Jalen Rose gives details of Harden-Paul rift

The news coming out of Houston as of late has been concerning for fans of the Rockets: Just how chaotic is the team?

A handful of the coaching staff have been let go within the past week and a half, and there are also questions of head coach Mike D’Antoni’s job security.

Shams Charania of The Athletic also reported that James Harden and Chris Paul had a locker room spat about ball distribution after the Rockets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in Game 6.

But according to Jalen Rose, that was the first time the two superstars butted heads during the series.

According to Rose in a recent episode of ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby, Rose detailed how Paul was frustrated by Harden’s lack of enthusiasm when he was running the offense instead of The Beard.

“Right after I think it was Game 2 or 3, I did a breakdown at halftime of how when Chris Paul was initiating the offense, James Harden looked disinterested,” Rose said. “I did it on this show, too. I showed how he didn’t maintain spacing, he didn’t spot up, he flat out walked. And a lot of times, he was behind the ball so that somebody could be an extra help defender.”

Co-host David Jacoby said he remembered talking about noticing Harden’s body language.

“How do you think Chris Paul felt about that?” Rose said in response. “‘You sabotaging me, dog. So when I’m running the offense and initiating the offense, you’re basically gonna act disinterested and pout.’ When you get tense about something like that, it now carries to the huddle. So now you look like, ‘Dog, you gonna do me like that?’ And that becomes an exchange that we’re now talking about right now.”

Though D’Antoni has downplayed what happened in Game 6 between the two, it is easy to understand how the two could have butted heads, as they are both used to being the playmaker and ballhandler.

This relationship is going to be one to watch going forward into summer as the team looks to reevaluate how they can change in order to beat Golden State.