“James Harden continued his late-night social habits”: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reveals insights about the former Nets star’s attitude as the trade deadline approached

Brooklyn Nets’ worst slump of the season has more to do with James Harden than just his willingness to get traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s finally over. The Ben Simmons saga has come to an end, and so did James Harden’s drama with the Brooklyn Nets. James one wasn’t as long and frustrating as the former but did enough to send his team on their worst slump of the season.

The Nets were on a 9-game losing streak as they faced the Washington Wizards on Thursday after they were done with the highest stake trade for this season. The streak continued as Kyrie Irving and Co failed to close out on the Wizards and lost the game 113-112.

The losses technically started off after Kevin Durant’s injury in mid-January when they started playing the teams from the West. It most certainly had to do something with Irving’s absence for the few home games and also Harden’s uncertainty regarding his future.

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James Harden ended his stay in Brooklyn very much as he did it in Houston

The Nets looked like they could handle KD’s absence with their superstar duo, as they had 9 out of their next 11 games outside New York, meaning Kyrie could play all 9 of them.

They started at it decently well, with a close loss against the Cavaliers and then a 1-point victory over the Wizards. But as soon as they started playing the teams from the West, they never looked like a team who were top-2 in the East for most of the season.

As Harden moved on from yet another team in a pretty similar fashion he did it in Houston, stories have developed that it wasn’t just his trade rumors that were impacting his last team’s worst slump.

“[James Harden] continued his late-night social habits, especially on the Nets’ last Western Conference trip this month”😬

– ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne pic.twitter.com/VZp927jvJ1

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) February 11, 2022

In those 9 games against the Western teams, of which Brooklyn lost 8, “the Beard” showed up in only 5-games, struggling with his “hamstring injury”.

In those 5 games, he was pretty much close to his season averages but also had a 13-point game a 4-point game which could have been his way of showing that he is finally over this team as well.

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Those wild parties must stop in Philly as the fans here are some of the wildest in the league. They’ll let him know of their displeasure in every moment of his life if he fails to give his total commitment to the team.

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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