James Harden provided us with a lot of great REGULAR SEASON moments during his Rockets career. The playoffs left so much to be desired. For a guy that was set, and also kept telling us, that he was a Rocket for life.
This has nothing to do for what he has done off the floor in terms of helping people, this is simply about how he handled his exit from a team and city that backed him harder than anyone ever will. The way he handled things was the exact opposite of how a professional should handle things. We were told that he would act like a pro once on the floor and he could not even hold that promise.
I feel awful for Stephen Silas and his players that have had to deal with this. DeMarcus Cousins is a damn saint for how he stood up and tore James a new one yesterday in his press conference. Harden deserves all the criticism that is coming his way.
As a basketball fan, I hate this for the health of the sport. We have reached a tipping point and the league has to find a way to get things going back in the other direction. Players acting like this to get there way is a horrible example for future generations of players. Wanting to play somewhere else is fine (I wanted to trade Harden after his bleep show exit against the Lakers in the bubble), but there is a way to handle something like this. You do it behind closed doors, and James did not do that.
Don't get this twisted, this is not the jaded lover speaking here, sure I am pissed, but it is simply about the way he handled all of this. If he had just come out and acted like a 31 year old grown man, I would have respected what he wanted. Instead, he acted like a 10 year old and it rubs me the wrong way. He gave us eight years of great fun, but don't bother telling me we cannot rip him on his way out the door. We, like the Rockets, owe him nothing. They paid him crazy money over and over and we backed him every time he needed us to do so. They and we gave him everything, while overlooking so much. It's very easy to ignore his selfishness when he is your guy and guess what, we ignored a lot.
Harden leaves behind a legacy of being the second best scorer in the history of the franchise, but he will never be appreciated again the way he once was. On his way out he disrespected his coach, teammates, the franchise and the entire city that he wants to tell you he loves. He is a selfish player that does not have the leadership qualities that match his skill level. I loved watching James Harden play and appreciate the great moments, but the way this ended has forever ruined his Rockets legacy for me. Flat out, the man quit.