The NBA trade deadline went wild with one of the biggest trades taking place. During this, the 10 time NBA All-Star, James Harden went to the Philadelphia 76ers in a blockbuster trade. Recently, the former Nets star spoke to the media and explained why he joined the Sixers. However, this did not sit well with Houston Rockets legend, Tracy McGrady, who went right into the Beard.
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Harden spoke about how he is with a group where they want to win. To McGrady, this sounded like a shot directed towards the Brooklyn Nets. Moreover, he also doesn’t believe the star is injured.
With Harden making clear this first choice was always Philly, McGrady believes he shut it down with the Nets to force his way out.
Tracy McGrady digs into James Harden
While speaking to colleagues, Shaq and Dwyane Wade, McGrady was not a fan of Harden’s press conference. Notably, the Beard’s comments on playing with players who want to win. T-Mac felt that was directed towards the Nets. He even had some issues with the way Harden was doing rehab for his apparent hamstring injury.
He said: “When you say you want to play with guys that want to win, what are you insinuating? That the guys in Brooklyn didn’t want to win? That’s what it sound like to me. And we all know Philly was his first choice before he went to Brooklyn. So when things hit the fan, he wanted out of there, he shut it down. He wasn’t hurt. Y’all think he is hurt right now? You don’t rehab a hammy by doing stepbacks.”
It is hard to disagree with the fact that Harden’s situation with the Nets was complicated. The Beard had his issues with Kyrie not being a full-time player. Moreover, with Harden getting the option to join his initial choice, he pounced on the opportunity. However, to say they didn’t want to win may be going a step too far. On the other hand, with his hamstring injury, there are two sides.
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On one end there is James Harden working out with the Sixers, which T-Mac pointed out. However, another side is him not being a part of the All-Star game. Hence, there isn’t any clear evidence about the true nature of his injury. But this isn’t the first time Harden has forced his way out of an organization. So for T-Mac to have his doubts isn’t wrong on his part.
Did the Beard force his way out once again?
This situation that the Beard finds himself in right now is surely not new to Harden. The first instance came when he ruthlessly forced his way out of Houston. Not only did the star criticize his own team, but he even changed his appearance to make a move happen.
After he got his way out and joined a competing team, another opportunity came to him. While the Beard hasn’t done anything wrong with the Nets, it does seem like the star wanted out. He didn’t play the last few games due to injury and was later shipped to the Sixers.
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With Philly being his first-choice team, the former Nets guard had his eyes set. However, now the championship pressure is right on, which would loom over him this season.
With all the things that have come out, do you think James Harden is faking his injury? Let us know in the comments below.