Yet again, superstar shooting guard and point guard James Harden is rocking the boat in the NBA. He’s demanded to be traded to a fourth team within the past three years, from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers. The craziest part of all of it is that it worked… again.
Somehow, the Clippers were willing to trade away their first-born child to bring James Harden to Los Angeles… Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but only slightly. The Clippers traded away Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, Robert Covington, and five draft picks over the next five years for Harden, Filip Petrusev, and P.J. Tucker on Oct. 30.
Harden has earned a reputation for being a diva in his 14 years in the league. When he decided he was done with the Houston Rockets, he continued to play but made it clear he was not trying in an attempt to annoy the owners into trading him.
When he finally got his wish to play with the Nets, his ego couldn’t handle sharing the court with fellow superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. When he decided he had had enough of Brooklyn, he faked an injury to get out of playing.
“I just feel like, internally, things weren’t what I expected when I was trying to get traded there. I think everybody knows that,” Harden said in an attempt to justify his antics. “I knew people were going to talk and say, ‘You quit’ and all that stuff, but then the following summer, the other superstar there [Durant] wanted to leave.”
This season, Harden sat and watched the games he had been contracted to play and called the 76ers’ president of basketball operations, Daryl Norey, a “liar” until he got what he wanted. I mean, who was going to force him to play? He knew his value and the position that he was in.
Now, Harden’s somehow found his way across the country to Los Angeles. He is joining a superstar roster alongside league legends like Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. My question is, if his ego could not take playing alongside Durant and Irving in New York, what will make this new all-star lineup in Los Angeles any different?
For a long time, the idea that a player would be forced to be traded was considered incredibly entitled and selfish. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, that narrative was challenged when Miami became a hub for the hottest talent. They more-or-less formed their all-star team, and it paid off big time for the Heat, winning them the 2012 and 2013 NBA Championships.
Now, after a decade of being reassessed, this idea is starting to become much more prevalent once again, thanks to primadonnas like Harden. All it takes is one flaming garbage fire situation like this for team owners to have an excuse to reel back in all of the newly found freedoms that the players have obtained in the last fifteen years.
The Harden Effect
Yet again, superstar shooting guard and point guard James Harden is rocking the boat in the NBA. He’s demanded to be traded to a fourth team within the past three years, from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers. The craziest part of all of it is that it worked… again.
Somehow, the Clippers were willing to trade away their first-born child to bring James Harden to Los Angeles… Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but only slightly. The Clippers traded away Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, Robert Covington, and five draft picks over the next five years for Harden, Filip Petrusev, and P.J. Tucker on Oct. 30.
Harden has earned a reputation for being a diva in his 14 years in the league. When he decided he was done with the Houston Rockets, he continued to play but made it clear he was not trying in an attempt to annoy the owners into trading him.
When he finally got his wish to play with the Nets, his ego couldn’t handle sharing the court with fellow superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. When he decided he had had enough of Brooklyn, he faked an injury to get out of playing.
“I just feel like, internally, things weren’t what I expected when I was trying to get traded there. I think everybody knows that,” Harden said in an attempt to justify his antics. “I knew people were going to talk and say, ‘You quit’ and all that stuff, but then the following summer, the other superstar there [Durant] wanted to leave.”
This season, Harden sat and watched the games he had been contracted to play and called the 76ers’ president of basketball operations, Daryl Norey, a “liar” until he got what he wanted. I mean, who was going to force him to play? He knew his value and the position that he was in.
Now, Harden’s somehow found his way across the country to Los Angeles. He is joining a superstar roster alongside league legends like Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. My question is, if his ego could not take playing alongside Durant and Irving in New York, what will make this new all-star lineup in Los Angeles any different?
For a long time, the idea that a player would be forced to be traded was considered incredibly entitled and selfish. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, that narrative was challenged when Miami became a hub for the hottest talent. They more-or-less formed their all-star team, and it paid off big time for the Heat, winning them the 2012 and 2013 NBA Championships.
Now, after a decade of being reassessed, this idea is starting to become much more prevalent once again, thanks to primadonnas like Harden. All it takes is one flaming garbage fire situation like this for team owners to have an excuse to reel back in all of the newly found freedoms that the players have obtained in the last fifteen years.