- Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer details the rift between Kevin Durant and James Harden before trade.
- According to Fischer, Durant was annoyed by Harden constantly being out of shape, and Harden didn’t like playing in an offense tailored for Durant.
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
James Harden is no longer a member of the Nets big 3, and we’re beginning to learn the behind-the-scenes details of what recently down in Brooklyn.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer dropped a bombshell report on what went wrong in Brooklyn. According to Fisher, the relationship between Durant began to deteriorate at the start of the season when Harden showed up to training camp out of shape.
As Nets personnel faced their growing James Harden reality, Kevin Durant’s approval of the trade mattered more than most.
“KD didn’t want to get rid of James, but he knew it was over.”
Details of the “cold war” between Brooklyn’s former trio, @BR_NBA: https://t.co/JU8mx2yvYA
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) February 15, 2022
Via Bleacher Report
Durant had been discouraged by Harden since the Nets arrived in San Diego for training camp, according to sources familiar with both players.
The previous offseason, Los Angeles pickup runs with Durant and Irving planted the idea in Harden’s mind to flee the Houston Rockets. This summer, Harden and Durant never entered the same gym, and Durant was disappointed by the poor conditioning Harden sported during those early Nets practices. Harden was also increasingly candid about wanting to test free agency for the first time.
As winter arrived, Nets personnel started telling rival team contacts of the troubling dynamic between Durant and Harden, venting during social gatherings and pregame activities. Harden’s poor conditioning didn’t help his slow adjustment to the NBA’s new foul changes.
Harden, on the other hand, had issues with the Nets deferring to Durant on offense.
Durant and Nash wanted a free-flowing offense, which Mike D’Antoni had helped install last season, but Harden preferred his patented iso ball. Brooklyn coaches noticed Harden would roll his eyes when an after-timeout play was designed for Durant, sources said.
“Many of today’s superstars are passive-aggressive,” one coach told B/R.
Harden’s partying also became a huge issue in the final weeks before he was traded.
When the Nets arrived in Utah for their fourth game of a five-game trip, members of the traveling party were openly discussing their desire to swap Harden for Simmons. Staffers and players had grown frustrated by the special treatment granted to Brooklyn’s superstars, sources said.
Before Durant and Irving chose the Nets as free agents in 2019, Marks had constantly sold his vision of a culture rooted in family, an accountability to each other, an idea that nobody was bigger than the collective goal. That ethos had evaporated by early February.
“The temperature of the room said, ‘It’s their world, and we’re living in it,'” one person who was present that evening said.
Harden didn’t arrive at the Jazz game until halftime, sources told B/R. When it concluded and Brooklyn continued with its planned itinerary to Denver, Harden flew to Las Vegas, sources said.
When asked to confirm the account, one person close to Harden chuckled before responding, “That sure sounds like James, doesn’t it?”
And the Sunday before this year’s trade deadline, Harden returned from Vegas to Denver but showed up late for the Nuggets game as well.
Fischer goes on to report that Durant initially didn’t want Harden to get traded but that Harden eventually told him he wanted out. It seems like Harden leaving Brooklyn is probably the best move for everyone involved.