Harden's mother: "He is doing the best for his career...He is asking for a chance to get a ring”

You are right about this. He played. His decision antics on ESPN I wouldn’t exactly call professional but that’s not the point. Lebron showed up and played.

 

imo the whole number 1 / #2 thing is a bit overblown . But I do think harden would be the best player almost anywhere he goes

Expect for when he took a month off in the middle of the season in Cleveland ... or the year before last in LA .

 

“But he’s a young guy it’s crazy how high standards you guys hold harden up to!!””

 

Wasn’t he dealing with a groin injury in LA?

 

Pain.

 

It all started with that Tweet from Morey. I know we talked about this before. It really seems that these events are a series of powerplay moves to hit Tilly in the bank account. Tillman is probably berating stone to get a deal done for Harden. James will take a hit here and deservedly so. He will never get a ring like this. The league wants stable family men that have a wife and kids to be the champs. If you are single you cant be loud and immature like James is being. His Mom speaking up is a bad look. Grown Men when they have problems with other grown Men they dont bring their mothers into it.

 

sure , but had he been on a contender don’t you think he would have played through it ?

Imo the reason he sat out was 50/50 injury and letting the lakers get set up for the next season . Not saying it wasn’t smart ... only he likely could have played if he wanted to .

 

No, that's you.

I guess his reports mean more than coach's and players opinions on the matter. We can completely disregard them I guess, that all means nothing because Royce heard something from someone...ok...

You say I explain stuff away with nonsense but is this what I asked? You're giving me his CAREER numbers when I asked, did he or did he not have efficient years? Earlier last season you said he had and your argument was that he's getting less efficient. Career numbers don't represent players primes lol.

Umm, clearly a player doesn't take a shot unless they think it is going on. So now answer the question, has Russ had good years or not? Would those good years then lead Russ to believe he can make shots and play a certain style that his body may no longer be able to play?

Believe what you want about his 'Low IQ' I'll believe what coach's have said about him. For example, Popovic telling one of his players to study Westbrook...which is something Pop does with a lot of his players. Surely Westbrook is just an idiot on the court. Surely the guy must have low BBALL IQ running PG and winning MVP running it.

You're the guy that thinks everything comes down to numbers even when the reality says otherwise.

That step back 3 is a shot a lot of teams let Harden take, if he shoots his own team out of a game and it's off, they'll let him take it...and he will take it because he doesn't have the 'awareness' to get to the rim...or maybe its laziness, either way, when his step back 3 isn't falling it can be very very hard to watch Harden play.

 

ahhhh, Milk Hair and Number Seven. good times, good times

 

I agree with 100%. The league needs to fix this trend of superstars having all of the control and not honoring contracts. As @Swapshop said, at least with Lebron, he purposefully singed short term deals and played them out. I can respect that. Something needs to be done about the length of Supermax deals and teams need to be given more leverage in these “hostage “ type situations.

I know a lot of people are high on Simmons and they say that he is the best we could get, but for a guy that can’t shoot and has injury history, I would have to be blown away by the package to make the deal.

 

Harden is under contract for 2 more seasons ... let him holdout without pay for the next year if you have to until and unless you get a deal worth taking

 

Your pain is my pain....


But I don't have your 40 million.

 

I am curious what would make Harden think the culture is toxic - Tilman somehow really pissed WB & Harden off bigtime.

 

Just something to think about guys Harden hasn't been to the Finals since he's been with this team. He's been beaten by superior TEAMS not individuals. He is an iso player, TEAMS can adjust to that. Build a great TEAM here and even if he goes somewhere else it ain't like his iso ball can't be beaten there. It's been beaten here every year!

 

23 year old Harden with more leadership than 31 year Harden.

 

Under Tillman mid would not be surprised. Didn’t Russ call the ownership toxic to?

 

The same could be said about citizens obeying the law. And yet, people have an obligation to obey the law even where there isn't effective law enforcement in place. I don't follow the law simply because I don't want to be arrested. I follow the law because I think people should follow the law unless the law itself is unjust. People who choose not to follow the law because they think they can get away with it are criminals.

Or, to keep it to basketball, there are rules on the court that players should follow. Are there some players who will try to break the rules when they think the refs aren't looking to get an edge? Of course, and maybe its works out for them. They are still cheaters.

In this case, Harden can not show up and dare his team to punish him. It may even work out for him. And I can look at that and say he's cheating his team and the league by doing so.

 

The same pop who called HARDEN the toughest player to guard and devise a game plan for?

 

"He is doing the best for his career"

I thought he's paid to do what's best for the team. Silly me.