It was mentioned during the playoffs that Harden does not take the team bus with the rest of the players. Is everyone fine with this? That certainly does not help out with the chemistry issues the team has and may be why several players did not cheer for him on the game winner against GS. Hoping that a new coach can get Harden back on the bus and maximize his needed leadership skills.
~~~~~~▄▌▐▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▌ ~~~▄▄██▌█ Rockets ROLE PLAYERS Team Bus ▄▄▄▌▐██▌█ Destination: Game Arena ███████▌█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▌ ▀(@)▀▀▀▀▀▀▀(@)(@)▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀(@)(@)▀▀▘ ~~~~~~▄▌▐▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▌ ~~~▄▄██▌█ Harden ONLY Bus ▄▄▄▌▐██▌█ Destination: STRIP CLUB ███████▌█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▌ ▀(@)▀▀▀▀▀▀▀(@)(@)▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀(@)(@)▀▀▘
Chemistry develops on the court, who cares how they play poker on the bus. Micheal Jordan had a huge gambling problem and it didn't affect the team's play.
true story: some people mis-hear Elvis Costello's song lyrics in "Every Day I Write the Book" as "Everyday I ride the bus." http://kissthisguy.com/every-day-i-ride-the-bus-elvis-costello-misheard-362.htm here's the video . . . you be the judge. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1d4r9awjKE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OMG Harden didn't ride the team bus from the hotel to the arena?? He wanted to get to the arena EARLY? HOW DARE HE!
Good. Now we have a thread to bump and rebump for all random stories/pics/minutiae regarding the team bus. I'll wait for the specs
D'Antoni: "Lesssss, it is Mike. I hadn't heard from you in awhile, bills are due, I have made promises to people..... look, I just wanted to tell you that I have drawn up a couple plays for James Harden and they will make him unstoppable. We can run the play 40 to 50 times a game easy." Alexander: "Hi Mike, sorry Daryl keeps bringing in more people for me to interview every time your name comes up. Last week he had me interview an empty chair and claimed it was Doctor Jack Ramsey. The plays you have drawn up, make sure you don't let anyone know. We don't want anyone stealing them like the Warriors." D'Antoni: "Don't worry, I have thousands more. Look I called Kevin Durant, I am his Godfather, and fed him a bunch of plays and made sure they would win. All those plays against the Warriors? Those were mine. I did the same thing during the season, feeding plays to the Warriors." Alexander: "Amazing. Do you have any fun plays, with lots of running and passing. I love behind the back passing and... ohh pyrotechnics." D'Antoni: "Uhh of course Les! I have a few plays that use a hovercraft. Have you seen a pick and roll with the shooter using a hovercraft?" Alexander: "Jesus Christ, how do you not have a job?" D'Antoni: "I have been waiting to coach YOUR team Les. I think that we should meet again. Leave Daryl out of the loop, he is busy and you own the team, Daryl just works for you. Ohh and before I forget my brother Dan can do all of what Daryl does at a third the price." Alexander: "Genius. How fast can you get down to Florida, I like where this is headed." D'Antoni: "Uhh I am in your driveway, let me finish hosing off in your sprinklers and I will be right in."
i thought jordan did. he bought a new bus for the whitesox minor league team and rode it all the way until he came back and lost to the magic and did not make the finals, even though he had some of his best playoff numbers.
I know that may not seem like a big issue to you, but having spent a little time in the military where teamwork is stressed that seems a little odd to me. Nothing wrong with going to the gym early, but as the leader I'd at least expect him to call the guys up one by one and say, "Hey, if you can, join me at the gym. I'm going to get there early today." If they can't show up for whatever reason, then at least you've reached out. And maybe he did that. I don't know. But if he did, and the other players would rather ride together on the bus than meet their leader at the gym early then that says something else.
Was it a big issue with Jordan did it? What about Durant? Shaq? Ariza? Kobe? Jeff Teague? I don't think people realize how common it is. A number of players (especially high profile players) do not or have not taken the team bus on the road to the arena. There are many more players that didn't always take the team bus, those are just the ones that I am aware of that took cabs at various times and for various reasons.
A lot of players don't ride the bus because of their warm up routines or pregame treatment situations. It's definitely not a big deal.
