Speaking in front of reporters for the first time as a member of the Clippers, James Harden opened up about his trade demand from the Sixers. Harden stated he felt the Sixers had him “on a leash” last season.
“When I mean a leash, I don’t mean just shooting the basketball every time,” Harden said via ESPN’s Malika Andrews (Twitter link). “I think the game and I’m a creator on the court … [I need] somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that understands me, that I’m not a system player. I am a system.”
The 10-time All-Star said he just wants to win at the highest level, which is why he took less money to stay with the Sixers last season (Twitter link via Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina). Harden signed a two-year, $68.6MM deal with Philadelphia last summer — the second year was a player option, which he exercised before demanding a trade. According to Harden, he planned to retire a Sixer, but felt the organization had other plans.
“They didn’t want me. It’s that simple,” Harden said.
The Sixers traded Harden to the Clippers after a four-month saga. Harden made public comments criticizing Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey over the summer and was in and out of training camp as he awaited a trade.
In the end, Harden was sent to Los Angeles alongside P.J. Tucker, with Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris and Kenyon Martin Jr. dealt to Philadelphia. According to Andrews (Twitter link), Harden is planning to make his Clippers debut on Monday against the Knicks.
“I can fit in with anybody and make a championship run work,” (Twitter link via Medina). “All of us are on the same page in the sense that the individual stats and all of those things are past us.“
Facts. Top 20 player all time. One of the best offensive weapons the game has ever seen.
Fact: you’ve only been watching basketball games since Harden has been in the league
I’ll give you part two, but top 20? I’d put him somewhere above Anthony Bennett and somewhere below LeBron James.
Fact: is a cancer. When he doesn’t get his way he whines until traded. Always comes up small when it counts in the playoffs then blames everyone else.
Rank Player VORP
1. LeBron James 146.96
2. Michael Jordan* 116.05
3. John Stockton* 106.53
4. Karl Malone* 98.96
5. Kevin Garnett* 96.86
6. Chris Paul 96.23
7. Tim Duncan* 91.09
8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 85.72
9. Dirk Nowitzki* 84.82
10. David Robinson* 81.93
11. Kevin Durant 80.49
12. Charles Barkley* 80.48
13. Kobe Bryant* 80.15
14. Julius Erving* 80.07
15. Magic Johnson* 79.97
16. Larry Bird* 77.24
17. James Harden 76.01
Career VORP is your argument? So you’re seriously going to tell me that John Stockton is the 3rd best player in NBA history?
Lol and where is Wilt SMDH
Or Russell? And Magic is 15th?
Individually he had the third most successful career considering longevity. If you are looking at primes no. But when we assess players it is based on their career. The only thing you can control is yourself.
Who is “we”???
No….. just no! VORP on an individual season basis has some merit but career VORP has no bearing other than longevity.
Kareem had 6 championships, 6 MVPs, was a 19 X All-Star, 15 X All-NBA, 11 X All-Defense, 2nd All-Time Scoring and 2 finals MVPs. I could go on with and on with his credentials.
People can argue between LeBron and Jordan as the greatest of all time all they want. I’m not saying Kareem is the GOAT but no one has had a more successful individual career success than Kareem and he’s 8th on this list.
You’re using alot of words to say you don’t like vorp but vorp is an accurate every season. You just don’t want to learn and grow its ok.
Also lebron is so far ahead of everyone else it’s not even close anymore. There is no argument. Lebron james is the best basketball player of all time. Next player to enter top 20 all time will easily be nikola jokic. Way better than kareem shaq or any of the terrible non spacing bigs of the past.
Hate to tell you but Chamberlin was the greatest of his time.
Wilt’s numbers are crazy. It must have been like watching a pro playing against high school players.
VORP is fine when you’re talking about a single modern season. They don’t even use VORP for pre 1973-74. Russell and Chamberlain don’t even have a VORP rating. Oscar Robertson’s career VORP is 1.2. They didn’t calculate VORP for Kareem s first 4 seasons.
You can’t break down greatness with one single stat, especially one that favors longevity and minutes played. Greatness is a combination of regular and advanced stats, career accolades, hype and persona.
I won’t argue that LeBron isn’t the greatest basketball player of all time but personally I don’t think you can compare across eras.
