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Report: James Harden 'Didn’t Feel as Welcomed in Brooklyn as' Kevin Durant, Kyrie
April 17, 2022
James Harden reportedly "didn’t feel as welcomed in Brooklyn as Irving and Kevin Durant," which helped spur his desire for a midseason trade.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post reported Harden never communicated his discomfort with the Nets but did not feel like he was treated as well as his two co-stars.
While the report didn't delve into any details on why Harden felt slighted, it's not hard to see potential reasons for his frustration.
The Nets, for better or for worse, are Durant's franchise. Irving is one of his best friends and the main reason Durant wound up in Brooklyn. Durant, like many superstars of his caliber, is going to have an outsized level of influence on organizational matters; he was at the forefront of the team's decision to bring back Irving as a part-time player in January, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
Irving, by proxy of being Durant's closest ally in the organization, gets the same level of superstar treatment. He was a part-time player for more than two months. That alone is enough to alienate a locker room, let alone a co-star who sees himself as arguably the better player.
Consequently, Harden would naturally feel like he was left out on an island to fend for himself and then look at a potentially greener, more familiar pasture in Philadelphia.
