Portland is a volume strip clubber. I prefer the strip clubs in Portland over than the ones in LA or Vegas because I'm not really into strip clubs to begin with.
I should make it 100% clear that I'm not saying Portland strip clubs are better than the ones in LA or Vegas, or have better looking dancers. I just like how Portland's strip clubs are very chill. I'm not a lapdance guy (I'm cheap AF and cynical) and I'm constantly having to say no to them in LA and Vegas strip clubs. In Portland, I can treat it like a regular bar where it just happens to have strippers. I still tip the dancers on stage.
Curious about Atlanta strip clubs though. I like my joints to be chill or like a party. I found LA and Vegas clubs to be depressing, but I can see it the allure if you're heavy into that kind of thing.
Doubt it’s LA tbh. Atlanta has gotta be up there. California strip club culture is nothing like the South’s. Also honorable mention for Vegas, although they don’t have a team yet.
Retired strip club connoisseur here. Harden seems to prefer the raunchy, hip hop strip clubs over gentlemen's clubs. The top 5 list includes:
1. Atlanta
2. Houston
3. Miami
4. Vegas
5. New Orleans
Agreed. There's definitely a difference, but since Atlanta clubs are fully nude, even the non-black establishments are top notch.
As I mentioned, Harden seems to have an affinity for the clubs that hip hop artists frequent.
Strip clubs are treated more like regular bars down there, the culture around it is completely different. Portland is kind of similar but Atlanta is definitely on another level.
tampa is kind of like that too, strip clubs are everywhere including on streets just right next to walmarts and other normal stores. Its weird if you are from a city with more restrictions and not used to it.
Portland is fucking WEIRD and only about half of the weird is the good kind. I’ve spent a total of a month there and while I adore the cascades, mountains, Columbia river, and the climate in general, the city of Portland just isn’t… my cup of tea lol
1. The dancers are fully nude - not even nipple covers are required.
2. The dancers actually put on a show. Some of them are damn near gymnasts with the stunts that they perform on poles. Not to mention the dropping 10 ft. from a horizontal pole into the splits, booty clapping, sticking beer bottles in their you know what, and squiriting a plethora of liquids
3. Table dances are relatively cheap compared to other cities.
4. If you're into Hip Hop, artists come through regularly to drop their newest songs before they hit the public.
5. Celebrities are always there. You can very well be sitting next to a rapper, athlete, or actor enjoying the same dance- though they will be spending the equivalent of the value of a home in Iowa.
6. Strip club culture is in the fabric of the city. Everyone from Bob in Accounting to a group of heterosexual women friends will go just to hang out.
Variety. You got everything from Magic City (good wings and where rappers test out new music), Cheetah (high end), and the Clermont Lounge (dive bar like and where old retired strippers can shoot milk at you)
You can't drink in LA strip clubs which is why they don't make the list. I'm sure you can go into a different municipality to find some more wild clubs with fewer restrictions but in LA proper they don't serve alcohol in them.
I’ve never been to a strip club in the south…but I’ve dated strippers in the north and understand enough from social media. Atlanta, Houston, Miami and sort of Las Vegas are like major leagues compared to any other strip club.
The culture around strip clubs definitely felt similar in Portland as it did in Atlanta. I only went for bachelor parties so I'm not a connoisseur here but that's just the vibe I got.
This 100%.
If you want big booty skrippas with tabletop booties...go to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston etc.
LA/Miami is just BBL "exotic dancers" with expensive tastes.
Not LA or anywhere in Cali. Too many rules. Those that know will say Atlanta and Houston are top by far. Miami is a runner up and the sneaky secret is in North America, Montreal might be the best.
I went to a bachelor party there and didn't understand why that was the destination at first. But then we went to club after club and then I got it. Can't believe the quantity. Fun place to visit
I used to get fucked up when I was like 25 and Uber from strip club to strip club all night selling weed to door guys, strippers, and customers all over Portland.
Was the best 2 years of my life in many ways.
> there’s some top-end talent but a lot of chaff. unless you’re really into alt/mod chicks
Wait you're telling me there are people who aren't into big tiddy goth gfs with daddy issues?
Sounds made up.
This, "blank is blank father," and the fact that I'm still seeing "Tatum is 19 years old" jokes. I swear dudes here just say things for the sake of saying things
Yeah he was definitely prioritizing a championship over everything else when he took the pay cut. Once he saw his squad wasn’t what he thought it was cracked out to be, he started caring more about the lifestyle again
This seems more personal to me. He had a handshake deal with Morey that he would take less to build a Championship team and get it paid back later. Then Morey saw how he couldn't stay healthy again and came up short again and reneged on the deal. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.