Lebron is not better than Jordan. It’s not even a debate. And when you consider what Jordan had to go up against each night defensively, it’s not even a comparison. Lebron would be laying on that court for 10 minutes every 5 minutes because Mahorn reminded him to stay out of the paint. And he’s not close to Jordan’s D, either.
His best ever vorp season was 9.3. Steph Curry’s best is 9.5 Don’t you think Curry leading his team to 4 ‘chips puts him way above Harden?
Let’s compare their last 3 seasons:
Curry 4.97 vorp, 1 ring
Harden 2.96 vorp, never got past the 1st rd.
The list is lacking Wilt Chamberlin and Oscar Robertson and a few others.
11 rings in 13 years, Bill Russell is the GOAT. No one will ever come close to that level of success.
Lol, context is important. In the early league, the celtics would start the playoffs in the ECF and only have to win 2 series for the ‘chip.
Just curious… how many rings?
You know bc the league is kind about winning things…Adrian Dantley is asking. Or was it Alex English?
Cannot remember.
Successful? Where’s the ring?
I’m a huge fan of The Admiral. Love the guy to death and think he’s criminally under rated in all time great lists. Except, apparently, on a VORP list. Better than Bird, Magic and Barkley? Get out of here.
Haha…this is how you rank all time best?!?
I’m a J.Stockton and K.Malone fan, but moving Bird and Magic below them looks crazy to me. If this is a rank for not getting injured, then maybe. -_-
Terrible ranking. Just get rid of VORP.
Also dont forget a career loser. Pretty much the one Hall of Famer you DONT want on your playoff team.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at how ridiculous this is. Every team he’s on under achieves ends up a dumpster fire – then he cries that they don’t want him and demands a trade. Any team that takes him at this point deserves the fate. There’s about 50 former players that should be offended by this post, except they are laughing too hard.
part 2 .. yes, possibly, but only possibly. part 1? not in the top 100 .. need a list?
I am a system? Sure, you’re a system like a low pressure system that causes a Hurricane. You roll through town, create low morale in the locker room, and then destroy a team like a hurricane o the way out.
Houston desperately needed to rebuild, he did them a favor. Harden didn’t destroy The Nets, Sean Marks destroyed the Nets and I’d hardly call the 76ers “destroyed” they’ll still lose on the 2nd round.
Compare what Philly gave up for harden to what they gained in getting rid of him and call me in the morning.
Ps no rings.
Houston needed to rebuild, yes. He did Houston a favour? Only if you consider getting the cancer that is Harden out of town as a favour.
Harden did start the downfall of the Nets. Looks like Marks turned Durant and Kyrie into picks and good pieces.
As for Philly, calling the GM a liar is detrimental, don’t you think?
Let me also point out that more than one Clipper, including Kawhi, don’t seem overly thrilled to have Harden onboard. Defend him all you want, but you’re not going to win an argument in which you defend Harden right now.
That rebuild is off to a horrible start for Houston. He showed the 2 stars Brooklyn had how to be a baby and get your way 1st hand and they followed suit. So far the 76ers this year are playing fantastic without him. This “I am a system” quote shows how insane he actually is.
Harden quitting on the nets and demanding a trade to Philly sure didn’t help.
Yeah that system looked great in 5 of the 7 games against Boston.. if you wanted to “win at the highest level” maybe you’d learn to play some “team ball” not “harden ball”
So glad he’s gone from Philly
I think he said he’s “assisting” like he gets a lot of assists. That’s why he says “not just shooting the ball.” Very poor reporting…the media will do anything for clicks and drag him through the mud
lol. Good luck Clippers
Philly gonna need a little luck too.
Harden has zero self awareness. At this point OJ is more like able than Harden.
This is what you signed up for Clippers
Clippers meet beard
System Beard
Right on queue with the unsubstantiated ego (based on his own hyperbolic rhetoric). He didn’t see that no one in the Clippers locker room wanted him to show up lol
A system of destroying teams that he’s on maybe
Seriously , other than the Rockets what team has James Harden “destroyed”?
Every team that has traded for him was left devastated and broken in his wake, lost assets and got nothing in return. Facts.
