Howard says he harbors no ill will toward Harden
ATLANTA — As Hawks center Dwight Howard prepared to play against the Rockets for the first time since his three seasons in Houston, he said the game held no special meaning to him and that he had no quarrel with former teammate James Harden.
Though there had been reports of a power struggle or at least tension between them, Howard said he has no issues with Harden and hoped the latter maintains his fast start.
“There’s always going to be stories,” Howard said. “That’s the nature of this business. People are going to make stories up. I don’t have … ill will toward any player in this league. All of us had to come from nothing to make it.
“I always wish him nothing but the best. I think he’s a very talented player. He has a great opportunity to lead a very young team. He’s doing a good job as an individual, making plays, passing the ball great. I hope he keeps it up.
“Everybody is always looking for a beef with a player when they leave a team. There’s no beef.”
Still, a year ago, Howard said he hoped to finish his career with the Rockets. By the time the season ended, there was no surprise that he left to sign with the Hawks.
“I don’t think any of that matters,” Howard said of how circumstances changed. “It’s in the past. Have to leave it there. Houston’s in a good place. Atlanta is in a great place. Just going to go from there. There’s no need to go back to the past.
“I have nothing bad to say about the Rockets and my time there. We didn’t win. We didn’t accom- plish what we wanted to accomplish. But I thought for the most part, we had some pretty good seasons besides last year.”
Bazemore: Didn’t want to start over
Hawks guard Kent Bazemore liked everything about the Rockets’ free-agency pitch but the one thing they could not overcome. He would have had to leave Atlanta.
“It was close,” Bazemore said. “Obviously, I have a history with coach ( Mike) D’Antoni out in L.A. It was my first big free agency. They brought out all the stops. I definitely felt they were on board and excited about having me a part of that team. As a player, that’s what you want.
“We had the meeting here in Atlanta. Walking outside in Atlanta, for me the biggest thing was I don’t really want to move again. I’m starting to grow a network here. My fiancée loves it here. Stay someplace where your roots are starting to grow. I think it’s pivotal at this point in life to keep putting the pieces together.”
‘See Dwight, that’s not so bad’
With the Hawks running so much pickand-roll for Dwight Howard in Friday’s game at Washington, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was asked if he watched that and thought, “See Dwight, that’s not so bad.”
Howard famously resisted D’Antoni’s pickand-roll offense with the Lakers.
D’Antoni said, “It that a question?” That changed the question to “What did you think?
“See Dwight, that’s not so bad,” D’Antoni said.
Jonathan Feigen