“Fear of playing against Raptors had James Harden request a trade from Nets”: Sixers guard was concerned with Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status if they played in Toronto

James Harden was afraid of playing against the Raptors as a member of the Brooklyn Nets due to the vaccination status of Kyrie Irving. 

James Harden forced his way out of Houston to play alongside his former Thunder teammate, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to build an Eastern Conference powerhouse for years to come. Fast-forward 13 months later and Harden requested a trade away from the Brooklyn Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers due to several reasons. 

According to James, his first option when requesting a trade from the Rockets in 2021 was the Sixers. This is quite difficult to believe as he was pushing relatively hard to go play with KD and Kyrie at the time.

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Following the fallout between the Nets and James Harden. It also came out that him and Kevin Durant were having differing opinions on how to handle the offense. KD was pushing for more team oriented basketball while the 2018 MVP reportedly wanted to be the focal point of the offense. 

This clashes with other reports that claimed at the time that Harden was tired of having to carry the Nets during games where Durant was injured and Kyrie Irving was out due to the vaccine mandate in New York. 

James Harden left the Nets as he was concerned with playing the Raptors in the Playoffs. 

James Harden, according to Ian Begley, was afraid of playing the Toronto Raptors as a member of the Brooklyn Nets due to their strict vaccine mandate in Toronto. Of course, with Kyrie Irving being unvaccinated, they would be without him while playing away games during a series.

Also read: “James Harden, you said don’t feel no pressure? Man, you better think again!”: Charles Barkley warns The Beard about how it works with fans in Philadelphia

Unfortunately for him, the Sixers’ best defensive player, Matisse Thybulle, is also unvaccinated and so will miss all games played in Toronto during the current first round series between the Raps and the Sixers. 

This may not prove to be that much of a problem however as the Raptors are facing a slew of uncertainties on their team as of now. Everything from an illness with Gary Trent Jr to Scottie Barnes being ruled out for Game 2, it seems as though the Raptors may be in for a short series if multiple contributors are sidelined for them. 

James Harden had 22 points and 14 assists to one turnover in the Game 1 blowout victory over the Raptors two nights ago.