In comments from Thursday’s gameday shootaround, veteran guard Eric Gordon said it was clear from the start of the 2020-21 season that superstar teammate James Harden did not want to be in Houston.
Harden, of course, received his wish with a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. Houston’s game in San Antonio on Thursday will be the team’s first regular-season game without Harden on the roster since April 2012.
“Obviously from the summer, since the season started, you could tell he didn’t want to be here,” Gordon said of Harden. “It gives us a chance to get a real direction. … For everyone else on the team not to have to worry about his situation, and we can just move forward.”
Eric Gordon asked if players motivated to prove James Harden wrong: “Since the season started you could tell he didn’t want to be here. I wouldn’t say it’s motivation because we got to be motivated to play every game. It gives us a chance to get real direction.” pic.twitter.com/iTiCWozTQ3
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 14, 2021
Gordon, who signed with the Rockets in July 2016, has played with Harden longer than any other player on the current roster. While newcomer DeMarcus Cousins said Wednesday that he felt disrespected by Harden, Gordon said he did not believe that was Harden’s intent.
“For me, knowing him, I don’t think he meant it as far as to really disrespect us,” Gordon said. “I think he just wanted a different situation. He’s shown that, and he also said it. He wanted his way out. He got it.”
Eric Gordon on James Harden's postgame presser on Tuesday: "For me, knowing him personally, I don't think he meant it as far as to really disrespect us. I just think he wanted a different situation, he's kind of shown that, and he's also said it…." pic.twitter.com/31VneHCHcb
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 14, 2021
For Gordon, who acknowledged that the team’s usual championship-or-bust expectations have changed, Thursday starts a new era.
“We had a big change,” said Gordon, who will miss Thursday’s game in San Antonio with left lower leg tightness. “We have to focus in on what we need to do now and in the future. But of course it starts now.”
“We have a lot of new guys,” he concluded. “It’s time to get more familiar. Everybody has to learn one another. We have a lot of new players coming in. It’s a whole new regime. It’s going to be different.”
