James Harden's exit from the Brooklyn Nets might not have been beautiful or graceful, but Kevin Durant understands where his now two-time ex-teammate came from.
After Tuesday's win over the Charlotte Hornets, Durant was asked about Harden's departure and their upcoming meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers. While KD played down the “rivalry” narrative as a result of the Nets-Sixers trade, he expressed his understanding why Harden asked to be dealt away heading to the deadline this past month:
“You can try to look at it from his perspective: Kai's not playing, and I'm injured. He hasn't won a championship before,” Durant said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.
The fact that Kevin Durant had to emphasize James Harden hasn't won a championship before had to hurt for the now-Sixers guard, but it isn't entirely wrong. After all, the reason Harden moved to Brooklyn from the Houston Rockets was also because of his desire to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Unfortunately, after the struggles the team had to endure alongside Durant's injury and Irving's home absence due to New York City's vaccine mandate, Harden probably thought there was little chance to win the championship. And for him at 32 years old, he needs to make the most out of his prime years.
Sure enough, the Sixers present him a great opportunity to compete for the championship. Not only is he playing under a veteran coach in Doc Rivers, but he has also an MVP-caliber teammate in Joel Embiid who can make things easier for him.
With all that said, though, it's hard not to be excited about the Nets-Sixers game on Thursday given all the storylines. While the players don't want to make a big deal out of it, the rivalry narrative will be there. And sure enough, if they end up facing each other in the playoffs, that will be highlighted even more.
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