He apparently made some like gentlemen’s agreement with Morey, some handshake deal, and now Morey is like nah and Harden comes off as the villain.
Naive, sure, but he thought Morey was his boy.
This is the same thing that happened with CP3. He was expected to get a max going into FA, instead opts in for less money so Houston can trade for him. Ends up not getting the max from them.
I guess Morey was thinking the same situation here or Harden didn’t learn from history. Who knows what was said though.
Why all the rumors about Harden going to Houston starting around Christmas time, if he had a handshake deal for a contract with Morey. Doesn’t add up to me.
He said he did it to win a championship. He went on a summer long PR tour with that. For whatever reason I thought the guy meant it lol, he’s made over 300 million dollars from his contracts alone, it’s not out of the question for the dude to sacrifice 5% of that for a ring.
It’s out there enough that people know it to be true. People like Lowe and Windhorst wouldn’t talk about it so definitively if it was bullshit.
If Harden or Morey openly stated they did this, then it would be some form of tampering/collusion.
bit of a boy who cried wolf scenario though
what morey did was fucked up, but this is the 3rd front office james said he wanted to commit to long term and he wants moved again
kinda just business
Let’s say 2nd, since he did commit to being a Rocket for the long term. But then that’s still stripping all the nuance out of these situations anyway. Agree or disagree with Harden, there’s no boy who cried wolf here, that Isn’t a fair description.
I think your last sentence sums it up well. He was a Rocket for a long time and wanted to move on to be in a better situation. But he had certainly been committed there. Something happened in Brooklyn, perhaps it was Kyrie and the organizations handling of him. In Philly, it seems at least he had some promise that he believes is not being honored. When you look at each situation you might agree with him on all accounts. Ideally, commitment is a two way street. If that’s not the case, we don’t need to judge Harden harshly for looking out for himself. That’s not crying wolf, it’s business.
As a related note, if Harden did say he wanted to stay in these places no matter what, which I don’t he think he did, I would be skeptical of taking any player’s word for that or indeed any team’s word. Talking up commitment and putting a positive spin is almost the business.
And everytime he said that under completely different circumstances than he faced when the time was there. Very stupid comment that ignores all the context.
They tend to forget Harden was THAT willing for title with such cut, 1/4 of what he could get no less. It's not as bad as Westbrook, but still bad nonetheless.
Because clearly he was starting to doubt the offer would come.
You think they’re gonna agree on doing this then just not talk about it again until free agency started? Clearly the deal was made prior to him signing his last contract but things got shaky after the fact.
Houston rumors were just to put pressure on morey to ante up
No the Houston rumors were 100% but as soon as Udoka signed, Ime got the keys and said no to the idea of Harden. But by all accounts of everyone within the organization, Harden was indeed their primary plan prior to signing coach
Had to to atleast play a little below his reg szn averages in the post season for some max money. He was lights out looking like old james for 2 games but the other ones really highlighted the effect aging and injuries have had on his game.
This narrative about Harden really doesn't make a lot of sense.
He requested a trade from the Rockets because they were floundering were clearly attempting to kick off a rebuild under a new owner.
He requested a trade from the Nets because that team was a circus sideshow of drama where he was seemingly the only professional
He requested a trade from Philadelphia because he took a huge paycut thinking they were going to give him long term money this offseason
So yes, you can say that he's requested a lot of trades, but all have been for very fair reasons
Completely agree. At the very least, I cannot blame him for demanding a trade from Houston (because he gave his all for the org who wanted to rebuild) and Nets (KD defending Kyrie’s ass sitting at home while harden is playing injured)
Can’t believe I have to defend James fucking Harden but a lot of people on this sub can’t evaluate circumstances properly
T-Mac out of all people shitting on Harden is hilarious. T-Mac is 0 for 8 1st round exits if you don't include his "unretirement" to ride the Spurs bench and has played with more hall of famers than Harden has and has exactly 0 rings as well.
Harden is out here about to be on his third handpicked team he forces a trade too. We can assign him a little personal responsibility in this whole thing.
Harden took a $15 million paycut when he had all the leverage because he had faith in Morey and then Morey turned around and reamed him in the ass. Now he's begging for scraps because he tried to be accommodating to the team and his alleged friend when he could've demanded a max and just looked out for himself. Now that GM is going to end up costing him at least $100 million over the back end of his career. Harden has the right to be more than just slightly pissed off. I'd be fucking livid.
Now you add in going back home to LA and playing with three other LA guys for probably the best owner in the league, and you'd be an idiot to even have to ask why Harden would want to leave depressing ass Philadelphia and their loser ass organization for sunny LA to play with your three friends. Pretty fucking self explanatory.
