TIMELINE: THE HARDEN YEARS.
“I love this city. I’ve literally done everything that I can. The situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think can be fixed.” Harden’s timeline in Houston filled with individual highlights, big trades and playoff lows
Notable moments during James Harden’s tenure with the Rockets, which ended Wednesday with his trade to Brooklyn in a multi-team deal.
2012
Oct. 27: After three seasons in Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Rockets acquire Harden from the Thunder in a blockbuster trade for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a secondround pick. Days later, the Rockets sign Harden, instantly the new face of the franchise, to a fiveyear, $80 million contract extension.
Oct. 31: In his Rockets debut, Harden scores 37 points in a win at Detroit. His 82 points in his first two Rockets games surpasses Wilt Chamberlain (79 points) for the most points by a player in his first two games with a team in NBA history.
2013
May 3: Harden’s first season in Houston ends with a six-game loss in the first round of the playoffs to his old Thunder squad. Trailing the series 3-0, the Rockets won the next two games before falling short in Game 6 at Toyota Center.
July 5: The Rockets give Harden a superstar center as Dwight Howard, the most coveted free agent on the market, agrees to a fouryear, $88 million contract with the Rockets.
2014
May 6: The first season of the Harden/Howard era ends in stinging fashion in Portland on a series-ending 3-pointer by the Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard. The higher-seeded Rockets lost the first two games at home en route to being eliminated in six games. June 4: Harden is named to the All-NBA first team for the first time after a season in which he scored 20-plus points 54 times, including 30-plus points 24 times and more than 40 twice. He also recorded 14 double-doubles and one triple-double.
2015
April 28: Harden leads the way with 28 points as the Rockets dispatch the Mavericks to win their first-round series in five games. It marks Houston’s first playoff series victory since 2009. May 4: Harden finishes a distant second to Golden State’s Stephen Curry in NBA MVP voting. His reaction? “It’s tough, but in the second round of the playoffs, I have better things to worry about.”
May 17: Harden scores a gamehigh 31 points as the Rockets complete a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit and beat the Clippers 113-100 in Game 7 to advance to their first Western Conference finals since 1997. The Rockets become the ninth team in NBA playoff history to overcome a 3-1 deficit.
May 27: Harden has an NBA playoff record 13 turnovers as the Rockets’ best playoff run in two decades ends with a Game 5 loss to eventual NBA champion Golden State in the Western Conference finals.
Nov. 18: Just 11 games into the season and fresh off a West finals berth, Kevin McHale is fired as Rockets coach.
2016
April 27: After a 41-41 regular season, the Rockets are wiped out in the first round by Golden State in a mostly noncompetitive fivegame series.
Jun. 1: On the heels of a disappointing season, former Suns, Knicks and Lakers boss Mike D’Antoni is hired as Rockets coach.
June 21: Howard opts out of the final year of his Rockets contract, ending a sometimes stormy three-year partnership with Harden.
July 9: The Rockets sign Harden to a four-year, $118 million extension to kick off an offseason makeover. The extension replaces the final two years Harden had on his current deal.
Dec. 31: In a New Year’s Eve victory over the Knicks at Toyota Center, Harden becomes the first NBA player to amass 50 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a game.
2017
Jan. 27: Harden becomes the first NBA player to have two 50-point triple-doubles in one season after he scores 51 points, dishes 13 assists and hauls in 13 rebounds in a win at Philadelphia.
May 11: A promising season ends in a horrific way with a 39-point home loss to the Spurs in Game 6 of the West semifinals. Harden is roundly criticized after scoring just 6 points in 37 minutes on 2-of-11 shooting as San Antonio rolls despite being without star forward Kawhi Leonard.
June 26: Harden finishes second to former Oklahoma City teammate Russell Westbrook for NBA MVP, his second runner-up finish in three seasons.
June 28: The Rockets get a fellow All-Star to share the backcourt with Harden, acquiring star point guard Chris Paul from the Clippers in a deal that sends Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams, three other players, a first-round pick and cash considerations to Los Angeles.
2018
Jan. 30: Harden has 60 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a home win over Orlando, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 60-plus points while recording a triple-double and breaking Calvin Murphy’s franchise single-game scoring record of 57 points set in 1978.
April 11: Harden finishes the regular season ranked first in the NBA in scoring (30.4 points per game), third in assists (8.8), and seventh in steals (1.75). The Rockets, meanwhile, finish with a franchise-best record of 65-17, tops in the NBA.
