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James Harden's name was plastered across NBA News for the better part of the last 24 hours after he publicly denounced the talent of his Houston Rockets teammates on Tuesday night.
The veteran guard was heavily linked with a move away from the franchise with Philadelphia and Brooklyn the likely candidates and missed Rockets practice Wednesday. Harden wasn't the only one to speak honestly to the media though, as it appears his comments have irked his team-mates.
NBA News: DeMarcus Cousins condemns James Harden for disrepect
James Harden was not shy to point the finger after the Houston Rockets were outclassed by the Lakers on Tuesday. Down 71-48 at half time, Harden's side fell to their sixth loss of the season and put them second-to-last in the Western Conference. After the game, Harden simply said that the Rockets are not good enough to compete and that the gulf in talent could not be fixed.
In the latest NBA News, James Harden's now former teammate, DeMarcus Cousins, faced the media and spoke as truthfully as the shooting guard did after their loss.
"My interest was playing with John Wall, to be brutally honest. With that being said, the disrespect started way before any interview. Just the approach to training camp, showing up the way he did, the antics off the court, I mean the disrepect started way before. So this isn't something that all of a sudden started last night."
James Harden's public humiliation of his teammates made the Houston Rockets franchise the focal point of NBA News and increased the efforts of the team to trade him away.
With his teammates turning against him, it seemed as good a reason as any to believe that Harden would be moved and that's exactly what happened hours later.
The Brooklyn Nets acquired the former MVP in a deal that involved four teams including the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Victor Oladipo and multiple first-round draft picks headed back to Houston who rids themselves of one of the best players of his generation.
The 76ers were one of the frontrunners to land Harden considering Daryl Morey is the team's President of Basketball Operations and previously was the Rockets' GM. But it's the Sixers' Atlantic Division rival that lands Harden's services to from the league's new preeminent Big 3 alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
