James Harden, the star of all troubles
James Harden here and James Harden there. There is no controversy or entanglement in the NBA without the Beard being involved. The start of the 2023 season was not going to be any less. Neither the Wembanyama phenomenon nor some forceful movements in the market such as the arrival of Chris Paul to the Warriors, that of Damian Lillard to the Bucks or that of Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics. All expectation is in suspense due to the whims of the Angeleno point guard who, for the umpteenth time, intends to change his scene.
This time the mess comes from his breakup with someone who was one of his greatest supporters in the NBA, the executive with whom he became a legend in the Rockets; Daryl Morey, the guru of advanced statistics. Now, “a liar” with whom he can never be part of the same organization. «It can't be fixed. Not just in one thing like that, it's in everything in life. It's what happens when you stop trusting someone. It's like a marriage…. you lose confidence…. and you know what happens. It is simple”.
Those forceful statements for which the NBA fined him $100,000 dynamited the preseason of the Sixers, a franchise to which he arrived in February 2022 from the Nets, also due to the demands of his confused script.. Things with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, a big-three that seemed unstoppable, did not work out in Brooklyn – they barely played 18 games together – and, as he had done to get there from Houston a year before, Harden blew everything up for the airs to force his exit (and reunite with Moreyball). Then he joined the team late, violated health protocols after attending a party in Las Vegas. And when he returned to training he was visibly overweight.. A roadmap that repeats now.
The Clippers
La Barba did appear a few days ago at the Sixers training camp, with whom he had shortly before executed the option to renew for 35.6 million, again apparently overweight, but he eventually left citing personal matters.. His new coach, Nick Nurse, does not count on him for the start of the course. In this tug-of-war, he has the Philadelphia franchise reeling, in which he intended to mark an era with Joel Embiid. He wants to join the Clippers, but the Sixers (who only reached the conference semifinals) have already told him that they are not going to trade him for crumbs.
While Harden paves the way for another controversial departure from a franchise, his ineffable legend continues to grow. Despite the undoubted talent that has made him one of the most destabilizing players of the last decade in the NBA (2018 MVP, 10-time All Star, six times included in the best quintet in the league, three top scorers of the course and two top assistant…), has never achieved collective success: he only played in the Finals when he was sixth man in the Thunder (2011-2012).
And the troubles do not stop surrounding him, from his desire to go for the free throws that he achieved (he was not the only one pointed out) to the NBA changing the regulations to pursue the “unnatural” movements of the attackers (in the 2019-2020 season it was almost 12 times per game to the personal line) to his well-known love for strip clubs.