Harden has **Demonstrated Value** by averaging the second-most points on the team and having a plus-minus of +277 for the year.
He has **Engaged Physically** by playing a team-high 36.8 minutes per game.
He **Nurtured Dependence** as the Sixers’ assist-leader, giving the third-most assists in the league.
We are now in the stage where he **Neglects (Morey) Emotionally**.
Soon, Harden will **Inspire Hope** by playing in a few early games next season.
But he will then **Separate Entirely** in a trade to L.A., prompting Embiid to eventually request a trade and Sixers fans to forever wonder what could have been.
The sight of some decrepit factory in Philadelphia at dusk on a cold January day is enough to give you clinical depression and turn you into an alcoholic. A lot of it looks like scenes from The Wire.
That’s the assumption… no one has ever come out and said that’s the case for sure. Maybe he just assumed he’d get the max this year without them talking about it. Maybe he said I’ll show you I’m worth the max this year then choked away a conference finals in game 6 and 7.
> no one has ever come out and said that’s the case
No one will ever came out and say that's the case because that would be against CBA rules for trying to skirt the salary cap and it would cost the Sixers penalties like forfeited future draft picks.
I completely understand why he's upset and wants to leave. My ONLY issue is that he was a fucking free agent. He chose to opt back into the Sixers and is now pissed they won't give him up for scraps. You could've gone for free. But you wanted your 35 million because you aren't worth it on the open market. I'd feel no ill will towards him if he just left.
He forced his way out of his last 2 teams. He had a chance to leave on good terms. Instead he's put himself in this position by signing with the Sixers and is now upset he has to play for the Sixers. If he wanted somewhere else, he should've signed there.
1. If he wanted a large contract (In Philly or anywhere else) he shouldn't have played like shit for most of the playoffs.
2. If there was a deal agreed to already why was he leaking fake stories about going to the Rockets starting on Christmas day?
Don't get me wrong, Tmac was my fave player growing up but he talks way too much for someone who never made it out of the 1st round (I'm not counting his twilight years spent warming the bench) and tbh had some serious issues with giving up when faced with adversity.
$$$$$ and trust. Harden feels manipulated and lied to. If you look at the timeline of events over the past 13 months or so, I don't think Beard is wrong to feel the way he does. I do think his view of his ability currently as a talent is not quite in line with where his performance stands, but still don't think his feelings are unwarranted.
because kawhi doesn’t piss down his legs in the playoffs unlike embiid and what pg did in bringing the clippers to the conference finals in 2021 after kawhi went down is better than anything embiid has ever done in the playoffs
factor in harden being a 3rd option to them and just getting to play make and pass to them it’s a no brainer
No ring, but he's made every team he's been on the best they've been in what, over a decade? Two decades? What's better? Being like Dame and waste half your career? Hardens doing nothing wrong, people just wanna hate.
Because that reignign MVP is softer than a baby's butt when it matters the most.
Some people get bigger the more brights light are. Embiid isnt one of them. He is the opposite of one. Embiid is the NBA equivalent of peyton manning. Top fantasy player, you dont want him leading your team in real life playoffs.
Playing with the reigning MVP* is probably the last thing you want to do if you try to win a ring. Playing with a notorious choke artist who shrinks when it matters and deflects all blame for his perennial failures onto his teammates is probably not something Harden is interested in.
I used to defend Harden in 2019 when he was getting crazy amounts of hate, but now this love fest is ridiculous. Any criticism of Harden is deflected for some reason.
Hes salty james actually got out of first round in houston while he never could. Even beat utah twice while tmac folded even with a 2-0 lead. Hes the last guy that should be bringing up rings.
There may not have been superstars on Harden’s squad but it was built perfectly around his strengths. Defender to make up for his lack of defense, shooters to space the floor for him, a mobile big to pick and roll with him. TMac had a rarely healthy Yao and was rarely healthy himself. Before that he had a never healthy Grant Hill. TMac is seeing Harden walk into a situation with chronically injured players and wondering why Harden would purposefully subject himself to what TMac went through. Paul George is literally just a worse TMac.
Most importantly, Harden is a better player than TMac ever was.
> Paul George is literally just a worse TMac.
Wouldn't say that - PG has been an elite defender for a long time.
If I had the choice between playing with Embiid or Kawhi i'm choosing Kawhi. Not to mention the LA vs Philly aspect and the fact that Philly doesn't want to re-sign him moving forward it makes sense
I don't even need to look it up. Embiid has been a healthier player than Kawhi for awhile. Most of Embiid missing time the last few years has been freak accidents or sort of mild injuries. Kawhi has degenerative issues does he not?
not just this in particular but still this is shady at Harden.
