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#Post#: 63--------------------------------------------------
The final months of James Harden and the Houston Rockets' public
breakup
DIR By: The Referee
Date: March 3, 2021, 4:50 pm
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Tim MacMahon
ESPN Staff Writer
James Harden isn't worried about the details of his divorce with
the franchise as he returns to Houston to face the Rockets on
Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) for the first time since his
trade request was finally granted.
"They showed me mad love and respect, and I am just excited to
be playing in front of those fans," Harden said.
Harden has apologized for "how it went down" in his final months
with the Rockets, when he was pushing for a trade, but Harden
said he doesn't regret the actions that led to his desired
result. He got what he wanted -- a chance to play for a
contender again, specifically the Brooklyn Nets -- and is taking
full advantage of the opportunity.
Harden is happy and hooping at an MVP level for the Eastern
Conference's hottest team. Meanwhile, times are rough for the
Rockets, who are ravaged by injuries and riding a 12-game losing
streak entering their former MVP's return.
A review of the monthslong saga preceding Harden's departure
from Houston:
"It's very, very frustrating, especially the amount of work that
individually I put in. But I'm going to keep chipping away. I'm
going to keep going and keep going until I can't go anymore. I
feel like we're a piece away. We've just got to keep trying to
figure it out, keep trying to grow and put the right pieces
around me and Russ to get to where we want to go."
-- Harden, after the Rockets were eliminated by the Los Angeles
Lakers in a five-game second-round series
The Rockets' drastic roster renovations didn't lead to improved
results.
The Houston front office, at the urging of Harden, flipped Chris
Paul and a bundle of first-round picks for friend, former
teammate and fellow recent MVP Russell Westbrook. In large part
to accommodate Westbrook, the Rockets made an unprecedented
commitment to small ball, shipping out big Clint Capela in a
four-team deal that landed Robert Covington, suddenly turning
6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker into the league's shortest starting center
by several inches.
For a while, the Rockets' wild experiment worked. Houston won 10
out of 12 games over a monthlong span, a stretch highlighted by
a road win over the Lakers, fueling hope that the unconventional
Rockets really could contend.
Then the Rockets ran out of gas, losing four of their last five
games before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season. They never
really got back on track, with Harden and Westbrook reporting
late to the bubble in Orlando, Florida, after contracting the
coronavirus, then Westbrook straining his quadriceps during the
seeding schedule.
Houston narrowly avoided the humiliation of losing to Paul's
Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, surviving Game 7 by
two points thanks to a late series-saving block by Harden. The
Rockets beat the Lakers in their second-round opener but were
dominated the rest of the series, getting blown out by 23 points
in the elimination game.
The primary subjects of Harden's postgame interview were coach
Mike D'Antoni's uncertain status with his contract expiring --
resolved the next morning when D'Antoni announced he'd be moving
on from Houston -- and the staying power of the Rockets' unusual
style. The final question to Harden was an inquiry about whether
he was willing to adapt his game, perhaps playing off the ball
more.
"To answer your question, yes, I'm willing to do whatever it
takes," Harden said. "Especially to win."
"For the last eight years or so, our goal has been to win a
championship because we had James Harden. We've still got James
Harden. Our goal is still to win a championship, and if you've
got him, you're halfway there. It's incumbent on me and Stephen
[Silas] and the whole team to figure out the rest of the whole,
but the key piece is there."
-- Rafael Stone, in his first news conference since being
promoted to Rockets general manager
Daryl Morey, the general manager whose 2012 trade for Harden
reinvigorated the Rockets franchise, announced his resignation
in October. Morey cited a desire to spend time with his family
-- and he was hired as the Philadelphia 76ers' president of
basketball operations 13 days later.
Several sources within the Houston organization firmly believe
Morey made a preemptive decision, departing in large part
because he anticipated Harden would want out, beginning a
rebuilding period for the Rockets. According to sources, Morey
had expressed concern inside the bubble about not being able to
"keep James happy," because of a lack of picks to use as trade
fodder to make offseason roster upgrades.
Harden's happiness, or lack thereof, was Stone's problem after
the longtime Rockets front-office executive was promoted to
replace Morey. But just getting Harden to communicate with Stone
was difficult for him and the Houston front office, a factor
that delayed the coaching search that ultimately ended with the
hiring of Silas, a longtime NBA assistant who was a finalist
when Houston hired D'Antoni four years earlier.
By early November, the Rockets had privately come to terms with
the fact that the Harden-Westbrook pairing fizzled, as the
friends no longer wanted to play together. That was problematic,
given the steep price the Rockets paid in the Westbrook trade
the previous summer, but Houston could stomach searching for a
Westbrook trade.