May 28: The season ends in devastating fashion as the Rockets lose Game 7 of the Western Conference finals at home to the Warriors after leading the series 3-2 before Paul was lost with a hamstring injury.
June 25: After being a runner-up two of the previous three seasons, Harden wins his long-awaited first NBA MVP award. He also is a unanimous first-team All-NBA selection.
2019
Jan. 23: Harden sets a career high with a 61-point game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. That ties Kobe Bryant’s Garden
record for a Knicks opponent. He matches it with another 61-point game against the Spurs on March 22 at Toyota Center.
May 10: For the fourth time in five years, the Rockets’ playoff run ends at the hands of the Warriors, this time in six games in the Western semifinals. The Warriors win Game 6 at Toyota Center despite not having Kevin Durant because of injury and Stephen Curry going scoreless during the first half. June 24: Harden finishes runnerup for the MVP award again, this time to Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
July 16: Harden gets another All-Star backcourt mate, with former Thunder teammate Westbrook arriving in a blockbuster trade that sees Paul, two future first-round draft picks and other draft considerations go to Oklahoma City.
2020
March 10: The Rockets defeat the Timberwolves in their final game before the NBA suspends its season for more than four months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jul. 14: Five days after most of his teammates arrived, Harden joins the Rockets at the NBA’s Orlando campus. No reason is specified for his delayed arrival.
Aug. 14: Harden wins his third consecutive NBA scoring title, leading the league with 34.3 points per game.
Sept. 2: The Rockets-Thunder first-round series ends in pulsating fashion with the Rockets taking a 104-102 victory in Game 7. Harden blocks a potential serieswinning 3-point attempt by Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort in the final seconds to preserve the Rockets’ victory. They advanced to face the Lakers, the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed.
Sept. 12: The Rockets’ season ends in blowout fashion as they fall to the Lakers 119-96 to lose their Western Conference semifinal series in five games after winning the opener.
Sept. 16: Harden earns first team All-NBA honors for the fourth consecutive season and finishes third in MVP voting behind winner Giannis Antetokounmpo and runner-up LeBron James.
Nov. 16: The Chronicle confirms Harden’s desire to force a trade out of Houston to Brooklyn for a reunion with former Thunder teammate Kevin Durant. That comes after an offseason that sees both D’Antoni and general manager Daryl Morey leave the Rockets.
Nov. 16: Harden turns down the Rockets’ offer of a two-year, $103 million contract extension that would have put him in line to become the highest-paid player in NBA history. The decision reaffirms his desire to be traded.
Dec. 2: Harden gets another new sidekick after the Rockets and Wizards make a seismic trade, with Houston sending Westbrook to Washington for John Wall and a first-round pick. That ends the Rockets’ experiment of Westbrook and Harden in the same backcourt after one season.
Dec. 6: The Rockets start practice for the 2020-21 season without Harden. Meanwhile, he’s spotted in social media videos partying in Atlanta and Las Vegas, keeping him from going through the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols to be cleared to practice.
Dec. 8: After being AWOL from the start of Rockets camp, Harden arrives at Toyota Center to report for his required COVID-19 testing. He must test negative three consecutive days before he can begin workouts.
Dec. 16: In his first public comments since rejoining the Rockets, Harden addresses questions about his desire to be traded and late arrival to training camp but offered little insight into his thinking on either. He also claims he was “just training” when in Atlanta and Las Vegas instead of reporting to Rockets camp.
Dec. 23: The Rockets’ season opener against the Thunder is postponed because of COVID-19 issues. Harden is ruled unavailable for violating the NBA’s health and safety protocols, while three other players either test positive or inconclusive for the coronavirus with four other players isolating because of contract tracing.
2021
Jan. 12: In a brief postgame interview after a second consecutive lopsided home loss to the Lakers, Harden says the Rockets are “just not good enough … the chemistry, talent-wise, just everything.” He adds “I love this city. I’ve literally done everything that I can. The situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think can be fixed, so. Yeah.”
Jan. 13: After he stays home from practice, the Rockets trade Harden to Brooklyn in a multi-team deal. The Rockets get two-time All-Star guard Victor Oladipo from the Pacers in the four-team deal along with a haul of four firstround picks and the right to swap draft positions in four other drafts with the Nets. The Rockets will also add Cavaliers guard Dante Exum and Nets forward Rodions Kurucs.