The Houston Rockets traded James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets this week for a king’s ransom of talent and draft picks.
While it remains to be seen how successful Harden will ultimately be alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (especially given the latter’s most recent tamper tantrum), on paper at least, the trio looks formidable.
On Wednesday, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry appeared on 95.7 The Game and spoke with Tim Roye about the move.
Needless to say, he was pretty stunned by the sheer magnitude of it.
“It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “I mean, I know, this league, nothing should surprise you. There’s been a lot of blockbuster trades the last four, five, six years. But it’s just crazy to know that when it actually happens, you kinda just see the landscape of the league shift, immediately.”
Curry also pointed to the success Durant had when surrounded by talent on the Warriors, suggesting it could be a preview of things to come.
“And obviously KD being out here with the team that we had and now with Kyrie and James. It’s going to be pretty interesting to watch that come together.”
Who could’ve predicted that having a threesome with your brother could end so poorly. https://t.co/wifkDzyL6x
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 14, 2021
Curry’s take on Harden departing the Western Conference is all the more interesting simply because he is a big reason for why the trade even happened. Harden’s Rockets repeatedly ran into Curry’s Warriors and simply could not overcome them. Frustration from that, coupled with other things, boiled over for Harden – leading to his messy exit from Houston.
A few months back, a secretly recorded audio went viral that showed Curry talking about Harden’s frustrations with the Rockets. It was fascinating to listen to, because it really put in plain terms what the difference was between Harden’s squad and Curry’s squad.
It will be interesting to see if Harden ultimately feels like being on the Nets fixes what ailed him with the Rockets. If not, then maybe he’ll realize the overarching problem the entire time wasn’t his team – it was him.
Related: Danny Ainge Explains Why Celtics Didn’t Want James Harden
Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
