NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

6 hours ago, d2o said:

Exactly!!!   That fucker flat QUIT in HOU.   His whole plan was to go to BKN and win an "easy" ring with KD and Kyrie then go to PHI since Fertita refused to trade him PHI.

Quit on what exactly? He wasn't going to win a ring with Westbrook and Eric Gordon as the #2/3 options. They weren't built to compete for championships, that's a fair statement, but probably has a lot to do with Tillman taking over and Morey leaving. He wanted to compete, so he asked to be traded to his buddy's team. The Rockets got a butt load of picks for him, which is going to be more useful than a few years of Harden getting them to the play-in games. 

[d2o 1,602]

33 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Quit on what exactly? He wasn't going to win a ring with Westbrook and Eric Gordon as the #2/3 options. They weren't built to compete for championships, that's a fair statement, but probably has a lot to do with Tillman taking over and Morey leaving. He wanted to compete, so he asked to be traded to his buddy's team. The Rockets got a butt load of picks for him, which is going to be more useful than a few years of Harden getting them to the play-in games. 

I hate the "wasnt going to win  ring" stuff.    So many people use that to justify all types of crap.   Just because you dont have a roster to win a title doesnt mean you stop playing.   Especially at the beginning of the season.   Anything can happen.     The last couple weeks before the trade he quit on his team.    He was pretty clearly going through the motions and was visibly out of shape.     The same thing he did in BKN before the trade to PHI.

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

6 minutes ago, d2o said:

I hate the "wasnt going to win  ring" stuff.    So many people use that to justify all types of crap.   Just because you dont have a roster to win a title doesnt mean you stop playing.   Especially at the beginning of the season.   Anything can happen.     The last couple weeks before the trade he quit on his team.    He was pretty clearly going through the motions and was visibly out of shape.     The same thing he did in BKN before the trade to PHI.

I would imagine a lot of that has to do with Morey leaving immediately after the bubble playoffs. Him and Harden are close, and I would bet Daryl told him all about what was going on behind the scenes with Tillman. It's really uncommon for a GM to bail on a club in year 2 of a 5 year deal, and I think that's telling of how the whole front office situation was going. Most Rocket fans know Tillman is cheap and not a real basketball guy, I think that's apparent to us fans, so it must be painfully obvious for those in the organization. I can't fault Harden for wanting to go elsewhere, it's just a shame Kyrie was already in Brooklyn, or else KD/Harden on the Nets might have won a championship last year. 

[threesheets 1,677]

On 2/8/2023 at 9:22 AM, SilasCoade said:

Fun to watch but awful to look at. They have the biggest collection of carnie looking people in the league. I don't know if they looked like that before they got to OKC or if that's just what OK does to you.

That's funny.  My son and I were in OKC for a tournament over the weekend and staying next door to Paycom.  They have these six foot headshots of all the players around the outside of the arena, and as he and I were walking around over there I couldn't help myself and said "god damn the Thunder are some ugly motherfuckers."  He cackled.

[Brothahorn 10,087]

I'll never understand the Morey hype. His type of ball and players is not championship caliber. It only gets you so far. That's why it was winning championships before Tillman, either. Philly won't win shit with the Dork and the Trick in town.

And the Rockets were very accommodating to Harden with regards to who he wanted to play with, down to his travel arrangements.

And he absolutely quit on Houston to go play sidekick. Then he quit on BK, because it's never his fault.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,823]

That wolves Mavs ending was insane.

[Message Board User 12,396]

2 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

That wolves Mavs ending was insane.

 

[d2o 1,602]

10 hours ago, Message Board User said:

 

Tremendous defense on that final possession.

[Francisco 2.0 32,432]

 

 

 

[closetohumping 17,482]

11 hours ago, Message Board User said:

 

Hmm, maybe both of them were an assist away from a triple double?

[Brothahorn 10,087]

Tremendous defense on that final possession.

Nice to see

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

17 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

I'll never understand the Morey hype. His type of ball and players is not championship caliber. It only gets you so far. That's why it was winning championships before Tillman, either. Philly won't win shit with the Dork and the Trick in town.

And the Rockets were very accommodating to Harden with regards to who he wanted to play with, down to his travel arrangements.

And he absolutely quit on Houston to go play sidekick. Then he quit on BK, because it's never his fault.


