REAL Reason Harden wanted a trade: Brand/Popularity falling (OPINION)

art_tatum · Post #1 » by **art_tatum** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:21 pm

All that carrying the team and kyrie stuff are red herrings.

1. KD will be back soon, he knows it’s only temporary and KD is good enough by himself to satisfy any other star.

2. He as legit frictions with kyrie and his vax but nothing that’s serious. KD and kyrie friction are just side effects from his unhappiness with him not being mentioned as a top player/lack of all star voting.

As we’ve all seen in the reporting Harden didn’t want to formally request a trade bc of perceived negative reaction to him from fans and media. He CARES about his popularity.

Look at what happened in Brooklyn.
Year 1. Reserve all star for the first time ever.
year 2. Fully healthy yet still doesn’t get voted into the all star game as a starter.
In hardens mind he is a top 3 player if not the best player. Yet he doesn’t get voted as even a top 3 guard in the east!?!?! Then you have his guys and Morey feeding into his insecurity by saying how great he will be back in the mvp Convo and he will step out of KDs shadow yet again from okc and now the nets.

It’s no coincidence that we only started hearing grumbling from harden after all star voting results first started coming in. He is offended and thinks his brand is better off with Philly instead of with the nets. He wants to be talked about in the mvp convo with the rest of the best players like Giannis, and it wasn’t happening in Brooklyn.

BloodNinja · Post #2 » by **BloodNinja** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:23 pm

Harden is fat that's his problem

Coxy · Post #3 » by **Coxy** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:25 pm

Fans are so wise.

I think it's cause James loves the Philly Cheesesteak.

HeartBreakKid · Post #4 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:27 pm

dude relax, you'll get through this.

Karate Diop · Post #5 » by **Karate Diop** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:27 pm

Harden doesn't want to repeat what he had to do in Houston, he wants to coast the regular season and turn it on on the playoffs. If healthy he could have done that with the Nets, but because of injuries / COVID that wasn't possible and he didn't want to shoulder the same burden as he did for the Rockets... Not sure if that means Harden quit as I can somewhat sympathize with him, but that's what happened, take it as you will...

Johnny Bball · Post #6 » by **Johnny Bball** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:28 pm

Just no. It was mostly Irving. And it is serious, he's not a team player.

IAMZOOTED2 · Post #7 » by **IAMZOOTED2** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:28 pm

art_tatum wrote:All that carrying the team and kyrie stuff are red herrings.

1. KD will be back soon, he knows it’s only temporary and KD is good enough by himself to satisfy any other star.

2. He as legit frictions with kyrie and his vax but nothing that’s serious.

As we’ve all seen in the reporting Harden didn’t want to formally request a trade bc of perceived negative reaction to him from fans and media. He CARES about his popularity.

Look at what happened in Brooklyn.
Year 1. Reserve all star for the first time ever.
year 2. Fully healthy yet still doesn’t get voted into the all star game as a starter.
In hardens mind he is a top 3 player if not the best player. Yet he doesn’t get voted as even a top 3 guard in the east!?!?! Then you have his guys and Morey feeding into his insecurity by saying how great he will be as the main guy in Philly and he will step out of KDs shadow yet again from okc and now the nets.
Especially since he couldn’t win without KD.

It’s no coincidence that we only started hearing grumbling from harden after all star voting results first started coming in. He is offended and thinks his brand is better off with Philly instead of with the nets. He wants to be talked about in the mvp convo with the rest of the best players like Giannis, and it wasn’t happening in Brooklyn.

I think most people know Philly is Embiid's squad, so I don't think Jimmy fittna come in and completely take over.

KnicksGadfly · Post #8 » by **KnicksGadfly** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:28 pm

I dunno about Harden’s brand but damn, Kyrie’s brand is still really strong

Statlanta · Post #9 » by **Statlanta** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:30 pm

If only Harden was self-aware that his production is why his brand and popularity was falling not his association with his teammates.

His playstyle is barely watchable.

