For a few years, it seemed like James Harden and Chris Paul were poised to win a championship together. The Houston Rockets were consistently going deep in the playoffs only to lose to the likes of the Golden State Warriors. In the second round of last year's playoffs, the Rockets lost to the Warriors, once again, which led to some big trades being made. For instance, the team traded Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook and the rest is history.
Prior to that trade, it seemed as though there was tension between Harden and Paul as they struggled for dominance with the ball. During a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast, reporter Marc J. Spears spoke about the split between Harden and Paul. As he explains, there are rumors that Harden may have orchestrated it all.
Spears: “The one thing that I heard, which I will say this, because I have to preface it, that I have to see to believe, but from one rumor – I’ve got to put exclamation point before I say it, right? I don’t know this is fact. But I was told that James ran up to Coach D’Antoni and put his hand over his mic – because D’Antoni was mic’d – and told him, “We’ve got to get Chris out of here.”
ESPN’s Zach Lowe: “Out of the game?”
Spears: “No.”
Lowe: “Out of here here?”
Spears: “Out of here here.”
While this is simply a rumor, you can't help but feel the drama within it. Professional athletes have big egos and are highly susceptible to these kinds of fallouts. Either way, it seems like both players are happier in their current situations.
[Via]