Harden: "Dwight and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets. The rest of the guys are role players..."

This some Pollyanna BS. His teammates came out and said he was right and they don't care. Pro athletes obviously have thicker skin than you since you are so offended. The only people that care are the media and the people on this board. The people who don't matter.

 

Lin - yeah james is right
Ariza - yeah james is right
dmo - ye dis is tru

Parsons? WAHHHHHHH WAHHHH WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

I recall this Robert Horry story:

When Robert Horry was asked by a teammate on the Lakers about being role players next to Shaq and Kobe, Horry corrected his teammate, saying that "We are not role players, we are stars. Shaq and Kobe are superstars, but the rest of us are stars, not just role players. Don't see yourself short." This is the kind of attitude that helped Horry to play a key part to many championship teams.

If you want to be a contender, you want members of your team to take ownership of the team's achievement, to play with passion, and not simply consider themselves as a replaceable commodity.

Even if the truth is that these players are indeed replaceable commodities, it is not helpful to have them think that way in the heat of a playoff battle. When you want a guy to sacrifice his body, sacrifice his personal stats and risk injuries and future earning power for the team's goal, you don't want him thinking in the back of their mind that he is not very important and all the glories go to the highest paid guys on the team.
This is why Pat Riley and Doc Rivers preached "15 Strong" and "Ubuntu." Even if these slogans are BS, it was still important for the teams to believe in them.

Some of this "role players" and "pieces" talk are a matter of semantics, but semantics matter in a would-be leader's communications to his team. Harden may not have meant it in a negative way, but the impression that the words gives out was that he didn't think it matters much who else they put around him and Dwight Howard.

 

Any NBA role player that doesn't play hard because his teammate said something should be banished from the NBA. These are pros. They aren't playing for Harden. They are playing for McHale, Morey, and Les. Those guys determine if you are on the team and how much money you make. Why would they let a harmless comment affect them?

 

Horry was the star among role players. Easy for him to say.

98 percent are plain and stinking normal.

 

Because he is white and not ugly looking yeah.

Likable? Another attention w****, maybe they like attention whores.

 

What's so wrong about being a role player?

Everyone has a role to play. Even Harden and Howard. If the players don't accept their roles and start stepping on each others' toes, then that team will fail.

If a player wants a bigger role, you don't talk or tweet about it. You prove it with your play.

Media should stop manufacturing these controversies during the offseason.

 

Posters are arguing Harden is a leader! Lol, wow. Not saying he can't become one, but he's currently not there. Closest attribute on that front is his willingness to take big shots.

 

Please tell your managers, supervisors, asst manager, ceo, coo, cfo, whoever is higher than your position at work to let harden n howard's comments sink in their bottom of their hearts, recommend them to say those statement out loud every briefings n meetings n we shall know how tough son of a gun you are made of. Make a youtube video n please share it with us. We are so curious how u take those comments literally on a daily basis. DO NOT COMPLAIN evveeerrrr.

 

Know what an org chart is?

 

Errr I don't think I have ever seen harden this defensive before.

 

You're just a hater.

 

Aren't you a Mav's fan now?

 

They are not playing for Mchale, Morey or else.

If you think team morale and recognitions are BS and everything is about money. Fine. They are playing for money. Their current salary does not depend on how hard they play. Why should they play hard? There is nothing to gain by playing hard. DMo played hard and did a decent job when given the time. Did he get a single minute of playing time during the playoff?

Why should anyone play hard in a regular season to only get traded before the playoff starts? Why should anyone play hard if your leader went public that you are not even a part of near term plan (translation: I will fire you once I get the chance).

Think about it. You will be an idiot to work hard when your boss says you are going to be fired at any minute.

The churn rate at Rocket is too high... It hurt us last playoff and it will haunt us again this year.

 

Fair assessment. There was hope early in his tenure that he'd become a leader. Remember the "tuck your shirts" command he issued to teammates and about how on the plane ride to Houston after he was traded he declared to Cole (I think) that he's going to change the culture in Houston?

Maybe he'll be that guy again.

 

2013'ers can only be LOF's

 

I'm not sure what thread it was in but can someone post a link to the poster who compared that stats between Ariza and Parsons?

 

i made one on their contracts with some stats at the end

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=256961

not sure if this is the one your alluding to though or if this is some joke that i dont get.

im leaning towards joke

 

Not a joke. It's not the one I remember but this looks better. Thanks!