James Harden says his piece on time with drama filled Nets

BROOKLYN — James Harden was booed when he was introduced in the Philadelphia 76ers lineup, he was booed when he touched the ball at the start of the game and was called a “traitor” by some Nets fans when he stepped to the free throw line.

None of that seemed to matter to the man known as the beard and after the Sixers had defeated the Nets, he appeared to get a few things off his chest about his time in Brooklyn. Harden forced a trade out of Brooklyn last year at the trade deadline amid a chaotic season for the Nets.

In his first game playing at Barclays Center since then, the Nets look very different and have shed their superstar players following the exits of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this past week.

“I didn’t just ask to leave for no reason,” Harden said. “I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn’t have a chance to win the championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family and all the things that I created there to Brooklyn for, what a year and a half? To just up and leave? It was for a real reason, but I’m happy for the organization in what they got back. They got some really good pieces.”

Harden had clearly been frustrated by what had transpired in Brooklyn during his brief time with the Nets. The Harden, Durant and Irving Big 3 appeared on the court together a grand total of just 16 times, in part due to injuries and at other times it was a bit more complicated.

Irving likely played a big part in that due to his availability, or lack thereof, during the Nets Big 3 era. The superstar point guard had sat out games for personal reasons during the 2020-21 season due to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Last season he missed a portion of the season due to his refusal to get the COVID vaccine and then when he was finally cleared to play in January of 2022 it was only in road games due to New York City’s vaccine mandate. Harden wouldn’t address directly how much Irving played into his decision to leave, but it became clear that he didn’t like the situation.

James Harden Nets — FILE – Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden (13), forward Kevin Durant (7) and guard Kyrie Irving celebrate during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Saturday, May 22, 2021, in New York.AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File

“The reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone which was leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come here and play with KD and Kyrie,” he said. “With that being said, that didn’t happen as much as I would have liked to or how much the organization would have wanted to. It’s just something I knew wasn’t gonna change. For me, I just had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career and what I wanted and that’s what happened.”

Harden didn’t elaborate when he said there were things that the Nets could have done to keep him, he did take a second to fire back at those who had labeled him a quitter.

“Yeah, there was a lot of things. A lot of dysfunction, clearly. There was a lot of internal things,” Harden said. “I’m not gonna just put in the media or anything and that was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decisions. Now, fast forward to today, I don’t look like the crazy one. I don’t look like the quitter or whatever the media wanna call me. I knew what was going on and I just decided I’m not built for this. I don’t wanna deal with that. I wanna play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it.”