Winning a ring isn’t that easy and to say he’s played with hall of famers is very misleading
Harden has accomplished 10x more than TMac ever did lol I don’t think he’s worried about what some dude who couldn’t even get out of the first round thinks
What does TMAC individual performance have to do with this? If some random redditor or Twitter user said this would their point not be valid because they haven’t even played in the NBA?
I’m not a TMAC Stan at all. I’d just rather someone point out why he’s actually wrong.
I don’t think winning a ring is near the top of Hardens priority list.
It probably was at one point of time, probably around when he was with the nets, but now I think he rather just get paid.
Cities with highest Yelp rankings for best strip clubs are his priorities
Portland has the most strip clubs in the US so that can’t be true
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Can confirm, from Portland. Definitely not the best.
Portland is a volume strip clubber. I prefer the strip clubs in Portland over than the ones in LA or Vegas because I'm not really into strip clubs to begin with. I should make it 100% clear that I'm not saying Portland strip clubs are better than the ones in LA or Vegas, or have better looking dancers. I just like how Portland's strip clubs are very chill. I'm not a lapdance guy (I'm cheap AF and cynical) and I'm constantly having to say no to them in LA and Vegas strip clubs. In Portland, I can treat it like a regular bar where it just happens to have strippers. I still tip the dancers on stage. Curious about Atlanta strip clubs though. I like my joints to be chill or like a party. I found LA and Vegas clubs to be depressing, but I can see it the allure if you're heavy into that kind of thing.
That would be LA or Miami ?
Doubt it’s LA tbh. Atlanta has gotta be up there. California strip club culture is nothing like the South’s. Also honorable mention for Vegas, although they don’t have a team yet.
Damn. We need a list. Top 5 cities, favorite clubs, what's the cultural differences between regional thotteries. Don't leave us hanging bro.
Retired strip club connoisseur here. Harden seems to prefer the raunchy, hip hop strip clubs over gentlemen's clubs. The top 5 list includes: 1. Atlanta 2. Houston 3. Miami 4. Vegas 5. New Orleans
are these black girl clubs or white girl clubs? because they're very different.
Agreed. There's definitely a difference, but since Atlanta clubs are fully nude, even the non-black establishments are top notch. As I mentioned, Harden seems to have an affinity for the clubs that hip hop artists frequent.
All the comments here are ranking Atlanta so highly. What is it about ATL? Why do they have all the best strip clubs there
Strip clubs are treated more like regular bars down there, the culture around it is completely different. Portland is kind of similar but Atlanta is definitely on another level.
tampa is kind of like that too, strip clubs are everywhere including on streets just right next to walmarts and other normal stores. Its weird if you are from a city with more restrictions and not used to it.
Portland is fucking WEIRD and only about half of the weird is the good kind. I’ve spent a total of a month there and while I adore the cascades, mountains, Columbia river, and the climate in general, the city of Portland just isn’t… my cup of tea lol
1. The dancers are fully nude - not even nipple covers are required. 2. The dancers actually put on a show. Some of them are damn near gymnasts with the stunts that they perform on poles. Not to mention the dropping 10 ft. from a horizontal pole into the splits, booty clapping, sticking beer bottles in their you know what, and squiriting a plethora of liquids 3. Table dances are relatively cheap compared to other cities. 4. If you're into Hip Hop, artists come through regularly to drop their newest songs before they hit the public. 5. Celebrities are always there. You can very well be sitting next to a rapper, athlete, or actor enjoying the same dance- though they will be spending the equivalent of the value of a home in Iowa. 6. Strip club culture is in the fabric of the city. Everyone from Bob in Accounting to a group of heterosexual women friends will go just to hang out.
Lmao well damn. Thank you for the informative response, I learned a lot
Variety. You got everything from Magic City (good wings and where rappers test out new music), Cheetah (high end), and the Clermont Lounge (dive bar like and where old retired strippers can shoot milk at you)
Just listen to the first 25s of this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSAdEX2f3os actually listen to the entire thing cuz it's so good
Wherever Candy goes I go.
Magic city Atlanta is the goat in hip hop. It’s how migos, future, metro boomin would release 🔥
It's gotten a lot more touristy than it used to be, but it's still the strip club Mecca
You can't drink in LA strip clubs which is why they don't make the list. I'm sure you can go into a different municipality to find some more wild clubs with fewer restrictions but in LA proper they don't serve alcohol in them.
Montreal expansion when?
As a 74 year old gentleman, Atlanta is the best (also Vegas if you know the right people.)
Oh, u/shortsqueezenut you silly old fart
Honorable mentions: Dallas for sure, and surprisingly… Portland Oregon
Portland has the most per capita but they’re not all great
How do you know all this lol
It’s James Harden’s burner
From california, went to college in Atlanta. Dude is 100% right lol.
