?Retiring Ringless if He Goes Back?: NBA Fans Mock James Harden After Reports of a Possible Return to Old Stomping Ground

As per the latest reports, James Harden may set up camp at his old stomping ground. A few years ago, that would have been unthinkable, owing to his ugly exit from the franchise. However, there are strong speculations that the player may take a U-turn. The 10-time NBA All-Star is currently on the Philadelphia 76ers lineup and before that had a short stint with the Brooklyn Nets. Prior to that, Harden was with the Houston Rockets.

According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, “There?s a lot of gossip. There?s a lot of dot-connecting, ?Hey, if things don?t work out in Philly, James Harden back to Houston. Just keep an eye out on that.‘? NBA fans, however, believe that if this move was to go through, James Harden would retire without a championship ring. One fan wrote, “Retiring ringless if he goes back“.

Does the Rockets-James Harden move make sense?

The basketball player is 33 years old and the Rockets lineup is predominantly young blood. How will they complement each other is open to speculation. Reports also claim that his chances of winning a championship ring would possibly decrease if he returns to the Rockets.

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Here are some of the reactions online that echo the same sentiment:

The Houston Rockets may gain an experienced player, but placing him won’t transform their current record in the Western Conference. They are at the bottom seed of the table with an egregious record of 22 games lost and 9 games won. While players like Jalen Green can shoulder more responsibility and other players would possibly improve with time, it is unlikely that James Harden may be the messiah that the franchise needs.

On the other hand, the Philadelphia 76ers are the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. Making the reunion even more dubious.

Why did Harden leave the Houston Rockets?

It was reported that James Harden was convinced that his tenure with the Rockets back then would not result in a championship. So he forced an exit from the team in the 2020-21 season to the Brooklyn Nets.

Harden resorted to partying and not showing up for practice for an early divorce with the team. He added fuel to the fire when he bad-mouthed his team and the franchise and lashed out publicly against them. That may have been the last straw as he was traded to the Nets a day later.

However, during his introductory press conference with the 76ers (after exiting from the Nets in a similar fashion), Harden admitted that the Philadelphia 76ers were always his “first choice”. He added, “I just knew for a very long time this was a perfect fit“.

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