VancouverRaps · Post #10 » by **VancouverRaps** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:34 pm

Kyrie kept lecturing him about Big Sugar and fast food being in bed with the government

LivingLegend · Post #11 » by **LivingLegend** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:36 pm

Statlanta wrote:If only Harden was self-aware that his production is why his brand and popularity was falling not his association with his teammates.

His playstyle is barely watchable.

Or maybe because after 5 years fans are starting to see that him leading the league in FT attempts every year to average 30ppg is wwwwaaaaaaaaack. His whole style of basketball in wack. Foul baiting.....wack.

.....wack

baller16 · Post #12 » by **baller16** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:37 pm

Apperantly Harden and KD didn't get along wtf. Harden might be a headcase himslef

Around the same time, the Nets started losing games. Harden had seemed off all season — both during games and with his comments after them — and was growing frustrated with the situation in Brooklyn. He and Kevin Durant weren’t getting along. He disagreed with some of Steve Nash’s coaching decisions and, as a former Rockets staffer said, "With James, if you’re not 100 percent on his side, you’re his enemy."

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/james-harden-ben-simmons-deal-the-whole-story-behind-the-trade

NyKnicks1714 · Post #13 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:37 pm

Here's the REAL reason guys: *stuff I made up that makes no sense*

RussellandFlow · Post #14 » by **RussellandFlow** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:42 pm

I hate this time of the season now you are going to get folks(fans and phony insiders) claiming to have the real story and I bet the majority of these hit pieces will have no factual support. Can we please fast forward to late May: Warriors vs Suns WCF and Milwaukee vs Miami, Philly or Brooklyn in the ECF.

art_tatum · Post #15 » by **art_tatum** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:47 pm

Coxy wrote:Fans are so wise.

I think it's cause James loves the Philly Cheesesteak.

Nba is a business and hardens brand isn’t where he wants it - not even voted all star starter. so he left because he wasn’t happy. Very straightforward. Friction with kyrie and KD are just side effects

BallerTalk · Post #16 » by **BallerTalk** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:52 pm

Damn, already Brooklyn fans???

Hipster Doofus · Post #17 » by **Hipster Doofus** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:52 pm

philly women got them thick thighz ... harden is coming for some chicken wingz ... hide yo kids and wives!

DroseReturnChi · Post #18 » by **DroseReturnChi** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:55 pm

harden was desperate to win a ring and he was pissed kd and kyrie were lazy and not going 110%.
he will meet his demise in philly with injury prone embiid.

Lunartic · Post #19 » by **Lunartic** » Fri Feb 11, 2022 12:52 am

I like when two players I don't like are on the same team, saves me time because I don't need to hate-watch multiple games at once

Peregrine01 · Post #20 » by **Peregrine01** » Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:06 am

art_tatum wrote:All that carrying the team and kyrie stuff are red herrings.

1. KD will be back soon, he knows it’s only temporary and KD is good enough by himself to satisfy any other star.

2. He as legit frictions with kyrie and his vax but nothing that’s serious. KD and kyrie friction are just side effects from his unhappiness with him not being mentioned as a top player/lack of all star voting.

As we’ve all seen in the reporting Harden didn’t want to formally request a trade bc of perceived negative reaction to him from fans and media. He CARES about his popularity.

Look at what happened in Brooklyn.
Year 1. Reserve all star for the first time ever.
year 2. Fully healthy yet still doesn’t get voted into the all star game as a starter.
In hardens mind he is a top 3 player if not the best player. Yet he doesn’t get voted as even a top 3 guard in the east!?!?! Then you have his guys and Morey feeding into his insecurity by saying how great he will be back in the mvp Convo and he will step out of KDs shadow yet again from okc and now the nets.

It’s no coincidence that we only started hearing grumbling from harden after all star voting results first started coming in. He is offended and thinks his brand is better off with Philly instead of with the nets. He wants to be talked about in the mvp convo with the rest of the best players like Giannis, and it wasn’t happening in Brooklyn.

I think you're quite accurate. Dude was used to dominating the ball and putting up 2k type box score numbers as the lead guy on the Rockets and now he's being thought of as a has-been that's just a cog in the wheel. Plus the Nets don't have a fanbase.