MY ACCOUNT
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant was relieved to come through the “noise” surrounding James Harden after his blockbuster trade to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers signed up Harden and Paul Millsap this week from the Nets, sending Seth Curry, reserve center Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons and two first-round picks the other way.
Harden had last January forced his way out of the Houston Rockets to move to Brooklyn and team up with Durant and Kyrie Irving, but the Nets’ ‘Big Three’ played just 365 minutes together across 16 games in the regular season and playoffs.
Although the Nets went 13-3 in that time, Harden and Irving were each absent for three games of the seven-game series against eventual champions the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2020-21 postseason.
Injury problems have persisted this season, while Irving has missed 10 games due to not having had the COVID-19 vaccination, and the Nets were on a 10-game skid when the Harden trade went through.
Durant insists Harden does not owe an explanation after growing “unhappy” in Brooklyn.
“James doesn’t have to explain anything to anybody,” he said before Saturday’s 115-111 loss to the Miami Heat. “He’s his own man. He makes his decisions on his career by himself. He doesn’t owe anybody an explanation, and I wasn’t looking for one.
“I’m just glad that we got this thing done and now we’re able to move forward and get some of this noise away, and I’m sure he would feel the same way. But from around our team and around our group, there’s noise about what may happen. So I’m glad we can push through that.
“I think once a person gets to that decision of ‘I’m unhappy,’ I think he’s gone through a lot of steps to get there. So, no matter what I say or try to convince someone – I’m not saying I did this, but this is just my theory on this – no matter what I say or do to try to convince someone to change their mood from being unhappy to happy, I think that’s when I’m pretty late to the party.
“He’s made his decision. I’m sure people make their decision before they get to that mode of being unhappy. I didn’t have any conversations with James up until then. I thought everything was solid. I don’t do any convincing. I’m sure you make those choices and decisions on your own as an individual. Me as a friend, I just have to accept it.”
Harden saw his new team move to 34-22 with an impressive 103-93 defeat of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Joel Embiid continued his MVP form with a triple-double, making a minimum of 25 points for the 31st game in a row, and he believes Harden’s arrival will only help him perform better.
“He’s going to make the game easy for all of us, especially me,” said Embiid. “I don’t get a lot of easy shots. I have to work for most of them. I hope he’s going to make my game easier.”