 

If KD never takes a huge paycut to go to the Warriors, I believe the Rockets beat the W's in the WCF and go on to win that 2018 championship against a subpar Cavs team.  They might have even been back in the Finals in 2019 if things ended well in 2018. I don't think CP3 gets traded if they win that ring, Westbrook never comes to Houston, draft picks aren't sent to OKC, and the team runs its course for another few years. Alternate reality and all, but that was absolutely a championship worthy team. 

And as far as the Nets bullshit goes, everything wrong with that team begins and ends with Kyrie being a weirdo dumbass. The dude bailed on the Cavs after winning a ring because he felt LEBRON FUCKING JAMES was getting too much of the credit for their win. The guy is not right in the head, and he's been a toxic personality and locker-room cancer at every team he's been with. I don't blame Harden one bit for wanting out of Brooklyn after seeing 1/3 of their Big 3 wouldn't be able to play for the foreseeable future due to vaccine restrictions. He saw that ship was sinking and bailed. Now all 3 of them are on different teams, and that's not Harden's fault. Teams have consistently soured on Kyrie everywhere he goes, that's a consistent trend that I'm sure Mavs fans will learn about in the near future. 

[Francisco 2.0 32,432]

31 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

And as far as the Nets bullshit goes, everything wrong with that team begins and ends with Kyrie being a weirdo dumbass. The dude bailed on the Cavs after winning a ring because he felt LEBRON FUCKING JAMES was getting too much of the credit for their win. The guy is not right in the head, and he's been a toxic personality and locker-room cancer at every team he's been with. I don't blame Harden one bit for wanting out of Brooklyn after seeing 1/3 of their Big 3 wouldn't be able to play for the foreseeable future due to vaccine restrictions. He saw that ship was sinking and bailed. Now all 3 of them are on different teams, and that's not Harden's fault. Teams have consistently soured on Kyrie everywhere he goes, that's a consistent trend that I'm sure Mavs fans will learn about in the near future. 

 

Speaking of Kyrie.  Figured he might wait until next season, be on his best behavior, whatever but here we go:

 

 

 

[d2o 1,602]

45 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

If KD never takes a huge paycut to go to the Warriors, I believe the Rockets beat the W's in the WCF and go on to win that 2018 championship against a subpar Cavs team.  They might have even been back in the Finals in 2019 if things ended well in 2018. I don't think CP3 gets traded if they win that ring, Westbrook never comes to Houston, draft picks aren't sent to OKC, and the team runs its course for another few years. Alternate reality and all, but that was absolutely a championship worthy team. 

And as far as the Nets bullshit goes, everything wrong with that team begins and ends with Kyrie being a weirdo dumbass. The dude bailed on the Cavs after winning a ring because he felt LEBRON FUCKING JAMES was getting too much of the credit for their win. The guy is not right in the head, and he's been a toxic personality and locker-room cancer at every team he's been with. I don't blame Harden one bit for wanting out of Brooklyn after seeing 1/3 of their Big 3 wouldn't be able to play for the foreseeable future due to vaccine restrictions. He saw that ship was sinking and bailed. Now all 3 of them are on different teams, and that's not Harden's fault. Teams have consistently soured on Kyrie everywhere he goes, that's a consistent trend that I'm sure Mavs fans will learn about in the near future. 

Its actually more that KD willfully chose to hitch himself to Kyrie.    He had to know at least some of the crazy he was getting into with him and he still chose to do it.      Kyrie had already burned two different teams by this time so it wasnt like KD was blindsided.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,594]

1 minute ago, d2o said:

Its actually more that KD willfully chose to hitch himself to Kyrie.    He had to know at least some of the crazy he was getting into with him and he still chose to do it.      Kyrie had already burned two different teams by this time so it wasnt like KD was blindsided.

And the Mavericks/Cuban had even more evidence and still willfully hitched themselves to him. I'm so excited for them to max him out this off season. 

[CurlyDumps 4,485]

46 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Speaking of Kyrie.  Figured he might wait until next season, be on his best behavior, whatever but here we go:

 

 

 

lol. Just another pilled moron/conspiracy theorist who thinks he's been enlightened with information that makes him super smart and special.

Edited February 14, 2023 by CurlyDumps

[d2o 1,602]

27 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

And the Mavericks/Cuban had even more evidence and still willfully hitched themselves to him. I'm so excited for them to max him out this off season. 

