James Harden Rumors: Some in Nets Locker Room Questioned if Star Quit on Team

In the final days of James Harden's tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, teammates reportedly began believing he was quitting on the team. 

"He has a game in Sacramento where, you know, I think it’s fair to say there were people were within that locker room, within those confines were wondering, 'Did he just quit on us?'" Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said on The Ringer NBA Show podcast (23:28 mark). "And then he sits multiple games for a hamstring injury when, you know, there was no sign of a hamstring injury. There was a sign of the hand injury, but there was no hamstring."

Of note, Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported Tuesday that an MRI showed inflammation in Harden's hamstring.

Harden made only two of 11 shots and finished with four points in a Feb. 2 game against the Sacramento Kings, a game that turned out to be his final moments in a Nets uniform.

The 2018 NBA MVP missed the next three games with a hamstring injury before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers at the deadline. While there was clearly some level of internal concern about Harden faking his injury, the Sixers already ruled him out through the All-Star break as he attempts to get back to 100 percent.

Anyone watching Harden late in his Brooklyn tenure could see a level of listlessness in his play. It wasn't clear at the time whether it was a byproduct of the hamstring injury or general unhappiness, but it's become apparent it was a little of both—and arguably more of the latter.

The Nets situation wasn't what Harden signed up for when he forced a trade to Brooklyn 13 months ago. Kyrie Irving's been a part-time player all season over his refusal to undergo COVID-19 vaccination, and Kevin Durant's missed significant time with a knee injury. Most nights, it was Harden going at it alone with a miscast group of minimum-contract players and aging veterans—the exact type of situation he wanted out of in Houston.

The Sixers, equipped with an MVP favorite in Joel Embiid and a trade asset in Ben Simmons, were always a logical exit strategy. Couple that with Harden already having a relationship with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin, and you have the recipe for one of the biggest in-season trades in NBA history.