James Harden admitted Tuesday that when he essentially pushed himself out of Houston early last season, his first choice was to join the Philadelphia 76ers to join Joel Embiid and his former general manager Daryl Morey. All of this might have been something Kevin Durant might have embraced all along.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, Durant was frustrated with Harden this season because of his conditioning and an apparent lack of commitment to the Brooklyn Nets.
A source told Fischer that Durant and Harden had a “cold war” this season that made everyone “miserable.”
Durant reportedly hoped Harden would get engaged again. But according to Fischer, after reports surfaced that Harden wanted a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, Harden reportedly eventually told the Nets he wanted out, and Durant gave the green light to go ahead with the trade.
Fischer quoted a source as saying: “Kevin pulled the trigger with that. Kevin’s the one who said, ‘Make this deal.'”
It was an unfortunate ending to what could have been. Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving only played 16 games together.
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