Mike D’Antoni coached James Harden in Houston for the last four seasons, and that may have been plenty enough for him.
In an episode of his podcast this week, Bill Simmons of The Ringer hinted that D’Antoni, now an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, may have talked the team out of trading for the former MVP Harden.
“I heard Brooklyn cooled off on Harden,” said Simmons. “I think one reason was D’Antoni. He was kinda like, ‘We’re good. Keep what you have. I think he [Harden] presents some problems.'”
Harden had been linked heavily to the Nets in past weeks, having reportedly had Brooklyn at the top of his list of possible trade destinations. Talks seem to have died down since then however. Nets trade asset Spencer Dinwiddie is also now out with a partly torn ACL, all but ruling out a deal for Harden.
The Harden-D’Antoni Rockets came close to winning an NBA title together a couple of times. But with the recent reports we heard about how the Rockets have operated in the Harden era, D’Antoni’s hesitance is understandable.
H/T NBA Reddit
