James Harden isn't surprised Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving wanted out of Brooklyn, having tired quickly of the “dysfunction” he saw in his brief time with the Nets.
Harden was acquired from Houston in January 2021 and the Nets quickly became a championship favorite with their potent lineup. But they lost in the second round of those playoffs after both Irving and Harden were injured against Milwaukee, then struggled to get off the ground in 2021-22 after Irving refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus so he could be eligible to play in all their games.
After Durant sprained his knee in January 2022, the Big Three was often down to just one and Harden's effort and interest seemed to wane while forced to carry a team that had to play unproven players around him. He told the organization he wanted to leave and the Nets sent him to the 76ers in a package for Ben Simmons.
Harden wouldn't say if the Nets' problems — or his frustrations — started with the difficulty in being able to count on Irving. “I mean, that’s not something that I’m going to answer," Harden said."But the reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, which was leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there, was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie. And with that being said, that didn’t happen as much as I would like to or probably the organization wanted to.
“There’s a lot of possibilities of what could’ve happened, but it’s part of life,” Harden said. “Move on, and I’m sure everybody’s in a better place, a good place.”
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