For a player as good as James Harden to retire without winning an NBA championship would be a tragedy but it’s not like he wasn’t part of some elite teams. Now at the Clippers, prime Harden had a chance to win at the Rockets, and also at the Oklahoma City Thunder and more recently the Brooklyn Nets.
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The Nets in particular featured arguably the best on-paper trio at the time (2020-2022) in Kevin Durant, Harden, and Kyrie Irving. They were expected to steamroll the Eastern Conference and win the whole thing with ease. Sadly, it remained a dream.
There were injury issues, Irving’s COVID exile, and overall problems with Chemistry that made it difficult for Harden’s Nets to succeed. The best they did was reach the Conference Semis in 2021. After that, the team broke and Harden left for Philadelphia a year later.
So, is it NBA’s biggest “what if trio” ever? Had they all been fit and healthy, would they really have dominated the NBA as many thought they would? Harden, in 2026, doesn’t want to waste his time thinking about it and that’s because he’s been part of multiple “what ifs” before.
“You’ve got that. My whole career… you’ve got two what if situations. OKC, Chris Paul and his hamstring. I don’t even think about that. I’m living in the moment,” Harden stated in a recent interview clip shared on X.
James Harden on whether the Brooklyn Nets trio of him with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving is the greatest “what if”
“You’ve got that. My whole career — you’ve got two what if situations. OKC, Chris Paul and his hamstring. I don’t even think about that. I’m living in the moment.” pic.twitter.com/J46c9UIP38
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) January 10, 2026
Harden’s frustration is understandable. It was not just the Nets that broke his heart. In Oklahoma City, a young Harden could have won an NBA championship alongside Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Later, the Golden State Warriors from 2014 to 2016 were simply too good.
Then came Harden’s time with the Rockets. In 2018, they nearly got the better of the Warriors, who by then had added Durant. However, an injury to Chris Paul’s hamstring when Houston were up 3–2 proved costly, and Golden State ultimately won the series 4–3.
Harden is now playing with the Clippers, who have a solid but aging roster on paper. A championship appears distant, which is why Harden is not actively focused on it. Still, if everything falls into place, he can never be completely ruled out.