As long as the Rockets had Harden, they had hope. They just
needed to convince Harden, who annually pushed for offseason
urgency in pursuit of a title, of that.
"I have no clarity about the message. What the reasoning is, is
on him. He's the one who can explain why or why not he's here.
For me to make inferences and think about the possibilities
isn't real to me. What's real is he's not here, and he has a
reason, but that's on him to tell whoever what his reason is."
-- Silas, on the second day of Rockets training camp
Weeks before camp opened, a high-ranking Rockets source told
ESPN that the team was "willing to get uncomfortable," stressing
that the front office felt no urgency to trade Harden and
Westbrook before the start of the season despite the stars'
unhappiness, vowing not to be pressured into dealing them for
pennies on the dollar.
Westbrook ultimately got his wish granted days before camp
opened, as the Rockets pounced when the Washington Wizards
offered a protected first-round pick along with point guard John
Wall.
After avoiding the Toyota Center when the rest of the NBA's
players were doing individual workouts at team facilities,
Harden was missing from the beginning of training camp, instead
attending rapper Lil Baby's birthday party in Atlanta, lavishing
his friend with extravagant gifts and posting pictures of the
maskless affair on Instagram.
From there, Harden went to Las Vegas. The Rockets attributed
Harden's absence for the first team workout to the league's
health and safety protocols, but Silas acknowledged the next day
that it was a holdout.
"As far as timetable, there's no timetable as far as I know. And
it is a setback," Silas said. "You want your best player to be
here. And there's a short window. It is a setback. I have to be
honest and understand this is a setback not having one of the
best players in the NBA here."
Harden's late arrival ensured he'd miss essentially all of camp,
as he had to test negative for the coronavirus for six
consecutive days before being cleared to join team activities.
Harden's explanation for the Atlanta and Vegas excursions: "I
was just training." Harden had certainly convinced the Rockets'
brass that he was serious about his trade request. His priority
was executing an exit strategy.
"We're just not good enough. Chemistry, talentwise, just
everything. ... I love this city. I literally have done
everything that I can. I mean, this situation is crazy. It's
something that I don't think can be fixed."
-- Harden, after a Jan. 12 loss to the Lakers, his last game in
a Rockets uniform
Harden, well aware that the Rockets' trade talks with the Nets
and 76ers had intensified, delivered what amounted to a farewell
speech during his virtual news conference following Houston's
fourth loss in five games.
He walked out of the Toyota Center as a Rocket for the final
time.
Harden was told to stay home instead of coming to practice the
next day, as Stone put the finishing touches on a four-team deal
that sent Harden to Brooklyn and netted the Rockets four
first-round picks, four first-round pick swaps, former All-Star
shooting guard Victor Oladipo and a couple of other players for
salary filler.
Houston's asking price for Harden had been a young franchise
cornerstone and a historic package of picks. The Rockets ended
up having to compromise, choosing the Nets' offer headlined by a
picks bundle over the 76ers' proposal with Ben Simmons as the
centerpiece but significantly fewer draft assets. And that
closed the chapter of Harden's tenure in Houston, which featured
eight seasons of individual brilliance but always fell short of
the NBA Finals.
"I thought I would never leave that franchise. I thought I was
going to be in Houston, obviously, for the rest of my career.
Things happened. I've got different goals, and I've seen a
different vision for myself and my career and my family."
-- Harden, days before his return to Houston
Harden has walked the walk since his arrival in Brooklyn,
following through on his vow to fit in with Nets stars Kevin
Durant and Kyrie Irving, hushing the skeptics who wondered how
three of this generation's best scorers could possibly share one
ball.
Harden has adapted his game to focus more on facilitating.
Harden has always been an elite passer -- having won the NBA's
assists title in 2016-17 before claiming the league's scoring
crown the next three seasons -- but that part of his game has
especially flourished with the Nets. He has averaged 11.3
assists in 22 games with Brooklyn, and he officially became the
point guard upon Irving's declaration of backcourt roles during
a practice last month.
Harden is still a premier scorer, but he has the luxury of being
more selective with his shot with the Nets. He's averaging 25.3
points per game -- which would be Harden's lowest-scoring season
since he was the Thunder's sixth man -- but with career-best
clips in field goal percentage (.490), 3-point percentage (.419)
and effective field goal percentage (.589).
Harden is also pulling down 8.7 rebounds per game for Brooklyn,
which would be another career best. He has seven triple-doubles
for the Nets, who have won nine of their past 10 games despite
Durant's extended absence due to a hamstring strain.
Yes, Harden has done whatever it takes to win. For him, it meant
getting out of Houston.
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