Texans risk same mistake with Watson as Rockets with Harden.
The Ghost of Sports Future took us to Toyota Center on Wednesday night, and the scene wasn’t pretty.
James Harden’s drive-by mugging of his former Rockets teammates should be a wake-up call for Texans fans.
Like the late, great MCA, Harden has a license to kill in Brooklyn, and he is putting up MVP numbers — you know, like he did for five or six seasons in Houston.
Rockets fans who turned on him (admittedly after he pretty much turned on them) only will earn vindication if Harden fails to win an NBA championship in Brooklyn — something he says he regrets he didn’t do in Houston but is “hard to obtain.”
Two wrongs make a fight.
Word from Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta that Harden’s jersey would one day be retired was met with irrational disdain.
Why would so many of y’all be shook after hearing a deserving honor would one day be bestowed upon a franchise superstar?
Harden was determined to leave, but some of you let your pride push him out the door when you should have been begging him to stay.
Ghost of Sports Present could show you how the Rockets went from being one of the best teams in the league to one of its worst the second they traded Harden.
The Texans have a shorter trip to destination bottom. That is almost certainly where they are headed if they trade quarterback Deshaun Watson.
An intelligent thinker who is as smart as any quarterback in the NFL, Watson is tracking toward football greatness. With what he has shown thus far, if he doesn’t end his career as an all-timer, it’ll be a surprise.
All of those times should be spent in a Texans uniform.
Houston has long been waiting for this quarterback’s arrival. You thought Dan Pastorini was him. You thought Warren Moon was him. You thought
Steve McNair was him (and he was, but he took the Titans to the Super Bowl instead of the Oilers). You thought David Carr was him. You thought Matt Schaub was him.
You thought Brock Os … nah, just kidding. There had to be a punchline to that setup.
What is not so funny is the Texans had a stretch of six straight years with a different starting quarterback for the season opener.
Watson is the only one among them who is anywhere near elite. A special player, special person. You have to fight to keep such a talent.
Thus, it is understandable why the Texans aren’t fielding calls from teams interested in trading for him.
The Seattle Seahawks, on the other hand, are answering the phone and engaging in trade talks involving quarterback Russell Wilson.
A Super Bowl champion who has been voted among the NFL’s top 25 players for seven straight years. and No. 2 a year ago, Wilson is an established superstar. He is the best quarterback on the market, adding another layer to the Texans’ difficulty in getting a quality return in a trade for Watson.
Sources maintain that Watson is steadfast in his desire to play elsewhere. That is an easy position to hold in early March. This is NCAA Tournament time. Football season is a long way off.
While Internet trolls represent a small portion of the fan base, the more fans turn on him, the more likely Watson is to remain resolute in his thinking. This generation values social media interaction. Online, there seems to have been a decided shift away from Watson’s corner of late.
Fan support ranks just behind a good offensive line, smart coach, capable general manager and top-notch receiver on a quarterback’s wish list. Watson is losing it, and he feels it. He might not admit is publicly — he hasn’t said much of anything about anything — but he cares.
It’ll be easier to leave Houston if fans push him out the door.
You could see in the emotion from Harden when he talked about how much the city means to him that it matters. Despite having little control over their teams’ decisions, fans play an important role.
With fans having shown Watson nothing but love during his tenure, the slow turn against him will take awhile to take hold. It will certainly build if the rift between Watson and the team drags on.
No team activity is scheduled until early April. The draft, which is the most likely point for a trade, is still almost two months away. Camp doesn’t start until July, the regular season not until September.
Absence of football, with presence of discontent, makes the heart wander.
Just remember, the Ghost of Sports Future has warned us.