NBA Rumors: James Harden Told Kevin Durant Twice He'd Sign Nets Contract Extension
James Harden is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers after forcing a trade out of Brooklyn this season, but he reportedly was singing a different tune to Kevin Durant before the 2021-22 season.
According to Logan Murdock of The Ringer, the pair "went on a trip to Greece this past summer, and the guard twice reassured Durant that he'd sign an extension to stay in Brooklyn long term, according to league sources."
Harden was reportedly frustrated by Kyrie Irving's decision to remain unvaccinated, meaning he was away from the team until January and wasn't able to play home games until this past week.
That, in turn, put a bigger burden on Harden to carry the team, especially when Durant missed time this winter with injuries. And the Nets went through a brutal stretch between Dec. 30 and Harden's trade on Feb. 10, going just 6-17.
"It wasn't like it was a disconnect between us as individuals. I felt like we liked each other," Durant told Murdock. "But I was focusing on rehab and he was focusing on the team. Naturally, I wasn't around the group, but I can't control how everybody feels about their situation. I can do my best and provide what I provide every day. If it helps someone, cool, if it doesn't, that's cool too, but I can't stress myself out wondering how somebody else feels about the situation."
Harden's frustrations are at least somewhat merited. Even Irving acknowledged that Durant was annoyed at times with his unavailability to play due to his unvaccinated status.
"I know he was frustrated," Irving said. "We spoke about it."
But Murdock added that "while Harden and Durant drifted apart, Irving and Durant grew closer," regularly checking up with each other over FaceTime while Irving was away from the team.
So a lot changed between the summer and February's trade deadline. Harden is in Philly, hoping his partnership with Joel Embiid will lead to a title. And Durant and Irving are gunning to win a championship together in Brooklyn while enjoying their time together.
"We're building something cool over here," Durant told Murdock. "Kyrie's a huge, huge part of it, even though this year he was in and out of the lineup, but he's still a huge part of what we're trying to do. It's one of those obstacles that has been fun to climb over, to be honest."