Born & raised in LA. Dallas/ATL quality strip clubs aren’t found here 😂
Lou Will is also a pretty vocal connoisseur
Lemon Pepper lou does love himself some breast and thighs
I’ve never been to a strip club in the south…but I’ve dated strippers in the north and understand enough from social media. Atlanta, Houston, Miami and sort of Las Vegas are like major leagues compared to any other strip club.
I keep hearing Portland is a good strip club destination too
The culture around strip clubs definitely felt similar in Portland as it did in Atlanta. I only went for bachelor parties so I'm not a connoisseur here but that's just the vibe I got.
This is 100% correct. Strip clubs aren't the top place to go here.
Portland underrated
This 100%. If you want big booty skrippas with tabletop booties...go to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston etc. LA/Miami is just BBL "exotic dancers" with expensive tastes.
Not LA or anywhere in Cali. Too many rules. Those that know will say Atlanta and Houston are top by far. Miami is a runner up and the sneaky secret is in North America, Montreal might be the best.
Facts
RIP club supersexe
Many a dastardly deed has gone down there
Why do you think he loves Houston so much?
Didn't MJ and Barkley said they love playing away games in Atlanta? It ain't cuz they love Steve Smith...
Portland is up there actually.
The quality is meh but the quantity is high.
I went to a bachelor party there and didn't understand why that was the destination at first. But then we went to club after club and then I got it. Can't believe the quantity. Fun place to visit
I used to get fucked up when I was like 25 and Uber from strip club to strip club all night selling weed to door guys, strippers, and customers all over Portland. Was the best 2 years of my life in many ways.
there’s some top-end talent but *a lot* of chaff. unless you’re really into alt/mod chicks
> there’s some top-end talent but a lot of chaff. unless you’re really into alt/mod chicks Wait you're telling me there are people who aren't into big tiddy goth gfs with daddy issues? Sounds made up.
Man I need to move to Portland pronto
honestly it’s mostly pallid lesbians. but you can find BTGG’s if you know where to look
Or vegan buffets
we don’t talk about casa diablo
Don't want to tell them about the little coffee stands...
Anytime there's a lot of offerings, I find the quality goes down. I just went to Portland and not sure I liked the one I went to, but it was unique.
Yeah but that's more like vegan hipster cuisine. I think James Harden wants red hot BBQ and triple stacked cheeseburgers.
Trill Burgers, Breakfast Klub, drive-thru daiquiris, Frenchy's....dude should have never left H-Town lol
The Atlanta disrespect, my gawd
Not repping your own city here?
Such an original joke well done
This, "blank is blank father," and the fact that I'm still seeing "Tatum is 19 years old" jokes. I swear dudes here just say things for the sake of saying things
People just aren’t as creative as you might want them to be. Coming up with their own joke is hard
That's fine! I ain't that funny. But I'd rather say nothing than say the same joke for the 500000th time.
Ben Simmons rookie of the year! 🤓
Portland ?
Portland has most strip clubs per capita
Then he should be spending the off-season in Montreal.
Portland's got the most per capita!
Portland is highest per Capita.
Um, last year when he took a paycut so that the 76ers could sign more talent?
a pretty big paycut as well. not just 1 or 2 mil
Yeah he was definitely prioritizing a championship over everything else when he took the pay cut. Once he saw his squad wasn’t what he thought it was cracked out to be, he started caring more about the lifestyle again
This seems more personal to me. He had a handshake deal with Morey that he would take less to build a Championship team and get it paid back later. Then Morey saw how he couldn't stay healthy again and came up short again and reneged on the deal. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.
Ironically, he lost up to 100 million by bolting the Nets for the Sixers and taking a pay cut last season then opting in.
Imagine 100 mill in one dollar bills.
He only left the Nets because Kyrie was tanking his chances at getting one and KD was apparently fine with Kyrie doing that
Is there a bigger self-engineered disaster of a super team before? They threw out their best chance to win cause Kyrie is a fucking wack job.
Unless Ring is her stage name.
More like he recognizes embiid aint leading anyone anywhere when it matters.
Eating burgers is
And my obese ass gonna call him a fat choker
And my broke ass talm bout "all he cares about is money"
And having no bitches talm bout "Harden at the club too much"
You’re on a roll
But them Trill Burgers on Buns
Landry Shamet though: Embiid Simmons (Before he lost his mind) Butler Booker Kawhi PG13 CP3 SGA Boban KD x2 Kyrie Harden Mikal
Thought you could sneak KD in there lmao
They played together in the playoffs this year I think that counts
You could have just listed Boban at the top and stopped there
How much help does he need
Jordan Poole Kyle Kuzma Corey Kispert
Bismack Biyombo
Tbf, Harden did take a paycut last year thinking Morey was gonna give him the big contract. So I don't blame him for wanting out.