True.   Cuban has fucked around.   Now he will find out.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

20 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

I would imagine a lot of that has to do with Morey leaving immediately after the bubble playoffs. Him and Harden are close, and I would bet Daryl told him all about what was going on behind the scenes with Tillman. It's really uncommon for a GM to bail on a club in year 2 of a 5 year deal, and I think that's telling of how the whole front office situation was going. Most Rocket fans know Tillman is cheap and not a real basketball guy, I think that's apparent to us fans, so it must be painfully obvious for those in the organization. I can't fault Harden for wanting to go elsewhere, it's just a shame Kyrie was already in Brooklyn, or else KD/Harden on the Nets might have won a championship last year. 

This is the funny thing about Harden and Houston-

He basically catches no crap from Rockets fans and only from people outside that fandom b/c we all know exactly what a clown Fertita was, we all know it made all the sense in the world for him to eject at that time (good for him), we all know it helped the team for him to eject win he did (bigly- we have a future now and did a full on tear down like we needed to instead of being Portland and being play in fodder with one star) , and we all know that it was necessary for him to act like a jackass in order to make all of the above happen. Most fanbases feel like San Antonio does about Leonard or OKC with KD when their guy leaves- we all were giving Harden the thumbs up and his first trip back he got way more cheers than anything else.  But nobody listens to Rocket fans about this even though we lived through it. It's really odd. 

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

30 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

And the Mavericks/Cuban had even more evidence and still willfully hitched themselves to him. I'm so excited for them to max him out this off season. 

Meanwhile Jalen Brunson, the guy they said wasn't worth 20-25m a year, just scored 40 points last night against the Nets. He's shooting 41% from 3 this year, and appears to be getting better as the season goes on. What a huge wiff by the Mavs for not extending him when they had the chance...

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

3 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Meanwhile Jalen Brunson, the guy they said wasn't worth 20-25m a year, just scored 40 points last night against the Nets. He's shooting 41% from 3 this year, and appears to be getting better as the season goes on. What a huge wiff by the Mavs for not extending him when they had the chance...

IT's even worse than that- wasn't he good for like 4/65 or something really light?

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

IT's even worse than that- wasn't he good for like 4/65 or something really light?

I guess he ended up signing for slightly more: Brunson Signed a 4 year $104 million contract with New York (NYK) - includes 2025-26 Player Option

That's not so bad, but the Mavs thought he was just a role player and didn't want to go above 20m per year, as I recall. He's playing like an Allstar now, which is funny, because that's exactly what the Mavs said they were lacking to pair with Luka.

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Speaking of Kyrie.  Figured he might wait until next season, be on his best behavior, whatever but here we go:

 

 

 

One of the first replies to that tweet lol:

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

2 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

I guess he ended up signing for slightly more: Brunson Signed a 4 year $104 million contract with New York (NYK) - includes 2025-26 Player Option

That's not so bad, but the Mavs thought he was just a role player and didn't want to go above 20m per year, as I recall. He's playing like an Allstar now, which is funny, because that's exactly what the Mavs said they were lacking to pair with Luka.

Last January he offered to sign a 4/65 I want to say with them and they said- nah- we are good.  Maybe it was November of 21.  

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

Josh Hart was traded to the Knicks last week and is making an impact. I'm not a Knicks fan, but I love this kind of fight in a defender.

Josh Hart in his 2nd game as a Knick: 27 points 5 rebounds 2 assists 1 steal 71/67/75 splits 85.7% TS

 

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,594]

7 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

This is the funny thing about Harden and Houston-

He basically catches no crap from Rockets fans and only from people outside that fandom b/c we all know exactly what a clown Fertita was, we all know it made all the sense in the world for him to eject at that time (good for him), we all know it helped the team for him to eject win he did (bigly- we have a future now and did a full on tear down like we needed to instead of being Portland and being play in fodder with one star) , and we all know that it was necessary for him to act like a jackass in order to make all of the above happen. Most fanbases feel like San Antonio does about Leonard or OKC with KD when their guy leaves- we all were giving Harden the thumbs up and his first trip back he got way more cheers than anything else.  But nobody listens to Rocket fans about this even though we lived through it. It's really odd. 

I guess you can say it worked out for Houston. They've won about 50 games in three years since they traded him and their young players haven't really developed worth a shit. The organization still looks like a shit show and Fertita isn't any less of a clown than he was then. But hey, they do have a ton of picks coming their way and at least they have a plan and a direction. I don't have any faith in their braintrust to actually execute on it, but Sam Hinkie probably jacks off to their list of future assets every night. It's a numbers game, I guess, and the numbers definitely are in their favor.

