In his first interview since being traded from the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden addressed comments made by his former teammates about the way he carried himself in his final days with the team.
Following a 117-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Harden said during a postgame interview that while he still loved the city of Houston, his situation with the team couldn't be fixed, which reignited trade rumors and resulted in the 2018 MVP being shipped to the Nets.
His comments didn't sit well with former teammates DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, with Cousins saying the comments were “disrespectful” and Wall questioning why the eight-time All Star was giving up on the team after just nine games.
Friday, Harden clarified that his postgame comments weren't meant to disrespect any of his former teammates, but instead was about the team's overall chances of competing for a championship:
Harden on the end of the Rockets tenure: "I wasn't disrespectful to anyone. Those guys just got to Houston. I've been there a very long time. I just made a comment that the team as a whole wasn't good enough to compete for a title."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 15, 2021
The 31-year-old, who averaged 24.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 10.4 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field and 34.7% from beyond the arc in his eight games with the Rockets this season, also stressed that he remains “elite” in numerous areas:
James Harden calls himself "an elite player, an elite teammate and an elite leader" in his first Nets interview
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 15, 2021
Some may scoff at this after what Harden pulled in Houston, but he most certainly still is one of the best players in the NBA.
In 13 games, the Nets have a 7-6 record, which includes back-to-back wins over the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks as the team continued to play without Kyrie Irving, who missed five games due to personal reasons but is set to return in the Nets' game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Barring setbacks, it looks like this new Big Three should make its debut against Orlando. This is going to be a fascinating experiment with this amount of talent in place in Brooklyn.
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