OKC Thunder guard Chris Paul gets shady motivation via James Harden and Rockets owner Fertitta comments
Rockets fiery owner doesn’t hold back:
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta commented on the pace of the team in discussion with Sam Amick of the paid for subscription The Athletic.
Not hard to translate what Tilman is saying about the CP/Russell Westbrook trade here. That and much more in our @TheAthletic convo https://t.co/nlPNh8m2z9 pic.twitter.com/Y6L09Wx9QW
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) September 16, 2019
And while I can’t post precise quotes from the article it felt like a bit of cat and mouse play going on. The above quote is where the shade seemed to stem from but Fertitta had equally nice things to say about Paul and avoided some questions with direct responses.
The owner backed away from saying there were outright problems but then spoke of how great the chemistry between Russell Westbrook and Harden is, which again shone a light on the issues the past season between Paul and Harden especially with the implication Paul was trying to mentor Harden who wasn’t having it.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon wrote about this in more detail this past June during the playoffs again specifically referencing the issues Harden had with Paul’s mentoring.
"“Chris wants to coach James,” says a source familiar with the stars’ dynamic. “James looks at him like, ‘You can’t even beat your man. Just shut up and watch me.'” According to sources, Paul was also frustrated by what he perceived as Harden’s tendency to ignore unglamorous details that impact winning — such as moving when he gives up the ball to help spacing — and wasn’t shy about expressing those concerns."
In terms of Fertitta citing pace, I’m not sure this can be directed specifically at CP3 given Harden has a tendency to walk the ball up the court and often dribbles the shot clock right down to the end prior to shooting. Moreover, in the 2017-18 season, the Rockets led the league with 65 wins and ranked 13th in pace.
The NBA champions of this past season (Raptors) ranked 15th in pace and the Warriors ranked 10th, so it’s not like Houston should be aiming to run their fellow competitors off the hardwood.
Rather, this feels like Fertitta paying homage to Westbrook’s speed and how the Rockets can benefit from a change of pace. However, his comments felt like a shot at Paul. Again, the irony is Harden is equally at fault for slowing the pace and not moving to create space when he didn’t have the ball in his hand.