a championship freed from the Warriors approach — a transfer, for all of the criticism he took, not too dissimilar to Tom Brady desirous to show his deserves outdoors the Patriots’ system — solely to wind up with Irving refusing to get vaccinated and Harden taking the backdoor out of city. 

Extra from Fischer:

Till the week of the deadline, Harden maintained his dedication to Brooklyn in conversations with Nets staffers, sources stated. However he started distancing himself from the group with an analogous sample to how he pressured a commerce from the Rockets.

After posting an emphatic 37-point triple-double on 13-of-24 capturing on the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 21, Harden left the group for Houston and an evening of clubbing, B/R has realized. He rejoined the touring social gathering in Minnesota for a Jan. 23 sport in opposition to the Timberwolves and scored simply 13 factors on 13 makes an attempt.

Harden performed in opposition to the Phoenix Suns in primetime Feb. 1, however that subsequent night time in Sacramento—which proved to be his ultimate sport in a Nets uniform—it turned apparent to Brooklyn staffers that he was providing minimal effort, even lower than he had in that subpar efficiency in Minnesota. He took simply 11 photographs and had extra turnovers (six) than factors (4).

When the Nets arrived in Utah for his or her fourth sport of a five-game journey, members of the touring social gathering have been overtly discussing their want to swap Harden for Simmons.

Harden did not arrive on the Jazz sport till halftime, sources advised B/R. When it concluded and Brooklyn continued with its deliberate itinerary to Denver, Harden flew to Las Vegas, sources stated.

When requested to verify the account, one particular person near Harden chuckled earlier than responding, “That certain seems like James, does not it?”

The quick flight from Salt Lake Metropolis has made for frequent Vegas getaways for Harden courting again to his Rockets tenure, sources stated. He would additionally keep behind following journeys to Los Angeles and meet the group at its subsequent vacation spot.

By all accounts, Durant maintained that religion so long as he might. “Kevin all the time had a hope that this example might get higher,” one supply near Harden stated.

That’s till Harden lastly voiced what he’d been telling confidants for a while. He needed to be traded to Philadelphia. He arrived on the Nets bench nicely previous tipoff for the Boston Celtics sport that Tuesday. Harden left Brooklyn on Wednesday and retreated to his outdated stomping grounds in Houston as soon as extra. Whereas Durant and administration labored over the Nets’ impending conversations with the 76ers, Harden stepped into one other night time of clubbing.

“He knew [the trade] was gonna go down,” the supply near Harden stated.

Once more, Harden was displaying apathy on the court docket and distance from the group off the court docket. Everybody is aware of superstars get particular remedy and more and more management the league as a complete however it’s simply by no means going to sit down proper to listen to about guys utterly blowing off their groups and teammates like this. 

The issue is it really works. Harden needed out of Houston, so he waited ceaselessly to report back to coaching camp and utterly checked out as soon as the season began, and he acquired his approach. Now, he needed out of Brooklyn. So, he stopped attempting on the court docket. He might or might not have began to magnify accidents, blew off the group to fly to Vegas and began exhibiting as much as video games late, and would not it, he acquired his approach once more. 

It would work out for the Nets, who might doubtlessly be higher off with Simmons (who pulled his personal shenanigans to get away from the Sixers) than they have been even with a fully-engaged Harden. There aren’t many conditions in which you’d desire Simmons over Harden, however Brooklyn, given the make-up of that roster, may be certainly one of them. Both approach, this is not search for Harden. 

Not that it issues. No one has to love Harden or approve of his antics. As followers and members of the media, all of us love the intrigue of men switching groups and the league’s energy construction being continually in flux. There isn’t any option to say this Harden-Simmons swap did not put a jolt on this season. We won’t watch for the playoffs. Harden makes Philadelphia a legit contender. A minimum of till he decides he needs out of there, too.