Still, there's some major revisionist history going on regarding Harden. I mean, he was the one who chased off Chris Paul and pushed for the Westbrook trade. He had as much to do with them becoming a one star playoff fodder franchise as anybody. Let's not act like he was just some innocent bystander in all of this. I don't want to rehash this with you for the twentieth time, so we're just going to have to agree to disagree about it. 

[closetohumping 17,482]

29 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

I guess he ended up signing for slightly more: Brunson Signed a 4 year $104 million contract with New York (NYK) - includes 2025-26 Player Option

That's not so bad, but the Mavs thought he was just a role player and didn't want to go above 20m per year, as I recall. He's playing like an Allstar now, which is funny, because that's exactly what the Mavs said they were lacking to pair with Luka.

He was going to the Knicks regardless right?  Or did he give Dallas a chance to match 

[aggie08 21,558]

31 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

This is the funny thing about Harden and Houston-

He basically catches no crap from Rockets fans and only from people outside that fandom b/c we all know exactly what a clown Fertita was

Chris Paul and many others played under Donald Sterling for years, but they still managed to be fucking professionals about it.

Harden got literally everything that he ever wanted from Houston, including personal travel arrangements based around his favorite strip clubs. He received the most money possible at the earliest opportunity for extension after extension.

Chased off Howard, chased off Paul. Forced the terrible Westbrook trade that put the franchise in a huge hole. A trio of 2-11 performances in elimination games (the 11 is far more damning than the 2).

Then, when he decides that it's best to part ways (understandable), he flat out quits on them, rather than showing up in shape and balling out to maintain his trade value. Is it as bad as Kawhi? No. But it ain't great.

You guys have some weird Stockholm Syndrome going on with this dude.

[d2o 1,602]

40 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Chris Paul and many others played under Donald Sterling for years, but they still managed to be fucking professionals about it.

Harden got literally everything that he ever wanted from Houston, including personal travel arrangements based around his favorite strip clubs. He received the most money possible at the earliest opportunity for extension after extension.

Chased off Howard, chased off Paul. Forced the terrible Westbrook trade that put the franchise in a huge hole. A trio of 2-11 performances in elimination games (the 11 is far more damning than the 2).

Then, when he decides that it's best to part ways (understandable), he flat out quits on them, rather than showing up in shape and balling out to maintain his trade value. Is it as bad as Kawhi? No. But it ain't great.

You guys have some weird Stockholm Syndrome going on with this dude.

[Brothahorn 10,087]

1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

This is the funny thing about Harden and Houston-

He basically catches no crap from Rockets fans and only from people outside that fandom b/c we all know exactly what a clown Fertita was, we all know it made all the sense in the world for him to eject at that time (good for him), we all know it helped the team for him to eject win he did (bigly- we have a future now and did a full on tear down like we needed to instead of being Portland and being play in fodder with one star) , and we all know that it was necessary for him to act like a jackass in order to make all of the above happen. Most fanbases feel like San Antonio does about Leonard or OKC with KD when their guy leaves- we all were giving Harden the thumbs up and his first trip back he got way more cheers than anything else.  But nobody listens to Rocket fans about this even though we lived through it. It's really odd. 

I have enough flak and shrapnel against Harden for 10 Rocket fans. 

 

And let's stop with the Fertita excuses, please. Whether he is a clown or not has no bearing on Harden being a playoff underachiever or Morey being overrated. Morey took over in 2007, Harden got here in 2012. Fertitta didn't take over until 2017. So what had they won before he got here? Hell, their best stretch was the 3 division titles under Tilman. But he's the big problem? And it wouldn't matter who the owner was, Morey, Harden, and D Antoni are not championship-level. All three are just above average for the NBA. Which is good enough to get you to the playoffs but never good enough to get over the hump. And by hump I mean finals, never mind winning one.

[Message Board User 12,396]

43 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

He was going to the Knicks regardless right?  Or did he give Dallas a chance to match 

Wasn’t Brunson a restricted free agent?  

 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I guess you can say it worked out for Houston. They've won about 50 games in three years since they traded him and their young players haven't really developed worth a shit. The organization still looks like a shit show and Fertita isn't any less of a clown than he was then. But hey, they do have a ton of picks coming their way and at least they have a plan and a direction. I don't have any faith in their braintrust to actually execute on it, but Sam Hinkie probably jacks off to their list of future assets every night. It's a numbers game, I guess, and the numbers definitely are in their favor.

