The Chris Paul era in Houston came to an end when the future Hall of Fame inductee was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with a whole lot of draft capital, for Russell Westbrook. While there was plenty of on-court success during his two years in the Lone Star State, things reportedly fell apart due to the butting of heads between Paul and his backcourt mate, James Harden.
All of these reports were a bit odd, not because they existed — it’s not hard to have predicted Harden and Paul butting heads — but because of how strongly they have been denied by everyone involved with the organization. Whether it was Paul or general manager Daryl Morey, people in Houston were willing to openly say reports of Paul wanting out or discontent hitting the locker room were incorrect.
The latest person to do this was Harden, who spoke to reporters while at his basketball camp. Harden made it a point to say that, while there were some “disagreements” that naturally happen, the rumblings of something deeper were “false talk.”
.@JHarden13 on Chris Paul and all the media chatter the last few weeks, said it was all " false talk. Chris was great with him while he was here, great leader. Guys have disagreements on the court all the time. I've got nothing negative to say about Chris." @KPRC2
— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) July 20, 2019
At the very least, everyone in Houston has said all the right things about the situation between their current star and their former star. Harden probably wants to focus on the dynamic between himself and Westbrook going forward, but first, he made it a point to clarify that things were cool with himself and Paul.
