In recent weeks, some not-so-flattering reports have surfaced about the off-court conduct of James Harden while he was with the Houston Rockets.
According to former NBA center Kendrick Perkins, Harden’s partying led to Russell Westbrook demanding a trade.
“This is why Russ wanted to bounce,” Perkins said on the Posecast with James Posey. “The Rockets didn’t want to trade Russ, he requested a trade because of all the things that was transpiring last year. Say they would play on a Saturday, and they wouldn’t play again…until Thursday, James probably heading to Cabo on Tilman Fertitta’s private jet. And Russ like, ‘Hold on I ain’t come here for all this s—. … I ain’t with all this partying.'”
Westbrook’s trade request came around the same time Harden himself demanded to be dealt. Westbrook was dealt to the Washington Wizards in return for former All-Star guard John Wall in early December.
Perhaps Harden’s most publicized incident off the court was his visit to a strip club, which led to an NBA investigation to see whether he violated the league’s COVID-19 safety protocols.
Because of Harden’s antics, Perkins recently said that GMs around the NBA were “scared of trading for” the 2018 regular season MVP.
In the end, of course, the Brooklyn Nets had no fear of him, as they jettisoned a few of their most promising complementary players to acquire the three-time scoring champ.
It remains to be seen if Harden will be a more upstanding citizen now that he has Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on his side.
