James Harden is indisputably among the best scorers to ever play the game of basketball. However, for much of this young season, he has not shown the skill and prowess that earned him the scoring title in each of the past three seasons.
As rumblings of his departure neared a climax, Houston Rockets’ head coach Stephen Silas announced that “The Beard” was not welcome to participate in team activities and players, Demarcus Cousins specifically, called him out.
“Obviously, it’s disrespectful, but everybody has a right to their opinion,” Cousins told reporters from a podium earlier this week, after the Rockets were pummeled by the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Jan 12. “We feel a certain type of way about some of his actions. …This is the nasty part of the business that kind of gets swept under the rug. You deal with some of these things. When guys are in positions of being franchise players or whatever the case may be, it’s usually sometimes a nasty breakup.”
While Houston brass refused to send Harden to Philadelphia 76ers, one of his destination spots, which is managed by former Rockets GM, Daryl Morey, the breakup isn’t exactly nasty.
Harden thanked the city of Houston for its undying support and posted to his Instagram page that he is “forever indebted” to the city that gave him an opportunity to be an undisputed franchise player.
Watch Harden’s video tribute and read more after the jump.
