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Kendrick Perkins: Team USA players told James Harden to leave OKC

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Kendrick Perkins recently told the story of how James Harden was influenced to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012. During the 2012 Olympics, Harden joined Team USA where he got to play alongside his then Thunder teammate Kevin Durant and other notable names like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. While Harden’s talents were undeniable, he acted as a role player for OKC at the time. However, that all changed after his teammates gave him some advice. Perkins revealed that James, Wade, and some of Harden’s other teammates played a role in his trade to the Houston Rockets in the 2012-13 NBA season. The former NBA veteran said that Durant told him that Harden was leaving after winning the gold in the 2012 Olympics. True enough, the thick-bearded role player went on to become a superstar and changed the landscape of the league.
Source: Clutch Points

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
It’s been 9 years since DeMar DeRozan had a chance to win a @DrewLeague title
Teamed up with Nick Young in 2015. Fell short to James Harden’s LAUNFD squad.
Here’s the oral history of how that 2015 chip went
soundcloud.com/law-murray/201… – 3:45 PM
Kendrick Perkins @KendrickPerkins
We are live!!!! Talking Team 🇺🇸 winning Gold and that light skin brother with the green eyes showing up in great Fashion!!! Tap in and Carry on…
youtube.com/live/Uo7rmLN6A… – 5:26 PM
StatMuse @statmuse
Most 50-point games in a season (since the merger):
10 — Kobe
9 — Harden
8 — MJ
6 — Dame, Kobe
The only players with more than 5. pic.x.com/g8jgzshjfm – 4:29 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Wade Harden
22/5/5 24/6/7
3x Champ MVP
FMVP 6MOY
13x All-Star 10x All-Star
8x All-NBA 7x All-NBA
Pick one pic.x.com/1dqq9rmqrq – 11:07 AM

More on this storyline

ClutchPoints: “[Kevin Durant] said, ‘Man, [we’re] about to lose [Harden]’… At the Olympics [LeBron James, Dwyane Wade], all those guys were telling James, ‘Bro, [you’re] too nice to be coming off the bench… You need to have your own team.’” — Kendrick Perkins 👀 -via Twitter / August 12, 2024
The Nets are going back to Cali — at least for training camp. Brooklyn — which will play the Clippers in the preseason — will hold part of the camp in Southern California, as it did three years ago. That Oct. 8 tilt will be at Frontwave Arena, home of the Clippers’ G League San Diego affiliate. The last time the Nets held camp in SoCal was back in 2021 when the Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden had their initial camp together. -via New York Post / July 26, 2024
“In 2012, I didn’t get picked because I wasn’t on the level I needed to be,” said Curry about the 2012 USA Basketball gold medal team that included Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. “In ’16, I was coming off the Finals run and I didn’t feel I would get the rest I needed to get ready for the next season. And in 2020, it was a COVID year. And just that whole process, I don’t remember what was going on family wise. But it wasn’t a good time for me. “[Warriors teammate] Draymond [Green] played. He won twice (2016 and 2020). So, obviously I was watching him and missed out. This year, the stars aligned. It feels great. I’ve obviously had some time off for the ramp-up and Paris. It is all really cool.” -via Andscape / July 24, 2024
In an interview on The Mark Jackson Show released Tuesday, Perkins gave his side of the story and explained why he’s “pissed” at Scalabrine. While Perkins acknowledged he has criticized this era’s Celtics teams in the past as an analyst at ESPN, he also detailed why he does not have the same allegiance to Boston that other former players might. “I heard (Brian) Scalabrine the other day, and I love Scal, but he pissed me off,” Perkins said. “I never said I wanted to come. It wasn’t my moment, or 2008’s moments. It was 2024’s moment. Let them their moment.” -via Awful Announcing / June 26, 2024