The MSB Should love this story about James Harden

quote:

---

THE HOUSTON ROCKETS' culture in the James Harden era, which bridges two owners and now four head coaches, might be best summed up by a former staffer's three words:

---

quote:

---

"Whatever James wants."

---

quote:

---

Unless they were on the front end of a back-to-back set, it was essentially a sure thing that the Rockets stayed overnight -- or even an extra day -- after games in Los Angeles, Phoenix and other road cities that rank among Harden's favorite stops.

If the Rockets had two or three days between games, it was a good bet Harden would call for an off day and charter a private jet to party in Las Vegas or another city. He always gets an excused absence from the first practice after the All-Star break for the same reason.
"Just James being James," those currently within the franchise say. But these circumstances are drastically different than at any previous point of the perennial All-Star's eight-year Houston tenure.

Harden has pushed the Rockets to upgrade every offseason, saying he would want to be traded if they couldn't contend, sources said. And he had final say on things beyond just travel and practice schedules as well. He could call the shots on personnel moves, both on the roster and the coaching staff, a power he flexed to push for the firing of head coach Kevin McHale and departures of co-stars Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, sources said.

---

quote:

---

And the Rockets considered it good business to do what Harden wanted to keep a historically elite player happy. But when Harden tried to rush the Rockets to trade him in recent weeks despite the lack of an offer that they considered fair value, it wasn't the annual ultimatum for improvement. It was something more.

By leaving the Rockets twisting in the wind while camp opened with little communication, Harden made his absence the focus of rookie head coach Stephen Silas' first days of practice. And by blowing off the NBA's COVID-19 protocols, partying maskless during the pandemic and boasting about it on Instagram, Harden revealed what could come if he doesn't get his way.

"Yeah, he's going to act up," a former Rockets staffer said.

---

quote:

---

"He's never heard 'no' before."

---

quote:

---

MULTIPLE ROCKETS OFFICIALS acknowledge that the entire organization has been "complicit" in the culture that has been created over the past eight years.

"We knew who the boss of the organization was," a former Rockets assistant coach said. "That's just part of what the deal was when you go to Houston. The players, coaches, GM, owner all know.

"I don't blame James. I blame the organization. It's not his fault. He did what they allowed him to do."

Yet there is not a consensus among current and former Rockets officials and staffers that empowering Harden to such extremes was the wrong path. The Rockets were trending toward NBA irrelevancy before Harden's arrival in Houston, missing the playoffs each of the previous three seasons.

---

quote:

---

"If they have multiple days off, everybody knows: James is going to fly somewhere else and party," a member of last season's coaching staff said. "But he's going to come back and have a 50-point triple-double, so they're OK with it."

---

quote:

---

But the lack of discipline and attention to detail hasn't been OK with Paul and Russell Westbrook, ultimately leading to breakups between Harden and those two stars.

The peak of the franchise's Harden era came during Paul's first season in Houston, when the Rockets had a league-best 65 wins during the regular season and built a 3-2 lead over the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals. But the Rockets lost the last two games of that series with Paul sidelined -- "a hamstring away" is a phrase that will forever haunt Houston fans -- and the chemistry between the ball-dominant co-stars blew up the following season.

One of Paul's biggest beefs, sources said, was that Harden basically opted not to participate in the Rockets' offense when the ball wasn't in his hands, sometimes barely stepping over half court while spectating when Paul had the ball. Harden quickly tired of Paul barking about his concerns, which included lobbying coach Mike D'Antoni to implement more structure and movement in an offensive system that revolved around Harden's isolations, sources said.

---

quote:

---

Rockets management believed those issues could be ironed out and wanted to run it back with the Harden-Paul duo last season. Those plans changed as soon as Westbrook became available.

Harden insisted the Rockets get the deal done, saying he'd demand a trade if they didn't find a way to bring his childhood friend and former OKC teammate to Houston, sources said. The Rockets paid a price that was considered steep at the time -- Paul, 2024 and 2026 first-round picks, and swap rights in 2021 and 2025.

Sources said Westbrook frequently expressed his displeasure during the season with not being able to "play my game," as he put it. There were questions about the Harden-Westbrook fit when they were pushing to play together again, including D'Antoni privately expressing his concerns, sources said.

---