According to reports, former Nets guard James Harden believed Kevin Durant was self-righteous for thinking he was out of shape.
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Despite the two former MVPs denying these reports, the relationship between Kevin Durant and James Harden has strained post the latter forcing himself out of Brooklyn. Both KD and Harden played for two different franchises as teammates, the first being the OKC Thunder, followed by the Nets.
Their reunion in Brooklyn had everyone gunning for them as champions, having assembled an offensive powerhouse with Kyrie Irving. Thus the Nets were immediate favorites to win the title, having a supremely skilled Big 3.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan, with controversies, injuries, and COVID protocols plaguing the team. In their one-and-a-half-season together, the Big 3 played a mere sixteen games together, robbing us of the opportunity to witness basketball brilliance.
While many felt Irving’s anti-vaccination stance served as the last nail in the coffin, reports of an alleged rift between Durant and Harden have been doing the rounds off-late.
Kevin Durant had expressed his dismay over James Harden being out of shape.
There have been a lot of murmurs regarding Harden’s fitness over the past two years. It began with the former MVP shocking everyone with his first appearance post the 2020 Orlando Bubble. The Beard had packed on several pounds and looked out of shape.
In what many believe, it was Harden’s way of protesting for wanting out of Houston. Ultimately, Harden had his way, landing up alongside Durant and Irving in Brooklyn. However, The Beard’s fitness woes followed him, with KD expressing his disapproval.
“Sources say that much of the discontent between Harden and the Nets started in September when he arrived into training camp out of shape,” Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN reported. “Durant had been understanding of Harden’s predicament in Houston as a man in need of new scenery, but also tacitly expected his former teammate to commit himself to conditioning and self-care when he came seeking a title in Brooklyn, according to a source close to both stars. With (Kyrie) Irving’s status already in flux due to his unwillingness to get vaccinated, Durant was astonished in the opening weeks of the season at Harden’s lack of explosiveness and sluggish play, something he attributed in large part to Harden’s being out of shape, as he did the ensuing hamstring issues.”
The report further stated,
“Harden, sources say, found Durant’s slant grating and self-righteous. The two never resolved the conflict, and there was little that teammates, coach Steve Nash or (Sean) Marks could do to mediate it. With each passing week, Harden became more isolated, with staff and teammates increasingly frustrated by the static. The Nets ultimately excised him from the locker room in a blockbuster trade deadline deal with Philadelphia for Ben Simmons.”
In what it seems, Durant had more issues with an unfit Harden over an absent Irving. Nevertheless, the notion that Harden has slowed down and lacks explosiveness isn’t entirely false. Currently playing for the Sixers, Harden doesn’t look a shadow of the scoring beast he was in Houston.
With Ben Simmons and James Harden swapping teams, one is anticipating a matchup between the Sixers and Nets in the playoffs.
