James Harden more frustrated than unhappy with Nets
Nets guard James Harden looks on in the second half of an NBA game against the Lakers at Barclays Center on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Just because James Harden is frustrated — and he said as much after Tuesday night’s loss to the Lakers — doesn’t mean he’s unhappy, Steve Nash said Wednesday. Or at least that’s what the Nets hope.
A day after Bleacher Report cited "several confidants" claiming that Harden is seeking to pursue free agency this offseason because of numerous issues, Nash said that his superstar is merely experiencing the negative effects of what has so far been a difficult season. Harden all but denied the report in a testy exchange with the media Tuesday night, saying he enjoyed living in New York and didn’t appreciate the anonymous sourcing.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday night that the Nets aren't entertaining trade offers for Harden ahead of the deadline, due largely to Harden telling ownership and management that he's dedicated to playing in Brooklyn.
Harden, who played 38 minutes and recorded a triple-double Tuesday, sat out Wednesday with left hamstring tightness — bringing the Nets Big 3 to Big 0.
"Yeah, I think James is happy to be here," Nash said before the Nets took on the Nuggets Wednesday night. "I just think it’s frustrating right now because we haven’t had great basketball, we’ve had a lot of injuries, a lot of illness, a lot of guys in and out of the lineup, a lot of chop and change. So that can be frustrating for sure to not have that kind of consistency to build on. We haven’t had our best performances. We’ve had a few, but ever since the COVID return, it’s been very, let’s say average basketball overall. We have higher expectations and it’s frustrating, but I think James is happy here for sure."
According to the report, Harden was displeased with Kyrie Irving’s part-time status, did not enjoy living in Brooklyn and didn’t like some of Nash’s late in-game decisions. That, along with the injury to Kevin Durant, who is recovering from an MCL sprain and isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break, has led to a disjointed and often frustrating campaign so far this season.
"I think we try to work on the process every day," Nash said of dealing with the constant uncertainty. We "work on getting better, work on improving individually, collectively and trying to get more solutions to things. When we focus on the process and the task at hand, it alleviates a lot of the distraction and alleviates wasting time thinking about who’s not available tonight or what the problems that we’re facing are. We just look at the task in hand."
There’s also an added wrinkle — the Nets absolutely need Harden, especially at home, where they’ve struggled and must play without Irving due to his vaccination status. But they’ll need Harden more in a few months, in the playoffs. That means finding a delicate balance between protecting him and using him as much as reasonable.
"It is a challenge," Nash said. "We would like to protect him more but he’s a competitor, he wants to be out there so we try to have our little tug of war. And you know, I think that’s why at times we like to ask him to miss games so he can regenerate and be a little bit safer as far as being ready to go when the playoffs begin."
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