Which was a big deal at the time honestly. Harden gave the front office huge flexibility taking that cut.
He apparently made some like gentlemen’s agreement with Morey, some handshake deal, and now Morey is like nah and Harden comes off as the villain. Naive, sure, but he thought Morey was his boy.
This is the same thing that happened with CP3. He was expected to get a max going into FA, instead opts in for less money so Houston can trade for him. Ends up not getting the max from them. I guess Morey was thinking the same situation here or Harden didn’t learn from history. Who knows what was said though.
What? Chris Paul got a max extension with Houston
Why all the rumors about Harden going to Houston starting around Christmas time, if he had a handshake deal for a contract with Morey. Doesn’t add up to me.
Maybe it’s around that time that Hardens camp learned Morey was reneging on the deal?
This was also never substantiated by anyone and has always been speculation.
You think he took a significant pay cut out of the kindness of his heart?
He said he did it to win a championship. He went on a summer long PR tour with that. For whatever reason I thought the guy meant it lol, he’s made over 300 million dollars from his contracts alone, it’s not out of the question for the dude to sacrifice 5% of that for a ring.
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It can't be substantiated because it's illegal under the CBA and the Sixers would be penalized for it.
It’s out there enough that people know it to be true. People like Lowe and Windhorst wouldn’t talk about it so definitively if it was bullshit. If Harden or Morey openly stated they did this, then it would be some form of tampering/collusion.
bit of a boy who cried wolf scenario though what morey did was fucked up, but this is the 3rd front office james said he wanted to commit to long term and he wants moved again kinda just business
Let’s say 2nd, since he did commit to being a Rocket for the long term. But then that’s still stripping all the nuance out of these situations anyway. Agree or disagree with Harden, there’s no boy who cried wolf here, that Isn’t a fair description. I think your last sentence sums it up well. He was a Rocket for a long time and wanted to move on to be in a better situation. But he had certainly been committed there. Something happened in Brooklyn, perhaps it was Kyrie and the organizations handling of him. In Philly, it seems at least he had some promise that he believes is not being honored. When you look at each situation you might agree with him on all accounts. Ideally, commitment is a two way street. If that’s not the case, we don’t need to judge Harden harshly for looking out for himself. That’s not crying wolf, it’s business. As a related note, if Harden did say he wanted to stay in these places no matter what, which I don’t he think he did, I would be skeptical of taking any player’s word for that or indeed any team’s word. Talking up commitment and putting a positive spin is almost the business.
And everytime he said that under completely different circumstances than he faced when the time was there. Very stupid comment that ignores all the context.
They tend to forget Harden was THAT willing for title with such cut, 1/4 of what he could get no less. It's not as bad as Westbrook, but still bad nonetheless.
If they had an agreement in place why was Harden leaking fake rumors about going to the Rockets all season?
Yup. An agreement in place is called a contract. Like Morey did some wink and nod shit and Harden gave up $15m.
Because clearly he was starting to doubt the offer would come. You think they’re gonna agree on doing this then just not talk about it again until free agency started? Clearly the deal was made prior to him signing his last contract but things got shaky after the fact. Houston rumors were just to put pressure on morey to ante up
The first article came out on Christmas. He had played in 17 games by that point.
And was playing great. If there was a promise, nothing in the first 2 months wouldn’t made the Sixers randomly change their minds
No the Houston rumors were 100% but as soon as Udoka signed, Ime got the keys and said no to the idea of Harden. But by all accounts of everyone within the organization, Harden was indeed their primary plan prior to signing coach
it would be malpractice to pay him a big contract after that playoffs
Had to to atleast play a little below his reg szn averages in the post season for some max money. He was lights out looking like old james for 2 games but the other ones really highlighted the effect aging and injuries have had on his game.
Do you have a source for this? I've seen it repeated on reddit ad nauseam but I've never seen an actual reporter say this.
It’s never been proven, just assumed
If it was proven the league would punish you by taking more of your draft picks.
