Sure, but that was back then. Harden had just finished his first season with the Rockets and, as far as stars go, relatively unknown. Howard even said he didn't know Harden. So IMO, it was just lip service. Now that Harden has established a track record, can you imagine any star wanting to play with him?
We've pursued plenty of guys who went elsewhere that was unrelated to money. Carmelo chose to stay in New York. Durant chose the Warriors over us. Butler chose the Heat over us. Also, didn't we offer Bosh a maximum contract in 2014? Which, because of Florida's higher cost of living, would've been more lucrative for Bosh? Regarding smoke signals, wasn't there a Windhorst article from a previous all-star weekend where he was left with the impression that Harden was unliked by unnamed players? Didn't Paul George just say something like "I'm not James Harden" when talking about his two-way game?
Carmelo choosing to stay in New York and Durant choosing the Warriors does not mean they do not want to play with Harden. Carmelo, IIRC, got more money to stay in New York and he wanted to be the man on his own team. Durant...did we have a meeting with him? I don't recall we did so you can't chalk that up to him not wanting to play with Harden. Bosh, IIRC, wanted a 4 year deal and Riley wouldn't budge on the 4th year until the last minute. As for the Windbag article, "unliked by unnamed players" is not providing evidence nor proving that stars, collectively, don't want to play with Harden. If you're going to die on the hill of "Stars don't want to play in nor sign with Houston because of Harden" at least provide actual accounts to where they or their agents have stated as much.
exactly, look back a year on my posting and it’s nothing but praises. Harden is a big reason for the **** up, he wanted WB here. He has more “excuse” games than anybody else. His stans need to wake the hell up now
lol when Parker and Ginobili slowed down and it was Kawhi's time to "carry" a franchise by himself, he lasted 9 games, got into a fight with management about his injury status, and got shipped to Toronto. I mean, Danny Green was nearly the 2013 finals MVP - was he carrying the franchise?
Well, all-star weekend is typically attended by all-stars. And the NBA community is a tight-knit group. I think that if players don't mind badmouthing Harden in front of other players, that means they have no reason to hide it. And if there's no need to hide it, that means it's more pervasive than you'd think. I think NBA players are smart enough to avoid doing this unless they outright hate Harden. Just look at our major signings and figure it out for youself. With Dwight, Harden was an unknown, and we had the coaching personnel Dwight wanted. It ended with Dwight/Harden on bad terms. With CP3, we overpaid for him, and it ended on bad terms. And now we're saddled with his buddy Westbrook whose skillset clashes with our style of play.
Actually I don't really have to use my imagination - in 7 off seasons since acquiring Harden, the Rockets have acquired 3 first team all-NBA caliber/MVP nominee players (Dwight, Paul, Russ) not far removed from their prime. Can you name somebody who's done appreciably better? I mean, LeBron maybe, sure, but hello it's ****ing LeBron. If that's your yardstick it says more about you than it does about the measurement.
Pretty much every superstar besides davis rejected Lebron. Butler said no thanks. Playoffs pansy George said no thanks. Kawhi said no thanks,
LOL, Durant left Golden State on bad terms, Carmelo left everywhere on bad terms, Kawhi left San Antonio on bad terms, LeBron left Cleveland on really bad terms and then returned on good terms Here's the thing - the only terms that really truly matter for NBA players most of the time are generally the # of years and the # of $.
Another way to look at it is, in the 7 off seasons since acquiring Harden, relationships have been established and soured with 2 first team all-NBA caliber players.
They left on bad terms with management. They didn't leave on bad terms with the other superstar (if applicable) on the team.
Because paul and Dwight didn’t sour relationships in their previous stops? Dwight has left three other stops in bad terms. He recently even admitted he had not been mature in his approach during his career. Paul left the Hornets and the Clippers on bad terms and has a reputation for being not liked.
But look at the reasons for the discontent. Dwight felt that the promises made to him were being broken. Regardless if it was in the best interests of the team, the optics look to be in his favor so it's a legitimate gripe. CP3 wanted to run a more team-oriented offense instead of the iso-centric offense. IMO, if forced to choose, I think players would side with Dwight/CP3.
Windhorst is a paid Lebron shill who is only famous because he covered Lebron since high school. He was the one pushing the narrative that stars don't like Harden. I think it's safer to say that Lebron probably doesn't like Harden than to make a broader claim that NBA stars don't like Harden. And really as far as Lebron not liking Harden, I'm sure it's more from a competitive and economic standpoint than personality clashes. If there was mutual benefit that outweighed other options, I'm pretty confident Lebron and Harden would play together. I just think both players at this point in their careers want to be "the man" instead of second fiddle. I mean that's probably why AD had announced he was opting for free agency in January after this season. It'll probably be great for AD if the Lakers win the chip this year, but I'm sure from a personal standpoint, he's probably thinking he should get more credit than he does besides being Lebron's sidekick. After all, the Lakers last year didn't even make the playoffs without AD and here we are giving Lebron all the credit for the Lakers post season success. Lebron needs AD just as much as AD needs Lebron but that's not a popular narrative among the media. It's gotta hit the ego of these players somewhat being in the shadow of a player whose impact may in fact be less than yours, even if you do win it all. Because if you never win it all again, the narrative will then be that so and so player only won when they had so and so player on their team. They couldn't win it on their own as the man like Hakeem or even Dirk. Plus Lebron is with Nike and stands to profit more as the unanimous best player in the NBA whereas Harden is with Adidas and for the past 5 years has arguably been better than Lebron from an individual statistical standpoint. If I were in his shoes, I'd stand to profit from badmouthing my closest competition by using a media shill like Windhorst to create bad narratives for posters like you to use as ammunition on a BBS.
Off course you would considering how much you obviously dis like Harden and don’t use the line I don’t hate harden because you’re posts reek of hate. Dwight Howard the notorious locker room cancer is obviously in the right
Carmelo has the rep of cancerous, so I'm sure he's left many stops on bad terms with his teammates. I doubt he has a good relationship with Amare and Harden. KD had a publicized feud with Draymond, and he openly admitted it played a part in his decision to leave. Also, Tony P and Ginoboli were saying things to the media that suggests they weren't happy with Kawhi and his handling of his injury.
Did they? I had the impression that he felt overlooked by Lebron's presence. If the Cavs won, it was because of Lebron. If they lost, it was because of the supporting cast.....that kind of thing. The only fool is you for thinking that Draymond Green was a superstar.