Brooklyn Nets star James Harden addresses the reports that he’s frustrated and wants out of Brooklyn: “If you don’t hear from me, then it’s reports.”
James Harden is frustrated by the Nets, but not in the way recent reports have indicated.
After the Nets lost to the Lakers 106-96, a reporter asked Harden about one of the claims from a recent Bleacher Report article.
“Nets coach Steve Nash’s fluid rotations have also disappointed Harden,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer. “Nash has favored hot-hand closing lineups, rather than a fixed crunch-time unit.”
“Of course I’m frustrated because we’re not healthy. It’s a lot of inconsistency for whatever reason – injuries, COVID, whatever you want to call it…I don’t know reports,” Harden responded. “If you don’t hear from me, then it’s reports. I’m frustrated because I want to win.”
James Harden addresses reports that he’s frustrated in Brooklyn
As Harden himself confirms, there are reasons to be frustrated in Brooklyn, but he delineates that it has to do with roster depletion rather than roster configuration.
In that Lakers game, Harden was the only one out of that star three that initially came to the Nets together: Kyrie Irving is out during home games, and Kevin Durant is out with an MCL sprain in his left knee. While Nic Claxton showed up and battled through a hamstring injury, Paul Millsap, Joe Harris and David Duke Jr. were all out, and Blake Griffin did not play. Without two of their stars, any dent into roster depth takes a toll on the Nets and their scoring abilities.
Harden carried the team with 33 points, with Patty Mills behind him at a distant second with 15 points.
The way the Nets season has gone, especially with the unexpected absence of Kyrie, it’s not difficult to posit that this is definitely not what James Harden signed up for when he joined the team. According to Harden, it’s more about misfortune than Nash’s coaching decisions, but that may not matter if Harden begins to contemplate a team better suited for his abilities.