Harden: Nets give title shot
NEW YORK — James Harden used his final interview in Houston to say his team wasn’t good enough. He has a whole new message now that he’s in Brooklyn.
Harden sees a Nets roster that features Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, a staff that includes a coach under whom he became the NBA’s leading scorer, and an opportunity to win the title he still lacks.
“You just add that all together, and it’s like, that’s a legit chance right there,” Harden said. “It was a no-brainer for me.”
The Nets acquired Harden from the Rockets on Thursday in a blockbuster deal that reunites him with Durant, his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate early in their NBA careers. Harden could play for Brooklyn as soon as today if all the players in the deal, which also included the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers, pass their physicals in time.
The trade was completed just two days after Harden’s final game with the Rockets, a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. After the game, Harden said: “We’re just not good enough … I love this city. I literally have done everything that I can.”
Harden said he wasn’t being disrespectful to his former teammates.
“I’ve been there for a very long time. I’ve been through all the ups and downs with that organization, and I wasn’t disrespectful towards anyone,” he said. “I just made a comment that the team as a whole wasn’t good enough to compete for a title, and at this stage of my career where I am now, that’s what I would love.”
Harden praised the Rockets for working with him to get him to his favored destination and said he regretted his comments that he said were out of character for him.
Harden said as he evaluated the Rockets after their loss to the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs last year, he determined they weren’t good enough to beat the NBA’s best teams. General manager Daryl Morey and coach Mike D’Antoni weren’t going to return, and Harden didn’t believe in the roster left behind.
D’Antoni ended up joining new head coach Steve Nash’s staff in Brooklyn and will help mold an offense that now features three of the NBA’s top scorers. Harden, like Durant and Irving, will have to give up some of the offensive opportunities he had before.
Harden insists he can do that, saying his playmaking ability is underrated. The threetime reigning league scoring champion averaged close to 20 shots per game in Houston, but he also led the league in assists in 201617 and had averaged 10.4 in eight games this season.