HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 10: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets in action against the Los ... [+]
Shaquille O'Neal took James Harden to task for the way he left Houston, and Shaq is right: The only way for Harden to justify his actions is to finally be hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy when it's all said and done.
“When you say you gave the city your all, that ain’t true,” O'Neal said on TNT. “When it comes time to show up, he ain’t show up. He got his superteam. He has to win this year. If he doesn’t win this year, it’s a bust.”
Harden took the Player Empowerment Era to the next level to force his way to Brooklyn. He turned down a $50 million per year extension with the Rockets. He went on a maskless party tour during the pandemic. At the end, he gave less than 100 percent — averaging only 17.4 points on 37.8 percent shooting in his last five games — before finally making his trade demands public. It was ugly, unfair to the likes of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, who were both understandably ticked off.
“I wasn't disrespectful to anyone,” said Harden, who is questionable to make his Brooklyn debut on Saturday (trade pending). “I just made a comment that the team as a whole wasn't good enough to compete from a title.”
Harden cycled through co-stars Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Wall before finally deciding to give up No. 1 status to team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for a better shot at winning career title No. 1. The 31-year-old's career arc would be a looked at a lot differently had the Rockets been able to hold their 3-2 lead over KD's dynastic Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference finals. But Paul got hurt, and that didn't happen.
His trophy case has a 2018 MVP award, eight All-Star appearances and three scoring titles. Just no actual championships. So Harden has played in 128 career playoff games and averaged 23.5 points, 5.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds, with nothing to show for it.
The Nets gave up the farm to reunite Harden and Durant because KD is performing at an all-world level — and they want to keep him beyond the next two seasons — and Irving's absence has cast doubts on his commitment to the team. Irving was fined $50,000 for violating protocols, and remains out due to personal reasons (he will lose $1.6 million in salary for his actions). Harden, on the other hand, has been consistently durable – even if he's out of shape at the moment.
“Great,” Harden responded with a laugh when asked about where his conditioning level is at.
For the $114.3 million trio to succeed, sacrifice will be required. There's three, all-time high-usage players, and only one ball.
“I think this is Kevin Durant's team, and then you figure it out from there,” one former coach said. “I love him orchestrating the offense from up top. I think that's a healthy way to get things started.”
Durant, 32, has put himself in the early conversation for MVP by averaging 29.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists. With the Thunder, when Harden was the Sixth Man, he proved to be a solid off-the-ball cutter. The trio will get their share of turns trying to break down defenders in isolation, but there's going to be a period of adaptation, and unselfishness will required.
Steve Nash will have plenty of questions to answer in terms of lineups and rotations. The biggest question might be whether Joe Harris starts or comes off the bench, with the more defensive-minded Bruce Brown perhaps a better option to be with DeAndre Jordan and the three scoring stars early in the first quarter. Nash's high-powered, switch-everything closing lineup could include Durant, Harden, Harris, Irving and perhaps either Brown or Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot.
Ultimately, it will come down to the postseason, where teams get to know their opponents, games grind to a halt, and there's no new tricks to pull out of the bag. That's when you throw your playbook out of the window and rely on your three max guys to break their defenders down and get buckets the hard way. “Creative players can't be guarded,” the former coach said.
Even so, defense will be the make or break facet of the game for Brooklyn, and it has been significantly lacking in that department. The Nets will have to be invested on that end of the floor, and gets stops and rebound as a group. “If the Nets aren't a top-five defensive team, I don't see them getting to the NBA finals,” Paul Pierce said on ESPN.
“Obviously, we know it's not easy,” Harden said. “With this roster and this coaching staff and this organization, I think we have a legit chance.”
Sean Marks' moves — endorsed by KD — have created a superteam of supervillians. Drama, dysfunction, ego and health — both mental and physical — threaten to capsize it all.
The pressure is on. Harden wanted this. Now, he's got it.
He was fairly criticized by a Hall of Famer in Shaq for his ugly exit in Houston.
Time to get the championship trophy that makes it all worth it.
