It’s been well over a decade since Kevin Durant played alongside James Harden and Russell Westbrook for the Oklahoma City Thunder, making the Thunder NBA championship contenders. Powered by the trio, OKC reached the Finals in 2012, where they faced a vastly more experienced and deadly Miami Heat, featuring LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
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Even though they lost, the 2012 Thunder impressed all. And the young team was expected to go on to achieve greatness in the future. It was a good dream to nourish for the Oklahoma fans as well.
Unfortunately, it all came crashing down that very offseason when Harden decided to move to the Houston Rockets following disagreements over his contract. All three of them went on to have stellar careers and became MVPs, too. But as Durant pointed out on the Netflix documentary, Starting 5, Harden’s move continues to haunt him on a deeply personal level.
What burns him still is that, once the news of Harden’s move to Houston became public, LeBron and D-Wade, who they had just lost to in the Finals, tweeted congratulating Harden.
“What pissed me off is Bron and D-Wade and so many dudes around the NBA sending tweets out: ‘Congrats to my bro, James. He [is[ going to Houston. He [is] gonna kill there,’” Durant said.
“I know Bron and them were so f****** happy [that] we weren’t together no more. We were on their a**… Y’all just scared. Y’all know we were on the way,” he asserted.
Harden went on to spend the next nine years of his career with the Rockets. He made All-NBA and All-Star teams in his debut season for them. Harden was also a regular in the MVP debates before bagging it in 2018. His ability to score was unparalleled, and the Rockets paid him handsomely for it.
Harden had signed a six-year, $228 million deal with Houston to start with. At the time, it was the richest in the NBA. He was so happy with the Rockets during those initial days that he even stated that he was going to play with them forever.
Of course, that wasn’t to be. Harden was forced out, and he joined the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, where he played with Durant once again. Unfortunately, they failed to recreate the OKC magic, and Harden was traded to the LA Clippers in 2023.