Still, there's some major revisionist history going on regarding Harden. I mean, he was the one who chased off Chris Paul and pushed for the Westbrook trade. He had as much to do with them becoming a one star playoff fodder franchise as anybody. Let's not act like he was just some innocent bystander in all of this. I don't want to rehash this with you for the twentieth time, so we're just going to have to agree to disagree about it. 

Tilman still is a clown, yes, but they actually bottomed out, collected assets and now are in a position where they could succeed. If they get the #1 or 2 pick this year (and they have as good a chance as any) they will have a generational guy, Green, Sengun and Smith Jr., along with 60 or 70 million to spend under the cap.  Do I think Fertita could fuck it up?  Sure.  But there's probably 20 franchises that would gladly trade places with Houston if that's the case.  I'd feel a lot better if it were Morey in charge of this whole thing.  They did what he always wanted to do.  

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

53 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Chris Paul and many others played under Donald Sterling for years, but they still managed to be fucking professionals about it.

Harden got literally everything that he ever wanted from Houston, including personal travel arrangements based around his favorite strip clubs. He received the most money possible at the earliest opportunity for extension after extension.

Chased off Howard, chased off Paul. Forced the terrible Westbrook trade that put the franchise in a huge hole. A trio of 2-11 performances in elimination games (the 11 is far more damning than the 2).

Then, when he decides that it's best to part ways (understandable), he flat out quits on them, rather than showing up in shape and balling out to maintain his trade value. Is it as bad as Kawhi? No. But it ain't great.

You guys have some weird Stockholm Syndrome going on with this dude.

Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are literally two guys who are nightmares to play with.  As always this kind of thing lacks any sense of balance and is always Harden's fault.  As far as showing up out of shape he literally went 46/15/12 against Portland in the first game of the year and something similar to that in the second game of the year announcing to everyone- yeah- I'm good- and then started wearing a fat suit around and not trying when playing like a boss wasn't doing him any good.  

 

[gsoda3 3,283]

1 hour ago, Dutchrudder said:

Meanwhile Jalen Brunson, the guy they said wasn't worth 20-25m a year, just scored 40 points last night against the Nets. He's shooting 41% from 3 this year, and appears to be getting better as the season goes on. What a huge wiff by the Mavs for not extending him when they had the chance...

 

1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

IT's even worse than that- wasn't he good for like 4/65 or something really light?

 

1 hour ago, Dutchrudder said:

I guess he ended up signing for slightly more: Brunson Signed a 4 year $104 million contract with New York (NYK) - includes 2025-26 Player Option

That's not so bad, but the Mavs thought he was just a role player and didn't want to go above 20m per year, as I recall. He's playing like an Allstar now, which is funny, because that's exactly what the Mavs said they were lacking to pair with Luka.

 

1 hour ago, closetohumping said:

He was going to the Knicks regardless right?  Or did he give Dallas a chance to match 

 

brunson wanted a 4/65 signed before the trade deadline.  dallas didn't want to sign him then because they wanted to be able to include him in a potential trade package.  

 

then he has the breakout seires against utah in the playoffs.

 

he became an UFA after the season ended.  mavs were rumored to be offering 5/125 and willing to match what NYK offered.  apparently brunson never even took the phone call from cuban.  he thought if he was in dallas he would always be on the block in the search for a second star.

Edited February 14, 2023 by gsoda3

[Skipper 6,209]

31 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

He was going to the Knicks regardless right?  Or did he give Dallas a chance to match 

He did not give Dallas a chance to match and cancelled their meeting as his mind was made up.  Mavs could have signed him 9 months earlier (when he was playing more like a role player) but they probably would have been criticized for overpaying.  it was a reasonable gamble at the time that in hindsight blew up in their face once the Knicks hired his dad.   By the time JB's stock really took off (first round of playoffs with Luka hurt) his destination in NY was inevitable even if nobody in Dallas knew that yet.  Not only did he grow up dreaming of playing in NY, it's pretty clear he felt he could only reach his ceiling running point on a team that doesn't have an MVP candidate playing the same position (which is a reasonable position). Working out ok for him.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

20 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

I have enough flak and shrapnel against Harden for 10 Rocket fans. 

