James Harden tosses out shade at Paul:
As for the bearded man in Houston, he serves up his own shade in a recent article written by Howard Beck of Bleacher Report.
Pointing to two specific passages, one tinged with shade and other more straight forward – but both speaking to the chemistry between Westbrook and Harden.
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"There will be an adjustment period, “a lot of ups and downs” through the regular season, Harden concedes. “But I’m more excited to go into war, postseason, with somebody that is, like, a dog,” he says. “Somebody that’s a killer, for real.”"
The end of the passage “Somebody that’s a killer, for real.” is the comment which seems aimed at Paul who is known for being a bulldog of a competitor on the hardwood. Harden seems to be implying his talk is simply that – talk.
"“Russ isn’t just like one of my old teammates that I was in Oklahoma City with; Russ has been my brother since I was 10,” Harden says. “Our communication is different. The way we talk to each other is different.”"
The second passage speaks more to the chemistry of Russ and James based on their long term relationship having played together since childhood and their friendship.
For his part CP3 can elect to use all this as fodder to inspire his season with the OKC Thunder initially and eventually with the hopes of landing on a title contender. As for Harden, he needs to hope his pairing with Westbrook pays immediate dividends without a repeat of any troubles on or off the court. Let’s not forget the Paul dynamic is just one which ended badly for James.
The previous star paired with Harden (Dwight Howard) also left Houston not happy with the shooting guard and if Harden isn’t careful he could end up with the same reputation Paul is currently trying to erase.