Now with Sixers, James Harden opens up about ‘frustrating’ tenure with Nets: ‘I didn’t ask to leave for no reason’

“There’s a lot of what-ifs,” Harden said.

Published Feb. 12, 2023, 12:13 a.m. ET

NEW YORK — James Harden used one word to describe his short stint playing alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as a Brooklyn Net.

“Frustrating,” he said after the 76ers’ 101-98 victory over the Nets on Saturday night.

Harden had 29 points, six rebounds, and six assists in his first game back at the Barclays Center after forcing a trade to the Sixers on Feb. 10, 2022.

“There’s a lot of what-ifs,” he said. “I think we only played less than 20 games together, so it was a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody’s in a good place now and we can move on.”

Harden’s comments provide a glimpse into the type of dysfunction he witnessed in Brooklyn. At that time, Harden was viewed as a quitter for not only bailing on the organization but for bailing on Durant and Irving. Yet they also are no longer in Nets uniforms, having requested their way out of town before Thursday’s trade deadline.

Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks last Monday, while Durant’s trade to the Phoenix Suns became official on Thursday.

Asked if he expected Irving and Durant to be gone, Harden responded, “Yeah.”

“I didn’t just ask to leave for no reason,” he said. “I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn’t have a chance to win the championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family and all the things that I created there to Brooklyn for, what, a year and a half? To just up and leave? It was for a real reason.

“But I’m happy for the organization in what they got back. They got some really good pieces.”

The Nets (33-23) acquired Spencer Dinwiddle, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, second-round picks in 2027 and a 2029 , and trade exceptions from the Mavs in exchange for Irving and North Philly’s Markieff Morris.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn sent Durant and T.J. Warren to the Suns in exchange for former Villanova standout Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, and a 2028 pick swap. Crowder then was shipped to the Milwaukee Bucks as an extension of the deal.

Harden, Durant, and Irving were expected to contend for multiple NBA titles. However, the trio played a total of 16 games together — regular season and postseason combined. They won one playoff series.

However, Irving’s lack of availability was a major part of the problem.

The guard took off two weeks in January 2021 for personal reasons. There were reports that he was upset over the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6 that year.

The unvaccinated Irving was unable to play games in New York, missing the first 35 games of last season because of the city COVID-19 mandates.

Harden lived through the disappointment and the frustrating times in Brooklyn. How much of the problems stemmed from the Nets not being able to count on Irving to play?

“That’s not something I’m going to answer,” Harden said. “But the reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, which was to leave Houston, and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come here and play with KD and Kyrie.

“With that being said, that didn’t happen as much as I would have liked to or how much the organization would have wanted to. It’s just something I knew wasn’t going to change. For me, I just had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career and what I wanted, and that’s what happened.”

Looking back, Harden said there were a lot of things the organization could have done to keep him. But he points out that there was clearly a lot of dysfunction. There were a lot of internal things that needed to be handled.

“I’m not going to just [talk about it in] the media or anything, " he said. “That was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decisions. Now, fast forward to today, I don’t look like the crazy one. I don’t look like the quitter or whatever the media wanted to call me.

“I knew what was going on and I just decided I’m not built for this. I don’t want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. Fast forward to today, they’ve got a whole new roster.”

Harden came to Brooklyn with the hope of winning an NBA title. That’s something that Irving and Durant have already accomplished.

Did he feel there were commitment issues from a teammate who already had accomplished that goal?

“It was a lot,” Harden said. “I enjoyed my time, obviously, playing with KD and Kyrie for those games. There’s a lot of possibilities of what could happen, but it’s a part of life. I’m sure everybody’s in a better place, a good place, and here we are.”