 

And let's stop with the Fertita excuses, please. Whether he is a clown or not has no bearing on Harden being a playoff underachiever or Morey being overrated. Morey took over in 2007, Harden got here in 2012. Fertitta didn't take over until 2017. So what had they won before he got here? Hell, their best stretch was the 3 division titles under Tilman. But he's the big problem? And it wouldn't matter who the owner was, Morey, Harden, and D Antoni are not championship-level. All three are just above average for the NBA. Which is good enough to get you to the playoffs but never good enough to get over the hump. And by hump I mean finals, never mind winning one.

They fought that generational Warriors team to a standstill once KD was there, nobody else came close to pushing that team when they were healthy. Not all championship caliber teams win championships.  He was good enough to be the best player on a title team and never got it done.  There are all sorts of things he could have handled better.  He's also far from 100% responsible for everything that went wrong, and of all the guys who ever forced their way out the Rockets ended up in better shape than most of them. 

[Vic Mackey 47,168]

They fought that generational Warriors team to a standstill once KD was there, nobody else came close to pushing that team when they were healthy. Not all championship caliber teams win championships.  He was good enough to be the best player on a title team and never got it done.  There are all sorts of things he could have handled better.  He's also far from 100% responsible for everything that went wrong, and of all the guys who ever forced their way out the Rockets ended up in better shape than most of them. 

I think the Spurs with a healthy Kawhi in 2017 could have did the same thing the Rockets did and might have even sealed the deal. But we all know GSW sent their goon out there to stop that from happening right away.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

5 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

I think the Spurs with a healthy Kawhi in 2017 could have did the same thing the Rockets did and might have even sealed the deal. But we all know GSW sent their goon out there to stop that from happening right away.
 

That was a damn good Spurs team.  I won't say that this would have been inconceivable. 2017 Cleveland was an all time great team as well and the Dubs blew past them like they were a bunch of clowns.  Really really impressive.  The rest of the NBA saw that and punted on trying to compete, all except the Rockets.  Maybe they'd have got them without the CP3 injury (I sort of suspect Golden State would have figured it out) maybe not, wish I could have seen it.  

[closetohumping 17,482]

1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are literally two guys who are nightmares to play with.  As always this kind of thing lacks any sense of balance and is always Harden's fault.  As far as showing up out of shape he literally went 46/15/12 against Portland in the first game of the year and something similar to that in the second game of the year announcing to everyone- yeah- I'm good- and then started wearing a fat suit around and not trying when playing like a boss wasn't doing him any good.  

 

Maybe I'm old fashioned but if I'm getting paid, I'm still gonna try.  KD did right?  I'm not gonna pull a Kawhi, Kyrie or Harden.  Yes, I know it's not a perfect analogy.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

Just now, closetohumping said:

Maybe I'm old fashioned but if I'm getting paid, I'm still gonna try.  KD did right?  I'm not gonna pull a Kawhi, Kyrie or Harden.  Yes, I know it's not a perfect analogy.

I get it. And I'm not disagreeing.  Every job I've ever left I've run all the way through the tape. It's also really hard and an act of sheer professionalism.  There is a reason why most companies walk people that give their two weeks notice, and that's b/c one they've checked out they are usually more trouble than they are worth.  Harden didn't act professionally.  That's different than cancer that can't be in a winning situation which is how he's portrayed.  

[SilasCoade 2,622]

If you are defending James harden you should probably take a while to really evaluate yourself, the things you stand for, and what you believe in.

[ChickenSandwich 9,855]

Hated the way he forced his way out. Came in out of shape. Got purposely suspended. Gave no effort on the court and killed all trade value. Then was able to dictate his landing spot. The lucky break it may end up working out for the Rockets doesn't change the bullshit. 
 

As others have said, the Rockets gave him everything allowed and he still shit all over them on the way out the door 

[aggie08 21,558]

41 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Hated the way he forced his way out. Came in out of shape. Got purposely suspended. Gave no effort on the court and killed all trade value. Then was able to dictate his landing spot. The lucky break it may end up working out for the Rockets doesn't change the bullshit. 
 

As others have said, the Rockets gave him everything allowed and he still shit all over them on the way out the door 

And even with all that, I would totally understand still having his back if he was Steph, LeBron, Kobe, KD, or someone truly transcendent. Maybe it didn't end perfectly, but you can still consider yourself lucky as a fan that you got to witness real greatness.

