A day after his preseason debut, All-Star guard James Harden insisted that “nothing had been said” in the Houston Rockets locker room regarding reports that he had asked for a trade during the offseason.
While Harden’s head coach and teammates have certainly seemed aware of the reports, they also downplayed the notion that it might influence the team’s preparation for the rapidly approaching 2020-21 season.
Here’s a sampling of the relevant quotes from Wednesday’s media availability, which took place after practice at Toyota Center.
Harden:
Since I’ve been here, nothing has been said about it. Everybody in the locker room and the coaching staff has been focused on ramping up and preparing for the season. That’s all that matters.”
I can only focus on right now, and for me, the best James Harden is making sure I’m in shape. Like I said, I hadn’t even had an opportunity to play 5-on-5. Individual workouts, when you do individual basketball training, is great, but as every NBA player can agree, there’s nothing like 5-on-5 training, the physicality, making reads and things like that. Yesterday for my first time being out there, I felt good, and that’s exciting.
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DeMarcus Cousins:
At the end of the day, this is a business. You can only respect a guy for doing whatever he feel is best for him, his personal life, and his career. So, no, honestly, I haven’t [tried to convince Harden to stay in Houston], and I don’t really feel like that’s my place. That’s a decision he has to make for himself.
My job is to, while we’re on the floor and while we’re in practice, to be holding everybody accountable. We’re going to come in and work every day and try to get better every day. I control what I can control. For the guys that’s on the floor, we’re going to go to war.
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Stephen Silas:
If we exactly knew kind of where his head was at, I think it would be good for everybody. But we’re dealing with reality, which is things change on a day-to-day basis, things change on a game-to-game basis. As I said before, my job is to coach this basketball team and make sure these guys are put in the right positions. Part of that is the spirit of the group, and I think the spirit of the group, especially based on the game last night, is pretty good.
With Harden in the lineup, the Rockets will finish their 2020-21 preseason slate by hosting San Antonio on Thursday. The regular season begins next Wednesday against Oklahoma City, also at Toyota Center.
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