He could be the person blamed for okc trading him, tho it was their fault for not offering the max. They had 3 eventual MVP’s on the same roster and the owners wouldn’t pay them all to win.
OKC realized there wasn’t enough touches between Russ and James. James got moved (and money was a factor as well). Russ and James didn’t work out in Houston. And Russ and James probably won’t work out in LA, either.
The Sixers and the Nets are both much worse off than they would have been if they didn’t acquire Harden. In the Nets case that honor is shared with Kyrie for sure, but it still counts.
“I can make a championship run work with anyone…”
yet he never has?
This Judge Dredd sequel sucks.
Harden is the most boring and overrated player ever. He plays iso ball every possession. He rarely passes, unless he thinks the ball is coming right back to him, and he was and is “Mr. Flop”. Take a look at all his games from his first season until they changed the rules because of him, nearly half of his points are on bogus flopping penalties. All those years in Houston and the team was unwatchable due to harden and his “system”.
Not to mention he copied Brian Wilson with the beard branding. Such a lame human being.
Preach
I get you don’t like harden but to say he never passes is so beyond ludicrous. The man has led the association in assists several times in his career and is top 20 all time in assists
Boring , sure. But he is a good passer. And the Houston system w him almost won a championship. Albeit, he is nowhere near that player anymore, which is why I think this statement is kinda bs, he should recognize that he’s a complimentary player now. But I do agree that the flopping is annoying
His last two years in Houston he started passing, after watching the warriors wreck him with elite passing.
How can a player that was on a team that lost 4-1 to the cavs be said to have “almost won a championship”?
James Kyrie Harden
Yeah, the Chicken Wing Method System
Marvelous
Lmao
Will have free reign in Shanghai
he’s not a system, he’s a tool.
Read everyone’s comments after the trade. Everyone but Harden is gracious (towards him), yet Harden continues to air his sour grapes even after he got what he asked for. This story continues to repeat itself everywhere he goes. It’s always someone else’s fault.
James Harden is an entertainer who is not entertaining to watch.
“Team Killer”
Thats the only system he knows.
Har en was never a good D guy. Even in his best yrs. He has never taken care of his body. He’s a diva who can’t handle. Not being the guy. Has never shown up in the games that really count. Cause he’d rather be partying than getting ready for the game.
James Harden has averaged 22.7 points, 6.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 160 games in the playoffs in his career. That’s with bad D. In a 2way sport.
link to statmuse.com
His avg in elimination gms with Houston. He’s a (-22) ………
He’s a guy who doesn’t even run back on defense. If he’s not scoring. Then he’s worthless. Especially after 30 yrs old. The “Mamba Mentality “ to him. Is dancing with strippers.
Fact that he says that, “I’m a system”. Tells you he’s not about team ball. And only GOOD teams win in the playoffs. It’s why he’s never won. And is chasing a ring now. By playing with real superstars. To try and get one. Before his shot stops falling.
First thing to go for NBA players are the legs. Harden lost his in Houston. Now he’s lost his mind ……….
He’s a broken system.
Clips bailed us out more than the US government bails out big businesses.
The Clippers are so screwed. It’s like Daryl Morey pulled the pin on a grenade and lobbed it into Los Angeles.
When will ALL teams learn that Harden is toxic?
Dude wants to talk trash and continue to air out his nonsense even after the fact that he got what he wanted! Some BS “I was a victim” mentality.
Harden completely lacks self awareness. He is the system!? Dude, you haven’t won anything. You have choked every single playoff.
If he thinks Lue is going to tell him to do your thing without a team plan he is in for a surprise.
Wonder how long before he asks out if LA. They aren’t giving him a max multi year contract. No one is!
Imagine inflated ego Harden telling Kawhi to go to corner and watch him dribble and miss contested 3pt after which he is not coming back to defense but whining. LOL
When you’re “top 20 all time”
You don’t get traded into multiple “superteam” scenarios three times in 4 years. You don’t have MVP’s telling their GMs NOT to trade for him.
Skills do not equal greatness. A cancer is a cancer, regardless of how anyone interprets statistics.
Ego is one thing…. Beards Ego is, in itself, the WOAT!!! (Worst of all time)