11 November 2023 , 15:44
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James Harden has not enjoyed the best start to life at the LA Clippers and he is facing a barrage of criticism.
The 34-year-old forced his way out of the Philadelphia 76ers after falling out with general manager Daryl Morey and was traded to his native California in October. But after three games played for his new team, the Clippers have suffered three defeats and Harden scored just 14 points in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the early hours of Saturday morning in the In-Season tournament.
It prompted perhaps the strongest criticism he has received so far from former Mavericks Director of Basketball Development and current Bally Sports Southwest analyst, Brian Dameris. He issued a savage assessment of the shortcomings in Harden’s career and how he has been given everything he has asked for, including the teams he has been on and the players he has played with, only for it to backfire.
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“James, I hope you’re taking notes. I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome, for the wisdom I’m about to spew,” he began. “Because listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like [former Rockets GM and current Sixers GM] Daryl Morey believed in you."
The analyst listed all the great players the 10-time All-Star wanted to play with and the teams he wished to play for and commented on how things were all worked out in his favour, only for Harden to want out at the first signs of difficulty in Houston, before forcing a move to the Brooklyn Nets. "And you know what, you said... I see the bright lights of New York. I want to go there. My old pal Kevin Durant. It’s gonna work, the big three—and all after one year you wanted out," Dameris added.
"You realized, “oh my gosh! I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me. I want back with Daryl Morey.” They traded Ben Simmons for you—how did they pull that off? And you know what? You went there, and you got a partner [Joel Embiid] who got the MVP. He won the MVP, and what did you say afterwards? You said, 'they didn’t hand me the reins. You’re the point guard! You were holding the reins!
Brian Dameris did not hold back in his criticism of Harden (Twitter/@BallySportsSW)"And what did you do when you had the reigns? You scored 9 points in Game 7 against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead. So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with the guy that believed in you again, you said “the bright lights of LA! That’s where I want to go! Let’s see if that works.”
Harden returned to one of his old franchises when he faced the Nets this week. He managed to score just 12 points and experienced an embarrassing moment when an attempted pass ended up on the commentary table. As Dameris outlined, Harden has developed a reputation for quitting on his teams and wanting to move somewhere new when things no longer suit him.
He branded the three-time scoring champion as the issue rather than those around him, and he looks to be fearing the worst for Harden should things not work out in LA. “Listen James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates?" the analyst continued.
"Over and over they complained about their bad roommates: ‘this guy’s terrible, the bad roommate here,’ they never thought to be self aware enough that they're the bad roommate! They’re the problem!
“Hey James, you're the problem! If this doesn’t work this year, in this system, with this team, then you’re gonna go and point fingers at everybody else and then you’re gonna go back home and you’re gonna start swiping right for another team, and there’s not gonna be anyone left.
“Because James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.”
Harden will have a chance to silence some of his critics when he takes to the court in front of his new home fans for the first time when the Clippers take on the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, who have managed just one win so far this season.
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