James Harden says his Atlanta and Vegas trips were to work with ‘personal trainers’

Oh boy.

In the past week or so, the questions about the Houston Rockets and James Harden have swirled and gotten louder: does the superstar guard want out? Even if he wants to stay, is it time to deal him anyway? Is he completely disgruntled with the franchise?

The day after his first preseason game with the Rockets, ESPN published a story reporting on problems within the franchise involving Harden and the way he’s been given what feels like preferential treatment over the years. Couple that with the recent footage of Harden partying with rapper Lil Baby in Atlanta and spending time in Las Vegas while the Rockets waited for him to report and … it paints the same picture that Harden and Houston are far from being on the same page.

James Harden finally spoke with reporters on Wednesday and was asked about his trips:

He was asked about new GM Rafael Stone, and the disconnect we’ve seemingly seen between Harden and the franchise is still there:

He denied there was what was going on with him was a distraction:

And head coach Stephen Silas seems fed up with all the Harden questions:

This just furthers what we’ve seen over the past week: the relationship between the Rockets and Harden has splintered and it may be too late to repair it.

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