While great, Harden is a flopping, playoff-choker who sucked all the fun and aesthetic beauty out of what you'd expect from a great NBA offense. Dribbling the air out of the ball and searching for a defender's arm to tie up. His defense and extracurriculars left you to wonder how much he truly cared.

However, his style and immense talent brought a shit ton of stats and wins, so I get why he was beloved while he was there. He's a perfect example of a player that you love only when he's on your team. But what lasting legacy did he leave to deserve water carriers and eternal gratitude? He doesn't even have Russ's OKC charm of, "Yes, he's flawed, but he stayed when others left and gave it his all."

I'll never get it.

Edited February 14, 2023 by aggie08

[closetohumping 17,482]

7 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

And even with all that, I would totally understand still having his back if he was Steph, LeBron, Kobe, KD, or someone truly transcendent. Maybe it didn't end perfectly, but you can still consider yourself lucky as a fan that you got to witness real greatness.

While great, Harden is a flopping, playoff-choker who sucked all the fun out and aesthetic beauty out of what you'd expect from a great NBA offense. Dribbling the air out of the ball and searching for a defender's arm to tie up. His defense and extracurriculars left you to wonder how much he truly cared.

However, his style and immense talent brought a shit ton of stats and wins, so I get why he was beloved while he was there. He's a perfect example of a player that you love only when he's on your team. But what lasting legacy did he leave to deserve water carriers and eternal gratitude? He doesn't even have Russ's OKC charm of, "Yes, he's flawed, but he stayed when others left and gave it his all."

I'll never get it.

Agree Russ is a hustler but he's a big part of why KD left.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

2 hours ago, aggie08 said:

And even with all that, I would totally understand still having his back if he was Steph, LeBron, Kobe, KD, or someone truly transcendent. Maybe it didn't end perfectly, but you can still consider yourself lucky as a fan that you got to witness real greatness.

While great, Harden is a flopping, playoff-choker who sucked all the fun and aesthetic beauty out of what you'd expect from a great NBA offense. Dribbling the air out of the ball and searching for a defender's arm to tie up. His defense and extracurriculars left you to wonder how much he truly cared.

However, his style and immense talent brought a shit ton of stats and wins, so I get why he was beloved while he was there. He's a perfect example of a player that you love only when he's on your team. But what lasting legacy did he leave to deserve water carriers and eternal gratitude? He doesn't even have Russ's OKC charm of, "Yes, he's flawed, but he stayed when others left and gave it his all."

I'll never get it.

Eternal gratitude?  hardly. Saying something has layers and more than one facet isn’t eternal water carrying it’s saying that he’s a 3 dimensional person and outside attempts to make him out to be a caricature don’t convey the entire story, nothing more. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,823]

Wow…Milwaukee struggling to beat Boston without Tatum, Brown, Horford and Smart….


Just had a Giannis injury scare on top of that but he’s back in playing

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,823]

Wow! Sam hauser hits a 28 foot prayer to tie it

[Dutchrudder 11,154]

The Suns looked good tonight against the Kings, who are currently #3 in the West.  CP3 had 19 assists, and was looking more like himself. It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, they are going to replace Okogie with Kevin Durant in the starting lineup. This is likely the best team in the West, even if they don't finish with the best record.  I don't think they can catch the Nuggets being 8.5 games back, but they can definitely get the #2 seed. Those 2 teams should be a lock for the WCF. 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,594]

12 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

The Suns looked good tonight against the Kings, who are currently #3 in the West.  CP3 had 19 assists, and was looking more like himself. It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, they are going to replace Okogie with Kevin Durant in the starting lineup. This is likely the best team in the West, even if they don't finish with the best record.  I don't think they can catch the Nuggets being 8.5 games back, but they can definitely get the #2 seed. Those 2 teams should be a lock for the WCF. 

If the warriors are healthy, they are going to be a tough out. I also wouldn’t sleep on the clippers if they are healthy too. Even the grizzlies and pelicans are going to be tough. And the mavs just added an ultra talented psychopath to their roster. The west playoff is going to be a blood bath. Can’t wait. 

[ztejas 43,548]

Healthy Durant and Booker is easily the best duo in the West. They aren't going to need much outside of that. 

Are both of them going to he healthy for the playoffs? We'll see. 

[Mittens 8,312]

12 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Wow…Milwaukee struggling to beat Boston without Tatum, Brown, Horford and Smart….