Okay, Oklahoma City Thunder fans, step back from the lighter fluid. Seriously, you’re acting a little foolish. Look, as a fan of a team that just traded its star player away, I certainly understand that you’re pretty broken up over the Thunder trading away Kevin Durant yesterday. Wait no, not Durant. My bad, I meant Russell Westbrook. Wait, no. It wasn’t Westbrook either. It was James Harden, the team’s 6th man. But hey, he does have a pretty sweet beard.
In case you were too focused on your fantasy football teams yesterday, the Thunder traded free-agent-to-be James Harden (and some other dudes) to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and picks. According to the above picture that someone emailed me of Harden shirseys being torched, OKC fans are apparently mad at Harden for not accepting the Thunder’s reported offer of 4 years, $55 million. Instead, Harden opted to seek a max deal (5 years, $80 million) with another team. Oh, and there’s another teeny weenie little itsy bitsy reason that Harden wanted out.
“Yes, I am,” Harden said when asked if he can be an alpha dog. “It’s going to take some time. Not starting, not having attention on me, but I think I’m ready.”
“Yes. Yes I do,” Harden said when asked if he thought it would be done before Wednesday’s deadline. “I’ll let them figure that out with my agent. My focus right now is Houston and how I can make them better. I feel like I can help build it and bring my talents over here.
“Just to be secure,” Harden said. “I feel like I’m in a great position with a great team and great young guys that are willing to work hard. So it will work itself out.” (Via CBS Sports)
Basically, Harden wants to be a starter and, more notably, a star. And while I called him insane yesterday, his decision certainly makes a lot more sense today. And it’s not like he hijacked the franchise and limited the team’s trade options. Dude just wanted to do what’s best for him, and he was classy about it.
So maybe stop burning your shirseys and donate them to the Goodwill instead. But you are allowed to be sad as you watch Harden’s head be ripped off of a billboard.
