Never happened. PS: In all seriousness, he won 2 rings in Houston already. Had Harden won a ring in Houston I would have walked him out the door in a shower of flowers. Instead, he exited like a little punk while giving no effort and disparaging his teammates, but he should be recognized for the 8 years he gave Houston. Just saying, jersey retirement should not happen imo, but probably will. As for Hakeem, he gave his all to Houston for nearly two decades. He deserved to get a last big paycheck from some other team. Wish Houston did the Kobe thing with him though.
Way different, Hakeem was in the very latter end of his career. And Hakeem was milking the Rockets, he was investing in real estate and buying houses in Vancouver. He needed money for his projects. Remember Andre Johnson... he ended with the Titans. Tail end of his career.
James Harden in his NBA career: - Has never blew a 3-1 lead - Has never missed the playoffs - Has never been swept in the playoffs - Has never had a losing record in a season - Has multiple 50-win seasons with 0 all-star teammates - Has the singular achievement of being the only player in NBA history to lead a team to 65+ wins without an all-star teammate.
I'm not sure what you mean. Harden was here way longer and played way better. He's arguably the second best Rocket of all-time. And I don't even think it's debatable that he's the second best Rocket of my lifetime, and I'm 47 years old now.
I think jersey retirements should be mainly held for Champions and the MVP of those Championships otherwise we wouldnt have any numbers to put on jerseys. McGrady was great but so was Sampson and he helped the Rockets get to the Finals. So if you hang up McGrady's jersey you need to hang up Harden, Sampson, Elie, Thorpe, Cassell, Smith (Kenny), and the rest of the squads for the Championships as they all accomplished more than Harden, Sampson and ESPECIALLY, McGrady, who never got out of the 1st round.
Rox also traded Hakeem to Toronto and they built a statue of him. Even if you don't want him anymore doesn't mean you don't appreciate what he did for the team. Harden and Fertita already kissed and made up after the messy break up. His jersey retirement should be a no brainer literally the 2nd best Rocket ever and spent all of his prime years wearing Rocket red. He even did the Rockets a solid by tanking the chemistry of that Nets team and saddling them with Ben Simmons.