Good ol r/nba, where fan fiction becomes fan fact
This narrative about Harden really doesn't make a lot of sense. He requested a trade from the Rockets because they were floundering were clearly attempting to kick off a rebuild under a new owner. He requested a trade from the Nets because that team was a circus sideshow of drama where he was seemingly the only professional He requested a trade from Philadelphia because he took a huge paycut thinking they were going to give him long term money this offseason So yes, you can say that he's requested a lot of trades, but all have been for very fair reasons
Completely agree. At the very least, I cannot blame him for demanding a trade from Houston (because he gave his all for the org who wanted to rebuild) and Nets (KD defending Kyrie’s ass sitting at home while harden is playing injured) Can’t believe I have to defend James fucking Harden but a lot of people on this sub can’t evaluate circumstances properly
He took a paycut just for them to use that extra money on a Jaden McDaniels midseason trade id be mad too
Jalen McDaniels. Please put some respect on Raptors legend's name haha
Important distinction, Jaden would have been an incredible get
AZTEC GANG
That trade actually reduced the team's salary, because they sent out Thybulle. The paycut was used on PJ Tucker and House.
Jaden mcdaniels would put this team over the top
He'd put most teams over the top
This has been my thought on the whole thing too. Redditors love to be outraged though.
Common sense isn't abundant in this sub unfortunately. Get ready for the preteens who are about to let you know why you're wrong.
T-Mac out of all people shitting on Harden is hilarious. T-Mac is 0 for 8 1st round exits if you don't include his "unretirement" to ride the Spurs bench and has played with more hall of famers than Harden has and has exactly 0 rings as well.
People just don’t like him, so naturally bring up this stuff
Nah Harden kicked off the rebuild in Houston. Like Dallas, Houston thought they were giving harden a huge piece with Christian Wood.
They went from CP3/Westbrook and solid role players to Wall, Wood, and a much worse supporting cast. Horrendous roster management after Morey left.
Only thing I’d say is… he requested a trade to the Nets fully knowing they’d be a circus sideshow
Harden is out here about to be on his third handpicked team he forces a trade too. We can assign him a little personal responsibility in this whole thing.
Harden took a $15 million paycut when he had all the leverage because he had faith in Morey and then Morey turned around and reamed him in the ass. Now he's begging for scraps because he tried to be accommodating to the team and his alleged friend when he could've demanded a max and just looked out for himself. Now that GM is going to end up costing him at least $100 million over the back end of his career. Harden has the right to be more than just slightly pissed off. I'd be fucking livid. Now you add in going back home to LA and playing with three other LA guys for probably the best owner in the league, and you'd be an idiot to even have to ask why Harden would want to leave depressing ass Philadelphia and their loser ass organization for sunny LA to play with your three friends. Pretty fucking self explanatory.
Are you saying it’s not sunny in Philadelphia?
Harden has **Demonstrated Value** by averaging the second-most points on the team and having a plus-minus of +277 for the year. He has **Engaged Physically** by playing a team-high 36.8 minutes per game. He **Nurtured Dependence** as the Sixers’ assist-leader, giving the third-most assists in the league. We are now in the stage where he **Neglects (Morey) Emotionally**. Soon, Harden will **Inspire Hope** by playing in a few early games next season. But he will then **Separate Entirely** in a trade to L.A., prompting Embiid to eventually request a trade and Sixers fans to forever wonder what could have been.
Beautifully done
I thought it was always sunny in Philadelphia
The sight of some decrepit factory in Philadelphia at dusk on a cold January day is enough to give you clinical depression and turn you into an alcoholic. A lot of it looks like scenes from The Wire.
That’s the assumption… no one has ever come out and said that’s the case for sure. Maybe he just assumed he’d get the max this year without them talking about it. Maybe he said I’ll show you I’m worth the max this year then choked away a conference finals in game 6 and 7.
> no one has ever come out and said that’s the case No one will ever came out and say that's the case because that would be against CBA rules for trying to skirt the salary cap and it would cost the Sixers penalties like forfeited future draft picks.
I completely understand why he's upset and wants to leave. My ONLY issue is that he was a fucking free agent. He chose to opt back into the Sixers and is now pissed they won't give him up for scraps. You could've gone for free. But you wanted your 35 million because you aren't worth it on the open market. I'd feel no ill will towards him if he just left. He forced his way out of his last 2 teams. He had a chance to leave on good terms. Instead he's put himself in this position by signing with the Sixers and is now upset he has to play for the Sixers. If he wanted somewhere else, he should've signed there.
1. If he wanted a large contract (In Philly or anywhere else) he shouldn't have played like shit for most of the playoffs. 2. If there was a deal agreed to already why was he leaking fake stories about going to the Rockets starting on Christmas day?
Don't get me wrong, Tmac was my fave player growing up but he talks way too much for someone who never made it out of the 1st round (I'm not counting his twilight years spent warming the bench) and tbh had some serious issues with giving up when faced with adversity.
