"That was a week for us to relax" - James Harden unhappy about the NBA All-Star Game, reacts to the Kevin Durant fiasco
James Harden did not appear to be in the best of spirits after the Brooklyn Nets' dramatic loss against the Toronto Raptors at the Barclays Center. Kevin Durant's withdrawal from the game due to the NBA's COVID protocols weighed on his mind, and he spoke about the same in the post-game conference.
Kevin Durant was initially pulled out minutes before tipoff owing to “contact tracing” protocols, after which he was allowed to join late in the first quarter. However, after featuring in the game for 19 minutes, Durant was again pulled out during the third quarter again, much to his and his teammates’ frustration.
This, in addition to the jam-packed schedule that NBA players have had to deal with, has brought forth a response from James Harden about the 2021 NBA All-Star Game as well.
James Harden expresses disappointment about the 2021 NBA All-Star Game
Since the 2020-21 NBA season began on 22nd December 2020, every team has had a jam-packed schedule which was set to go on until the beginning of March (5th March 2021). Now, James Harden has expressed disappointment with the scheduling of the All-Star game on 7th March, 2021. He said:
"I mean, I haven't said anything publicly but I feel the same way as some of the players who are like, there's so much going on as far as we're trying to calm a virus and we're putting on an event. I know what the reasoning it is, but I feel like, especially with a condensed schedule that was forced upon players, it's already draining to play a lot of games in a week, I feel like that was a week for us kind of to relax, be with our families to kind of take a step away from basketball. So like I said, we're just in it. "
The same sentiment is apparently shared by other NBA players, and for good reason. Various safety and health related protocols have resulted in a condensed schedule with innumerable teams struggling to put up the numbers during the first few weeks of the 2020-21 NBA season.
James Harden reacts to Kevin Durant's strange night
As Kevin Durant was pulled off owing to “contact tracing,” James Harden and other Brooklyn Nets players were left confused as they had all spent time with Durant before the game.
As can be seen via his statement, James Harden was of the opinion that all the Brooklyn Nets players were in a similar situation as they had all come in contact with KD before the game.