The James Harden trade is just days old but NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has taken aim with a brutal swipe at the star’s failure.
It’s been a monster week in the NBA headlined by James Harden’s trade to the Brooklyn Nets that sets up a $305m super team alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
But that’s not all, with records being set, insane skills on display and the weekly reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over.
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‘THAT AIN’T TRUE’: SHAQ SAVAGES HARDEN
As the dust begins to settle on the four-team trade that saw James Harden move to the Brooklyn Nets to form a super team alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has unloaded on the star.
Harden had been acting petulant all off-season, believing his championship window with the Houston Rockets was over and demanding a trade.
Finally the Rockets obliged with the deal that will see the Rockets get Victor Oladipo, Rodions Kurucs, Dante Exum, four unprotected first-round picks (Brooklyn 2022, 2024 and 2026, Milwaukee 2022) and four unprotected first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, 2027).
The Nets get Harden but the Indiana Pacers get Caris LeVert and 2023 second-round pick (from Houston), while the Cleveland Cavaliers get Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince.
Just before the trade, Harden delivered a withering assessment of the Rockets.
“I love this city. I’ve literally done everything I can,” he said. “This situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think can be fixed. Thanks.”
While teammates got their noses out of joint with the comments, O’Neal lashed out at Harden’s take that he had done “everything I can”.
“When you say you gave the city your all, that ain’t true,” O’Neal said on TNT’s Inside the NBA. “You asked for Dwight Howard, we gave them to you, didn’t work out. You asked for Chris Paul, we gave them to you. You asked for some shooters, we gave them to you. You asked for Westbrook, your homeboy from little league, we gave him to you. It didn’t work out.
“When you say, ‘I gave you everything’, I say, ‘no, you didn’t’, because the last five games when it comes to elimination, you’re 1-4, shooting 41 per cent, 24 per cent from three, 32 assists and 27 turnovers.
“I used to be like James. I used to come home and complain ‘man he didn’t do this, he didn’t do that’ and my father, rest in peace, would say ‘well what the hell did you do?’
“(Harden) ain’t done nothing. He hasn’t stepped up when he was supposed to step up.
“When you’re the man and you make $30 or $40 million a year, it’s a big responsibility. (Charles Barkley) had said this many times, when you’re the man, you’ve got a big responsibility and it’s all on you.
“So when it was time to show up, he ain’t shown up. So I know a lot of people in Houston are glad he’s gone.”
But Shaq wasn’t done.
Like many others have said, with the talent in the Nets’ big three, the side has only one result that will deem the move a success.
“Now (Harden’s) got his little super team, he’s got to win this year. If he doesn’t win it this year, it’s a bust. Period,” he said.
LAMELO BALL GOES NUTS
LaMelo Ball had an inauspicious start to his NBA career when he went scoreless on debut.
But since then he’s been putting up numbers unseen by rookies in the past.
Ball became the youngest NBA star to record a triple-double when he scored 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
It beat previous record holder Markelle Fultz by 177 days but it could have been 179 days after he missed out on the milestone in an earlier win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
“A 19-year-old rookie does not look like this,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “This is rare what you’re seeing.”
Then in a 111-108 loss to the Raptors on Thursday night, he tallied 14 points, six rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and a block in 26 minutes on court.
Basketball Reference’s Justin Kubatko revealed Ball has contributed at least five assists and five rebounds off the bench in each of his last seven games, making it the longest streak in the NBA since starters began being tracked in 1970-71.
BIG BRO CURRY SHOWN UP BY SETH
Watch out Steph Curry, baby bro Seth is coming for your crown.
Steph will go down in NBA history as one of the best ever shooters, but his little brother is on fire in 2020/21.
The 76ers’ Seth is giving Ben Simmons the shooting he needs as his jump shot development reaches year four but the 30-year-old Curry is on song.
He is shooting 59.5 per cent from beyond the arc, easily leading the league, despite shooting at least five per game.
Steph may shoot eleven from downtown a game but he only averages just one more three pointer a game with 4.2 as he shoots at 37.6 per cent.
Unfortunately Seth has been laid up with COVID-19, so hopefully his shooting radar hasn’t dulled during the lay-off.
COVID STRIKES NBA HARD
The NBA postponed this weekend’s game between the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns on Thursday as coronavirus concerns continued to cause disruption for the league.
An NBA statement said Saturday’s game at the Phoenix Suns Arena had been postponed in accordance with league health and safety protocols.
The game was called off after contract tracing within the Suns organisation left the team with too few players to take the court.
The league has grappled with a slew of postponements this week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two games on Friday — Washington at Detroit and Golden State at Phoenix — were postponed on Wednesday.
Three other contests set for Wednesday, including Phoenix’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, were also called off.
Ten games have now been scratched this season, now in its fourth week. The league and its players union updated COVID-19 health and safety protocols on Tuesday aimed at keeping players healthy and available to play.
The new measures were imposed “in response to the surge of COVID-19 cases across the country and an uptick among NBA teams requiring potential player quarantines,” a league statement said.
— AFP