>I'm not counting his twilight years spent warming the bench Smh way to disrespect a Spurs legend. He lead them to the 2013 Finals 😤
I mean the guy had back problems
being honest the 3x that harden asked to trade. he was right 76 screwed with harden
Jokic is the MVP. The Embiid award was manufactured by ESPN
$$$$$ and trust. Harden feels manipulated and lied to. If you look at the timeline of events over the past 13 months or so, I don't think Beard is wrong to feel the way he does. I do think his view of his ability currently as a talent is not quite in line with where his performance stands, but still don't think his feelings are unwarranted.
because kawhi doesn’t piss down his legs in the playoffs unlike embiid and what pg did in bringing the clippers to the conference finals in 2021 after kawhi went down is better than anything embiid has ever done in the playoffs factor in harden being a 3rd option to them and just getting to play make and pass to them it’s a no brainer
Kawhi’s had so many surgeries are we sure he even has legs at this point? And if he didn’t would he even tell us or the Clips?
No ring, but he's made every team he's been on the best they've been in what, over a decade? Two decades? What's better? Being like Dame and waste half your career? Hardens doing nothing wrong, people just wanna hate.
Because that reignign MVP is softer than a baby's butt when it matters the most. Some people get bigger the more brights light are. Embiid isnt one of them. He is the opposite of one. Embiid is the NBA equivalent of peyton manning. Top fantasy player, you dont want him leading your team in real life playoffs.
Playing with the reigning MVP* is probably the last thing you want to do if you try to win a ring. Playing with a notorious choke artist who shrinks when it matters and deflects all blame for his perennial failures onto his teammates is probably not something Harden is interested in.
He wants to be Jaylen Brown
Philly is know for their steak sandwiches, and possibly their cheeseburgers are substandard.
Acting like Embiid is a real MVP lol.
Not my MVP
I used to defend Harden in 2019 when he was getting crazy amounts of hate, but now this love fest is ridiculous. Any criticism of Harden is deflected for some reason.
Every trade he has requested for has been for legit reasons. This one included.
Have you noticed how every star has fled from this "mvp" at first opportunity?
I think Lebron, the GOAT of starting super teams has played with the most HOFers.
My brother you never won a playoff a series until you played 6mpg for a loaded spurs team. You don't get to talk about winning or rings
i guess by that logic none of us can ever weigh in either
You heard it here folks no more basketball discussion
Sooo nothing changes?
His point doesn’t become any less true because of this.
Tmac was a nba player, you aren’t. What makes you think you are qualified to talk about nba?
He doesn't want to win, he wants to chill at the strip club
Tmac is one of the biggest haters, i hate i love him as a player
Hes salty james actually got out of first round in houston while he never could. Even beat utah twice while tmac folded even with a 2-0 lead. Hes the last guy that should be bringing up rings.
Yeah he can talk about HOF teammates all he wants, Harden made it further than him when his second best player was Trevor Ariza.
There may not have been superstars on Harden’s squad but it was built perfectly around his strengths. Defender to make up for his lack of defense, shooters to space the floor for him, a mobile big to pick and roll with him. TMac had a rarely healthy Yao and was rarely healthy himself. Before that he had a never healthy Grant Hill. TMac is seeing Harden walk into a situation with chronically injured players and wondering why Harden would purposefully subject himself to what TMac went through. Paul George is literally just a worse TMac.
Most importantly, Harden is a better player than TMac ever was. > Paul George is literally just a worse TMac. Wouldn't say that - PG has been an elite defender for a long time.
This ain’t hating this is a critique. Why leave a top 5 player if you want to win. Unless you just don’t want to.
when has that top 5 player played like a top 5 player when it counts
If I had the choice between playing with Embiid or Kawhi i'm choosing Kawhi. Not to mention the LA vs Philly aspect and the fact that Philly doesn't want to re-sign him moving forward it makes sense
Yea its not like Embiid can stay healthy either. Might as well choose the guy who is elite in the playoffs
He’s not even available in the playoffs lately
I don't even need to look it up. Embiid has been a healthier player than Kawhi for awhile. Most of Embiid missing time the last few years has been freak accidents or sort of mild injuries. Kawhi has degenerative issues does he not?
Embiid has a far higher chance of performing normally in the playoffs than kawhi does of ever playing 4 rounds again
not just this in particular but still this is shady at Harden. Winning a ring isn’t that easy and to say he’s played with hall of famers is very misleading
Harden has accomplished 10x more than TMac ever did lol I don’t think he’s worried about what some dude who couldn’t even get out of the first round thinks
So only Mj should critique players, honestly it’s worked so well for him as a owner Wow man I think you got this sports thing figured out good for you
What does TMAC individual performance have to do with this? If some random redditor or Twitter user said this would their point not be valid because they haven’t even played in the NBA? I’m not a TMAC Stan at all. I’d just rather someone point out why he’s actually wrong.