[MacMahon] Harden could be suspended for violating Covid protocols

i assume the league and player's association negotiated penalties for this kind of thing. they should just follow those. i'm guessing you can't just make up random punishments for different players.

 

Let's see how the verdict gets handed out. If he gets suspended than the haters criticism of harden is pretty legit. But if he doesn't get punishment, guess your sorry asses will put away the pitchfork? Probably not your intense hatred is already at its peak.

 

exactly, i don't know why people thought harden was just gonna show up and produce a 35 ppg mvp-level season if the rockets didn't trade him. how would that work?

trade me.
ok, but first just keep playing and we'll work on it.
sure thing, but you're totally gonna trade me right? even though i'm showing you that there are no consequences to not meeting my demand and things are just going to continue as normal?
sure, definitely.

 

So Harden is willing to put lives on the line so he can get traded to play a game? He getting paid regardless? Got it he’s a selfish *******.

 

Suspend him please!

 

what's the fix? even if you force the player to play is there gonna be some performance level you have to meet? like if you don't shoot X percent then we know you're not trying? russell westbrook would never get paid. i'd just go out and score my points and then be lazy on defense. eventually that would ruin your chance to win and disrupt team chemistry and you'd realize you were better off not playing the guy and that's why these situation usually just skip all those steps and go straight to granting the trade.

part of an organization's job is to keep their star happy. if you don't do that, they might want to leave. they have a contract? so what? no team ever kept giving a player the same playing time because they had a contract. no player is just going to magically pretend they love their situation because of a contract. and whether they have 1 game or 5 years left, an unhappy star is probably just about as valuable on the court as a star who doesn't play, so ultimately you either kind of have to keep the guy happy or realize you're probably going to have to trade him.

 

Pretty much.

The league and the rockets hands are tied to what the cba allows.

That however doesn't mean they are helpless. The rockets should fine and suspend harden for every transgression.

Take away his game check and not allowing him to play when he acts out should be a large enough deterrent.

Hardens prime and his nba career is finite. He's not going to want to waste 1 or 2 years of it.

Rockets need to be firm.

 

i didn't say he should be breaking covid protocols, just that it wasn't realistic to think he was going to demand a trade then just show up opening day and play his heart out for the rockets.

 

the rockets are free to do that. maybe they will. most teams don't because they think it makes them look bad to future free agents. basically, harden said trade me, but just because the rockets want to wait for the best deal (their prerogative) why should harden have to keep playing or get fined? it's viewed as player unfriendly. in fact, new orleans specifically didn't want to play AD because they didn't want him getting hurt before a trade. rockets should consider that possibility as well. he's not playing here long term and he might get injured. not much upside. as much as i'd like to think harden will play, things will go well, and bygones will be bygones, we appear to be way past that point.

 

well if you know the teams that have been in contact with them you can loosely make the deal. In terms of worrying about contract- That’s a good point but in a harden trade to simply match his salary your gonna need to take a guy who makes a good clip of money. Your also going to need to get a promising player back.

no, you can’t just kill your books in a deal but it’s gonna be hard not to take someone back on a high salary and u also need to get a promising player back. Celtics you are looking brown/smart or brown and fillers and multiple picks just by nature of basic math and knowing hardens salary

 

Agreed. I was with his asking out. Makes sense when he has lost faith in the FO. The guys that made him are gone. But my sympathy for him runs out with crap like this.

 

If Goodell taught us anything, it's that they can. Harden's going to be made an example of.

 

Suspend him indefinitely for the season . And extend his contract one more year

 

Agreed... though I think the AD situation was slightly different as the window in which they were planning to trade him was relatively short.

Also agree that the probability that harden and the rockets make up etc are relatively low. At best I think they will reach a functional level where Harden plays but the team environment/culture/focus is at the 2015-16 level.

Still I'd rather owners make these players live up to their contract (until the team gets an acceptable offer) rather than let them sit out and be paid.

They are free to do so of course, but then they shouldn't complain about the unfairness of player empowerment.

AD played and was more than willing to do so after his trade request. So did pg-13 in IND. So did kobe, melo, dwill, dwight, etc etc.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I don't mind players wanting to be traded, just act like a professional and fulfill your contract in the meantime.

 

Tough defending this guy right now. What an *******

 

He should be. NBA can't afford to not send a message on how serious they are. Harden being in the spot light is probably a good opportunity for the NBA to show serious consequences for not adhering to the rules and that might actually be a good thing for the NBA season if other players take notice (they are going to unless the NBA just let this go without serious consequences).

 

Did he not get the memo on the whole Covid thing?

 

MacMahon is a journalist, not a judge.

His opinion means jack shet.

Just present the truth.

And you can start doing that anytime instead of pursuing this BS agenda.

I'd like to see an investigation into who is feeding MacMahon all the hit pieces.

Perhaps effecting punitive measures for spreading lies and half truths is also in order.

 

I get the sentiment but let me ask you something. How do you feel about Elon Musk or Mark Cuban acting out or acting childish at times? They get to play a game akin to Monopoly and get paid millions for it too. What's the difference? Harden worked incredibly hard to get where he is, and through all the difficulties of becoming an NBA player. It's not easy to get there. It's not just the luck of the lottery to have the talent - NBA players put in an incredible amount of work and dedication on the court and in the gym.

I'm not a Harden lover by any stretch of the imagination. But I feel calling him a spoiled brat is a bit much. There is a reason he makes what he makes, and he's not stupid, he's an intelligent guy.

Here's what the truth probably he - he'd doesn't care about the Rockets. He doesn't care what Houston fans think anymore. He doesn't care about playing for the Houston Rockets. He's already moved on in his mind. So get feels he can do what he wants to do and he's not worried about repercussions. His only concern was that he correct he wasn't at a strip club after all!

My guess is he is going to be better at abiding with making sure people don't take pictures of him while he parties for now on. He wants to play basketball because he loves to play. But he wants out. And yes, that is affecting his attitude towards the team and yes it's a passive aggressive way to force the team to trade him.

If I am the Rockets, this doesn't affect what I do. I just keep looking for the best deal I can get. I don't care to fine or suspend him because - what's the point? Let the league punish him and make it about him and the League vs the Rockets vs him. Trade him for the best deal, and I don't care if that's the 76ers or the Timberwolves.

 

Want to get the attention of NBA players: The owners can start by making it clear they will strongly fight to eliminate guaranteed contracts altogether in the next CBA unless this trend stops. That would be a serious wake up call.

Here’s another option: Every game the player opts not to play, they lose their entire game check, and they accrue no service time towards free agency. Let the player in question lose a few million dollars and push his free agency clock back a season by sitting out because he wants a trade and see how he likes it.