After a long rest, former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks broke his silence on Chris Mannix’s “The Vertical” podcast earlier this week. Brooks, who was released from the Thunder organization after the team went 45-37 last season and missed the playoffs, discussed last summer’s firing, his feelings towards general manager Sam Presti and the Thunder organization, and what Kevin Durant will do next, among other things. But the most unique discussion points from Mannix’s interview with Brooks revolved not around 2015, but 2012— the famous James Harden trade.
On the podcast, Brooks revealed that the former Oklahoma City sixth man loved coming off of the bench with Nick Collison and the rest of the second unit— putting the notion to rest that he just wanted to start in 2012, similar to the Reggie Jackson debacle of 2014, and that he (Brooks) believes that the former big three could have continued rising together towards greatness.
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Brooks had this to say on the matter (via The Oklahoman):
"“I think that’s an easy question. You look at all the great teams. The Golden State Warriors have three All-Stars. The Miami Heat had three All-Stars. The Boston Celtics had three All-Stars. The Houston Rockets, when I played, only had one All-Star. I got screwed that year, didn’t get an All-Star bid that year. But (Hakeem) Olajuwon was an All-Star. Easy to say, but it didn’t happen. It’s all hypothetical. James is a great player. The thing that I love about James, he loved his role. He loved coming off the bench, he loved working with that second unit. Him and Nick had a great bond on the court and off the court.When James made that USA Basketball, he knew that he belonged and that following year before he was traded, he was one of best players. And he did not want to start. We tried to start him a few times because Thabo Sefolosha got hurt. I think we started him like two games and he came to me after each game and said ‘Coach, Coach, Coach, please, please, please get me back in my same role. I like the second unit.’That says a lot about him. Because he was a great player, is a great player. But it didn’t work out. For whatever reason, they couldn’t get it done. We moved on as a team. It was tough. I thought our guys did a great job of picking up the pieces mentally. We were drained when it first happened. But I thought my staff and our team did a great job of showing leadership and fighting on and we ended up winning 60 games that year.”"
It’s been about four years since the (in)famous Harden trade, and the revelations from Brooks’ interview is like pouring salt into deep wounds. Thunder fans felt intentionally rejected by James Harden. We were wrong. Harden wanted to continue building off of that NBA Finals appearance. Harden was cool with coming off of the bench. He wanted Oklahoma City as much as its fans wanted him. It just didn’t work out.
Since 2012, there have been no more Western Conference crowns, no more NBA Finals appearances, and no NBA Championship titles for a team that includes the two most electrifying players in all of basketball.
Meanwhile in Houston, there have been no Western Conference crowns and zero NBA Finals appearances for a former “sixth man of the year” leading the way.
I know that it does nothing to wonder “what might have been?”
But, it’s 2016, and Oklahoma City Thunder fans are (and have been) sitting back and watching the Miami Heat, the San Antonio Spurs, and most recently, the Golden State Warriors, and they’re thinking— that could be us. That should have been us.
Four seasons and a revealing podcast later. What might have been.