The NBA offseason truly never sleeps when it comes to drama.
Just when the dust began to settle from the blockbuster trade to send Anthony Davis to the Lakers, Yahoo Sports dropped a report about the strained relationship between Chris Paul and James Harden.
According to Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill, Paul wants out of Houston because his relationship with Harden is being described as “unsalvageable.”
Paul and Harden have been teammates in Houston since 2017, and despite some visible on-court arguments, the two have been marketed off the court as close friends. An entire State Farm ad campaign focuses on Harden and Paul hanging out with each other (and causing damage to each other’s property). How could that all be a lie?
But now, we’re apparently at this point …
Via Yahoo:
Paul went to Rockets management and demanded a trade, and Harden issued a “him or me” edict following the Rockets’ second-round loss to the Golden State Warriors, sources said.
The backcourt mates went nearly two months without speaking to each other during the season, sources said, creating a tenuous environment for teammates and everyone involved with the franchise.
Paul chimed in on Instagram to deny the report in Bleacher Report’s comment section. He wrote, “Damn! That’s news to me.”
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey also denied that a trade request had been made.
But alas, it was a different story for NBA Twitter, which predictably responded to the news with plenty of jokes — most of them about State Farm.
All this and it’s not even July yet.
