Rockets say James Harden will play in first NBA bubble scrimmage

“Without a doubt,” Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni said of Harden. “James loves to play. Definitely by next Friday, he’ll be 100%.”

For an undisclosed reason, James Harden arrived at the NBA’s “bubble” site for the restart of the 2019-20 season five days after the majority of players and coaches did for the Houston Rockets.

But head coach Mike D’Antoni said throughout the delay that Harden was working out and staying in shape on his own. As a result, his timetable after arriving Tuesday isn’t that dissimilar to the rest of the team.

On Wednesday, Harden was in his Grand Floridian hotel room as the rest of the Rockets practiced, owing to the NBA’s two-day quarantine and COVID-19 testing period for all new arrivals. But Harden should emerge from his room by Thursday night, and it won’t take him long to get up to speed once he joins his teammates on the practice court.

After Wednesday’s Harden-less practice, D’Antoni was asked by reporters whether “The Beard” would be ready for the team team’s first of three scrimmages on Friday, July 24. That date also happens to be a week before Houston’s regular season will resume. D’Antoni’s response:

Without a doubt. James loves to play. Definitely by next Friday, he’ll be 100%.

A few days prior to that, Harden is likely to scrimmage with his own teammates. “I would expect after the first couple of days, we’ll get him geared up,” D’Antoni said. “Then, starting probably around Sunday, he’ll start scrimmaging with the guys, maybe even before. He loves to play.”

“It’s a big step,” D’Antoni added. “It’ll be seamless. We’ve had some great practices, and we’re looking forward to getting James in here.”

As for Houston’s other former MVP guard, Russell Westbrook, D’Antoni said Wednesday that there was no new update on his status. While Westbrook announced Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19, he explained that he was “feeling well” and looking forward to rejoining the Rockets in Florida once cleared from the NBA’s protocols.

D’Antoni said he expects Westbrook and Luc Mbah a Moute, who also remains out for an undisclosed reason, to join the team soon.

“I’m really happy that [Harden] is here,” D’Antoni said. “Now we’ll just wait for the team to be completely whole with Russell and Luc. This is a good first step. I’m just really glad that James is here.”

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