I know there are a lot of salty posters here and this is CF (home of the no 1 fans who hate their own) but the reality is James Harden did a heck of a whole lot for the Houston Rockets. First of all we only got him for a Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and a bunch of left overs. In return he gave us an MVP winner and top 3 MVP candidate for the last 5 years. He made the Rockets a legit contender, you can argue he tarnished his stay the last year blah blah blah but 1 yr esp the last year shouldn't tarnish his entire legacy in Houston. How many people remember Washington Wizards Jordan or Toronto Hakeem for crying out loud? Everyone's gotta go eventually and not everyone gets to go pretty like Kobe, TD or Dirk. Yeah he didn't win a ring but winning a ring shouldn't be on the shoulders of just 1 guy, even MJ couldn't win a ring in like 9 years and probably would be ringless if Krause was an incompetent GM. Morey wasn't incompetent but he sucked in the FA market, got snubbed by guys like Lebron, KD, Al Horford and Bosh and the major FAs he did sign underwhelmed terribly like Ryan Scrubberson, EG and Cp3. Harden was also unlucky getting stuck between Lebron , Kawhi and KD prime years, 3 guys among the best players in history in their absolute peak. To add insult to injury both KD and Lebron recruited or joined multi all star teams so yeah, can't really blame James Harden IMO unless you are extremely ignorant. Now that he is leaving Harden didn't just give us almost a decade of superstar performance, he also gave Houston a bounty of picks and assets. Yeah none of those are immediate stars but again that's not on him that's on Stone and Fertits refusing to trade him prior to the season. TLDR Rockets gave up Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and a bunch of nonames for almost 1 decade of MVP play from James Harden, 4 picks (3 unprotected from Brooklyn), 4 swaps, Dante Exum, Victor Oladipo, and some dude named Rodion Kurucs. Thank you James Harden. If you mad at him you're just wrong. Look at what OKC got for Kevin Durant, just 1 Finals appearance and he left in FA after they wasted a top 2 pick for him.
One of the true good guys in the NBA. He will be missed by many. The man single handily put alot of strippers' kids through college.
I appreciate everything he did for this city. I saw his flaws and but he was also a franchise player that made us a contender and relevant. I will always remember the 2016-2017 season when he carried the team to a 3rd seed when everyone said we wouldn't make the playoffs.
That's a no for me dawg. He destroyed my team and it might take years to recover. For what... not even a single FINALS appearance?!? No thanks, good riddance!
James Harden did a LOT for us. He gave us nearly a decade to be thankful and excited about Houston Rockets basketball. Thank you for everything, James. We were one CP3 hamstring away from beating the Warriors team that was in my opinion the most deadly offensive squad assembled. But f*** you for the way you handled your way out of Houston. I will never forgive you. I hope you continue having pre-game buffet dinners and plump your way out of the league.
Harden era was a great ride...17-18 season was a great time to be a Rockets fan I can’t stop thinking about how things would’ve ended up if CP3 didn’t injure his hamstring and we had been able to beat GS...we would’ve demolished the Cavs Harden, CP3, Morey, and MDA would all be validated...their legacies would be set Harden would retire here and get his jersey hung in the rafters...Morey’s suit and tie probably gets hung in the rafters as well
I bear no hard feelings toward James - he gave us damn near a decade's worth of championship contention. I will forever be haunted by what could have been with Chris Paul's hamstring injury in 2018, but it is what it is. This team has deteriorated every year since then and with everything that happened this summer, the writing was on the wall. We looked like the Shanghai Sharks against the Lakers the last two games - we were never going to be contending in the west this year (or anytime soon even if we had kept James). So, thank you James for all the years you gave us. Thank you for giving us realistic championship aspirations for almost 10 years. Hell, I will forever associate my 20s with the James Harden Rockets. It's a damn shame we couldn't get it done, but championship windows often open and close in the blink of an eye in professional sports. Good luck in Brooklyn and I hope y'all make the finals and kick the Los Angeles Lebrons' asses.
James gave us 8 great years, he won a ton of playoff series, set the all-time team record for wins in a season (65), made the team relevant for multiple years, and came within a quarter of the NBA finals. I really enjoyed his time with the team. It was the second most fun Rockets era ever after Hakeem's era.
It was for the best. Despite the messy ending, I can't forget what he's done for us. It was a helluva ride. Will enjoy watching our team now that the pressure is completely off as well as watching Harden's pursuit for a ring.
The list of players who could have done better than what James did for us over his time here is extremely short. It was fun while it lasted.
He acted like a b**** and left like a b****. That doesnt erase all the good things he's done but he is a b****. That is undelayable. Still, i will remember him fondly
No doubt. Nothing but love for Harden from me. It has been a hell of a ride. Maybe someday he will return and retire with us. Seriously. Some of you guys seriously underappreciate the era we just had with Harden (despite not winning a championship).
I was over it when he skipped training camp to hang with a grown man named Baby. No hard feelings. But, Im petty as hell...I will be rooting against him winning anything for the Nets. If you didn't win one here, I can't root for you on another squad. I'd rather see LeBron repeat than the Nets win. Sue me.